Went out and tried yesterday and didn't get any bites. Tons of salad in the water made it hard for casting the hard bait. Where did the Halibut go? I was thinking to myself all day at work. That all changed this morning in the dark. Started out again and there was a bunch of weeds but the surf wasn't as big. A little windy this morning, but not to bad. Arrived to the AO late and forgot a few tackle supplies. Only had an hour to fish and I was in a hurry. I did make sure that my drag was set and a had a fresh retie on.
Armed with the Luckycraft Metallic Sardine. Shimano Sedona C5000 spooled with 12# Izorline XXX I started casting. Strong surge was present as well as some weeds. I had to cast to my far right and in to no time at all I was reeling the lure in to my left. I could see the baitfish around still. Been present all week. Finally that paid off. About a half hour of casting and nothing. This time I decided to cast to the left and aim the rod up and bump bump slow retrieve. Stop, wait, reel in, and repeat. Almost went back in to retie at this point but made one good cast out far. In no time at all, I feel the line stop in its tracks. Set the hooks hard and I had a nice fish on. Drag starts peeling and I start backing up right away. This fish was going where it wanted and it was heading towards more weeds. Keeping the line tight I had a zone picked out already that I wanted this fish to come into the sand on. Gain some ground, lose some ground. After about 15 minutes I get the fish in close and with the headlamp on I see it's a very nice sized Halibut. Heart starts pumping faster. Please let me get this on the sand! To make a long story short, with the rising tide which wasn't helping me this fish starts thrashing fiercely. A couple time I thought I was in and I easily could have lost it. I did have the fish hooked well though. When I got her on the sand and she was thrashing even harder my line snapped off. I didn't bring my gaff with me this morning. Won't make that mistake again.
Raised my arms in victory and gave a nice couple yells! This year has been all just over legal size for me. I'm okay with that, I just wanted to break through with a legit legal Halibut. This morning it happened to go my way. I was very happy that is for sure. Amazing battle and I just love fighting these fish in the surf.
28.5" Halibut Here are some pictures.
measured shot
And finally
Hope this means the Halibut are coming back closer to shore. Thanks for reading my report and good luck out there.
Until next tide
Joel
