First Hali still looking for legal though...
 

My last trip made me decide that Halibut would be my next target fish here in SD. So without question that was our task for today.

We made our way to the bait barge right away and started drifting.
10 minutes into drifting we got our first Halibut. The next drop produced the only legal one of the day but it managed to release itself from my friends kayak.
The Halibut bite died down but it wasn't long before we were hooking into something else. These fish are nasty looking they remind me of a dragon... I am being told that they are sculpin?
Although we didn't bring home a keeper Halibut it was still a great day on the water; both of us caught our first Halibut , our first Sculpin and we got to see sealions up close.

Total between the two of us:
5 Hali , at least 6 sculpin, and several short bass
All fish were released to fight another day well the only keeper released itself.

Now that I have the technique down its time to find the big ones!
(Tips welcome):reel::reel::reel:

NICE pictures!
:cheers1:

Those pictures are nice enough you should frame them and hang them on your wall!
Great job

Tip-Make sure to know what a sculpin looks like or it could be a painful ride home.

What's worked well for me with halibut in the big bay is a triple swivel with 16" leader to weight, and 12" leader to a lucky craft flashminnow or a bait similar to that. Suspending jerk bait. Obviously that's only if I don't have live bait.


Attachment 14128


Similar to this but instead of the bait hook, a lucky craft or similar.

Nice pics! Like someone else said, just be mindful when handling those rattlers :).

I've had great luck with the LC 110 in sardine using the same technique. That LC is a hali killer for sure. Slow rolled......what great action!

Rad photos! I've had some pretty good luck catching halibut using a 1oz spinner bait slow rolled on the bottom

+1 this always works for me. Live smelt or small back works best.

awesome pics!

Thanks for all the tips I have some new things to try now.
Do you think i have a better chance of catching a legal one in mission or SD bay?

Sd bay

When I fish mission bay I get a scoop of bait and head out the channel to open ocean. Lots of kelp and flat sand areas. Really good fishing just south of OB pier

Those are some awesome pictures, especially the first.

Something tells me you will have a different reaction to seal lions being near you in the future :D

And like everyone has said, avoid those spines on the sculpin... Otherwise your day will not end on a good note!

5 halis for the 2 of you on your first day targeting them is good fishing. Sorting through shorts is part of hali fishing for sure. Keep up the good work and the legals will come. Mike

+1

Are sculpin good eating? If so, how low do you have to clip in order to keep them?

I have has some bad experiences with the dogs at La Jolla but they are lazy at the Barge. This yellow that the dark horse helped me catch was attacked by one when we were reeling it in. The second yellow was a little faster but was chased by a couple smaller dogs. You can see where the dog bit my fish in the first picture! lol

Yep, nice pix!

Sculpin
 

Sculpin are off limits at this time...the DFW closed Sculpin fishing until March 1st I believe.

Whoa!!! Holy Thread Jacking YOURSELF!!! Batman!!! :luxhello:


Nice fish congrats!