Halibut Fishing Near Offshore Tips Needed

[daperrin]

Is a 6 inch Sardine a good size to drift with say outside of Newport or Dana Point Harbors. I'm thinking of drifting in the 30 ft depth. I will use a 3 oz weight with a 3/0 hook. Going to drag the weight along the bottom. Does this sound good?

Would frozen squid or Sardine be better for dead bait?

Thanks for any tips.

[ful-rac]

If your looking to catch halibut of any size live sardines are just fine. I wouldn't use dead bait unless that's all you have. Now the correct depth you should be fishing is something you need to find out for your area. That is only known if you have good intel or you just put in the legwork of drifting different areas and or depths.

Now if your trying to concentrate on larger halibut...you need to fish bigger baits, as in 8-10" or larger mackerel. You will catch less fish this way but your resulting catch will be bigger. Another thing...fishing strictly for halibut, it's not unusual for you to go weeks or even months without catching a single one. So sometimes you have to be very patient.

[Mr. NiceGuy]

I usually catch mackerel, so that's usually my bait. Greenbacks seem to be more active than Spanish. They both last for a long time until they get raked or snatched by sea lions. It's more rare, but sometimes I catch jack smelt or lizard fish in the bay. Those work well too.

I've caught sardines before, but they seem to die too quickly, especially with a trap hook. I think without mackerels, or something more durable, I prefer to explore other rigs with artificial baits. When I'm making bait, I release sardines and wait for something better.

Maybe sardines are OK for smaller rigs like I might use with anchovies. Anchovies work well, but tend to catch more smaller fish so it broadens the target to include fish that might be too small to keep.

Maybe I haven't learned how to use sardines properly. That's entirely possible.

In the case of halibut, I think the "big bait, big fish" rule applies.

Personally, I try to target the fish I want to eat, in moderation, and I try to avoid collateral damage to fish I don't want to eat. This includes bait and other living creatures. I fish for food, exercise and for enjoying the beauty of nature. Slaying fish for conquest or sport is not my thing.

[YakDout]

There’s always the bounce ball method using heavy weight, a flasher and a couple hoochies. Nice to have a hobie for that type of fishing .

[daperrin]

Thanks for the info.

I see that a 'kayak' scoop of sardines at the Dana Point bait barge is $20. Seems kind of steep. Is that the rate everywhere?

[ful-rac]

$10 bucks at Cabrillo.

Why pay? Just make your own.

[daperrin]

Never done that. Whats the basic technique.

[ful-rac]

Originally Posted by daperrin

Never done that. Whats the basic technique.

Tie on a sabiki, find bait schools with fish finder, drop sabiki into bait school, catch bait. Easy as that.

[sdyeti]

What speed is generally considered a good drift speed for halibut drifting?

Today I was doing some drifts down the bay SI Launch area and while going by NBPL area i was easily drifting between 1.2-1.5 knots with the outgoing tide. I had a decent sized mac on a dropper with 4oz torpedo and I could feel that the weight was definitely bouncing along the bottom. Unfortunetely no halibut to show for it.
I reset the drift one time up to Buoy 13 and back down to the sub piers. Had a noticably raked mac after both drifts.

Just curious if the tidal current was just too fast.

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by sdyeti

What speed is generally considered a good drift speed for halibut drifting?

Today I was doing some drifts down the bay SI Launch area and while going by NBPL area i was easily drifting between 1.2-1.5 knots with the outgoing tide. I had a decent sized mac on a dropper with 4oz torpedo and I could feel that the weight was definitely bouncing along the bottom. Unfortunetely no halibut to show for it.
I reset the drift one time up to Buoy 13 and back down to the sub piers. Had a noticably raked mac after both drifts.

Just curious if the tidal current was just too fast.

Sounds like halibut fishing. I've had days where I got only one bite and it was a quality fish. Others where every bait gets raked and I did not hook a thing. Were you using a trap hook? Next time take pics of the raked macks and we'll tell you what bit them.

In a strong current sometimes fish pile up downhill of structure, always worth a try.

[ProfessorLongArms]

Originally Posted by Fiskadoro

Sounds like halibut fishing. I've had days where I got only one bite and it was a quality fish. Others where every bait gets raked and I did not hook a thing. Were you using a trap hook? Next time take pics of the raked macks and we'll tell you what bit them.

In a strong current sometimes fish pile up downhill of structure, always worth a try.

So here’s one-I have seen a ton of guys on how to snell a hook for dead bait but none on live bait.
Where to you like to put the trap hook? Just anywhere near the tail?