How not to catch sand dabs?

Most halibut in the Santa Cruz area seem to be caught in about 40-60 fow. I've been trying to fish deeper and I've caught keeper halibut in 90 fow, and Saturday, I got a small one in 112 fow. But, once I get to about 110+ fow, the sand dabs are thick, and they end up getting hooked constantly, even with the 4/0 Gamakatsu octopus hooks that I use. That makes it almost impossible to fish, as I always need to reel up, which gets tiresome at such depths.

Anybody have any ideas how to avoid sand dabs?

Can you use a sand dab as bait?  I'm sure a big Hali would love a dab. 

Most halibut in the Santa Cruz area seem to be caught in about 40-60 fow. I've been trying to fish deeper and I've caught keeper halibut in 90 fow, and Saturday, I got a small one in 112 fow. But, once I get to about 110+ fow, the sand dabs are thick, and they end up getting hooked constantly, even with the 4/0 Gamakatsu octopus hooks that I use. That makes it almost impossible to fish, as I always need to reel up, which gets tiresome at such depths.

Anybody have any ideas how to avoid sand dabs?

On my sole fishing video, someone suggested that I need to use 10/0 hook if I don't want to catch dabs. When I was using 8/0 circle hook on the boat, we still got some occasional dab.

Most halibut in the Santa Cruz area seem to be caught in about 40-60 fow. I've been trying to fish deeper and I've caught keeper halibut in 90 fow, and Saturday, I got a small one in 112 fow. But, once I get to about 110+ fow, the sand dabs are thick, and they end up getting hooked constantly, even with the 4/0 Gamakatsu octopus hooks that I use. That makes it almost impossible to fish, as I always need to reel up, which gets tiresome at such depths.

Anybody have any ideas how to avoid sand dabs?

On my sole fishing video, someone suggested that I need to use 10/0 hook if I don't want to catch dabs. When I was using 8/0 circle hook on the boat, we still got some occasional dab.

Wow! 10/0 looks HUGE, but that is probably the only way to avoid them...

With a 10/0, wouldn't the small fish just steal or tear up your bait?

With a 10/0, wouldn't the small fish just steal or tear up your bait?

I was using a small (like 1" or so) Gulp squid-like thing, and it was definitely getting chewed up, but it stayed on the hook. Real squid strips would probably work OK too.

With a 10/0, wouldn't the small fish just steal or tear up your bait?

Yes but you can also put 2-3 inch grub or paddle tail on it to have something on there for a while