smelt and halibut

All,

I have seen lots of smelt off of the SC warf.

Do you all go out and catch these guys to drop down for the halis.

Speaking of halibut, having just moved back from San Diego, I'm a little confused why NorCal halibut apparently care about winter surf while SoCal halibut give a rat's behind.  What is the evidence that halibut are much deeper in winter up here?  Do people just stop fishing for them?

MolBasser

I'm of the belief that anything live and wiggling works well, better than anything dead.  I've caught my biggest halibut on jacksmelt up to 12".  I've caught lot's of lingcod on even larger jacksmelt.

-Allen

IMHO, live jacksmelt is the best all-around bait for halibut, lings, and stripers up here.  Jacksmelt are also much hardier than anchovies.  There have days where I drifted and slow trolled the same live jacksmelt all day long and end up releasing it at the end of the day.

Squid rigged on a two hook rat trap rig is deadly on halibut too.

Also remember.... bigger baits = bigger fish.

not sure why halibut are seasonal here vs socal, maybe there's more food out deeper or something.  Coastside guys seem to think they can still be caught in a couple hundred feet of water, but they're lethargic and fussy.  I did hear (like fourthand) that some halibut have been caught around capitola recently.  Maybe if there's a run of jacksmelt, they halibut followed them in.

Yeah, maybe.....

I'm thinking that next week if the surf is ok I'm gonna go out.  I need to work out the kinks with my electronics before the Loch Lomond opener, so I might as well go for some halibut.

MolBasser

Sorry, I haven't been logged in.

These posts were mine.

MolBasser

If you use jacksmelt as bait, you should let the halibut "chew" on it longer. Halibut are notorious "short" biters and use their teeth to grab their prey. They wait for it to stop moving before "munching up" and taking the hook. Thus the hardier bait, the longer you should wait as it will still be wiggling to escape.

You could use a "stinger" to increase hook-ups, but the shortfall is that the extra hook decreases movement and is prone to pick up more weeds.

One option is to use frozen or dead smelt. Hook it through the nose, bend it and hook the stinger through the tail. It should look like a bananna weight. Put it on a 3 way and as you bounce along the bottom, kicking up mud it gets the attention of the Butt. Then your smelt lure comes drifting by and BAM! Because it's dead, the halibut will hasten to consume it.

Think of it as nature's diamond bar - they're excellent for Lingcod btw!

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go out for the buts next week.

I gotta do a little more research on the local haunts.

Anyone want to pony up some GPS coordinates?  I'll buy ya a beer!!  

MolBasser

Davenport, pescadero, santa cruz, moss landing, and capitola of course.

If you fish pescadero, you're sure to catch some lingcod too because that area is about 50/50 rock and sand.

The Green bouy out of Santa Cruz Harbor is a pretty good spot. I *think* this is the Santa Cruz Harbour Bouy. From coastside:

 Santa Cruz Harbor Buoy 36.56.30 & 122.00.45

Double check that for sure.

Elric, I learned a good tip from Hippo Lau.  He said that toothy fish, like halibut and lings, will have a tendency to strike the bait short or grab it by the belly to kill it.   If you've seen scratch marks on baitfish or have seen hitch hiking lings, then you know what he means.

Fish without big teeth, like stripers, often gulp the whole bait head first.

Hippo's tip was to use double hook rigs when fishing big baits for butts and lings.   Otherwise, a nose-hooked smelt is all you need.

He also called jacksmelt "nature's diamond jigs".

hey don't forget Chrissy Field-- that's usually the first place we start to see them in the bay.

Personally, I LOVE shiners as a hallie bait. Anchovies are like fresh chicken in a 'gator farm to lings and hallies-- but they don't live for squat.

I think that our hallies are more tentative in the winter for two reasons:
1) the water is 'butt a%% cold up here - bout ten degrees colder than socal
2) the waves are humungous for our winter storms

SteveS- Hey first time you hear, see, smell or think the halibut are near give a shout and I'll be right behind you at the launch.  I'm dying to catch one off my kayak.  I didn't have any luck last year (I didn't have any days free to go fish though) so with more free time ahead I'm hoping for better luck.

Ken  (I fished w/you off san quentin early in the season last year-blue Drifter   )

Thanks guys.  Guess I gotta get out there.

I'm thinking of getting on a squid charter for Sunday.

MolBasser