Pacific halibut in the Monterey Bay?

There is a picture on Bayside Marine (https://www.baysidemarinesc.com/) of "Brian with a 37 Lb. Pacific Halibut caught in the deep water!" I'm sure they are not common here, but maybe there are a few around in the "deep water".

Would it be worth trying to target them? If so, how deep is deep, and what else would you look for in trying to zero in on an ideal location?

Crazy! His smile is priceless 

The shape of his Halibut looks like a California Halibut. Pacific Halibuts have a diamond shape body.  Maybe I am wrong judging from the picture.

The shape of his Halibut looks like a California Halibut. Pacific Halibuts have a diamond shape body.  Maybe I am wrong judging from the picture.

+1 - it looks like a Californian.

If they are down there, 300' of water is a typical depth.  Where they're not common, you're much more likely to catch something else instead of a Pacific.

The shape of his Halibut looks like a California Halibut. Pacific Halibuts have a diamond shape body.  Maybe I am wrong judging from the picture.

It is hard to tell from the picture, but if when I zoom in, I see the diamond shape of the body, excluding the fins. Also, I don't think that's a mistake that the Bayside dude would make...

The shape of his Halibut looks like a California Halibut. Pacific Halibuts have a diamond shape body.  Maybe I am wrong judging from the picture.

It is hard to tell from the picture, but if when I zoom in, I see the diamond shape of the body, excluding the fins. Also, I don't think that's a mistake that the Bayside dude would make...

Yeah, it's a bad picture and if you look at it closely, it's slightly angled. Bayside usually will do the "the glass is half full"/high liner reports, but I doubt that they would make that big of a mistake.

Deep water RF is along the canyon edges - 300'+ and even 900+ if you could stay in the same spot before it becomes 800.

It is definitely hard to tell from that pic.  Here are some pacific halibut pics of the white side that I have caught on boats and kayak.  The first example is one that was on ice overnight, but as you can see the fins stayed down and isn’t showing the diamond shape so it is possible.  I was reading that they said someone lost one on a diamond jig too while rockfishing.  It is uncommon for California halibut to go deeper than 197ft.  As you can see in the other pics, most of the time the diamond shape of the fins will show itself.

Seems whiter on the underside than a CaliHali but I could be wrong.

I’d put my money on Todd’s ID.

Naaa guess both are very white underneath, unless from the bay. 

Here’s some more pics of it that were posted to the FishMoss FB group.

Lot easier to tell in these pics…

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Here’s some more pics of it that were posted to the FishMoss FB group.

Lot easier to tell in these pics…

 

Sincerely,

Jim

From those pics, no bout adout it...

I think I'm going to need a taste test to really confirm. Anyone care to also donate some California halibut as a control?

Found a couple good pieces in the bottom of the freezer, gonna be seeing how well that vacuum sealer works