Tis the season.

For halibut nuggets. Lightly seasoned . No sauces needed.

Great day on the water Sunday. Non-yak.

4 keeper halibut, one Petrale sole and a monster sandab for three of us

Boom!  Bon appetit’.  Glad you caught!

Thanks for the delicious looking nuggets Alex 

Petrale and sanddabs are my favorites...

Petrale and sanddabs are my favorites...

I've been focusing on sanddabs and macs my last few trips to the coast. Plentiful, great tasting, and not a twitch of guilt unlike rockfish. Monterey/Santa Cruz areas have been hammered since June, and I fear HMB will be the same since opener.

No salmon, new rockfish regs, and weird crab population fluctuations (see snow crab in Bering sea) have me appreciating the under-utilized species. Bluegill/redears, crappie (would like to break my PB, see photos section), heck I've even started looking at stocking on bass lures (btw, that market is crazy. $20 for essentially a Zara Spook?!??!) I have 10 flyrods collecting dust, time to get back to what got me started: panfish, trout, bass, stripers. Not to mention catfish, crawdads galore and last but not least carp. Yes, carp, the other other other white meat.

Sorry for threadjacking Bulldog! As others have said, that is an awesome haul! I've never, ever caught a limit of butts, lings or salmon and I've been fishing since I was kid born in the 70's. You guys have put in the time and effort and just rock! I only wanted to give a lot of the new members to reset their expectations and finding new ways to get a tug on the line. After all, just being on the water is a blessing.

I have never tasted petrale sole. I have given several away and this latest one is going to one of are families favorite Matriarch's. She is such a Beautiful , warm and giving Lady.

Eventually i will try one. 

The same goes for sanddabs. I have gifted so many over the years. They are definitely a favorite on the menus at most restaurants in Monterey.

I once tried to gift some to a manager when i worked for Honda. His reply was, arent they bottom feeders? He was unsure , so he declined. He ended up trying them at a restaurant in Monterey and was hooked.

Man !

We need to get you on a Hali, Albi.

If nothing else. I would be more than happy to gift you some Hali fillets.

Last year i ran into a herd of mackerel. Included in the hall were also spanish macks. The spanish macks meat was white and they didnt take as much care as the green backs that require constant icing..

Was also surprised on how shallow the petrale was. 50 ft. Most of my petrales were 100 ft , plus.

Thanks for the delicious looking nuggets Alex 

Now i feel like drinking a beer !

Great catches and report Alex

Man !

We need to get you on a Hali, Albi.

If nothing else. I would be more than happy to gift you some Hali fillets.

Last year i ran into a herd of mackerel. Included in the hall were also spanish macks. The spanish macks meat was white and they didnt take as much care as the green backs that require constant icing..

LOL! I have caught Halibut before. Just not impressive enough to show people. 32" is my PB Hali. And I've only caught 4 total in more trips than I care to admit. My excuse to the wife is that I'm just going to get fresh air and exercise.  TBH, I'd rather flyfish for carp in the shallows of Black Butte or the Delta. Plenty of 10lbers, awesome fight, and everyone is willing to share their secret spots!

The Tug is the Drug!

LOL! I have caught Halibut before. Just not impressive enough to show people. 32" is my PB Hali.

The trick is in the photo. Two of those hali's are just under 24 inches and the other two are about 28 inches. We like to call um fish sniffer pics. 

Was also surprised on how shallow the petrale was. 50 ft. Most of my petrales were 100 ft , plus.

I've only ever caught a few of them as bycatch. Is there any reasonable way to target them?

Great day of catching Alex, you slayed em brother 

Was also surprised on how shallow the petrale was. 50 ft. Most of my petrales were 100 ft , plus.

I've only ever caught a few of them as bycatch. Is there any reasonable way to target them?

I've been trying since last year to figure this out in SC with some amount of success. That area out past the mile buoy where the triple yellow buoy's were I released a pretty big sole and some decent size dabs.

I'll give up a not-so-secret spot. Moss Landing. You can find sole and sanddabs in less than 100ft of water. Just need to find a spot that is close to the canyon or anywhere the upwelling gets funneled.