Capitola halibut 5-18-08

Launched at Capitola around 11 AM into the fog, which cleared up pretty quick. Flat calm and very little wind. Perfect temperature. Caught two halibut, both just below the legal size. One was 21.5 inches. Just missed! Used white swimbaits with a tiny piece of squid. Caught one just outside the surf line in 8 FOW and the other in a hole in the kelp beds in 12 FOW. Both of them slammed my swimbait. No nibbling around at all. The guy at the bait shop thinks they're shallow because there's not many anchovies around, so they're eating worms and small perch. Makes sense.

Saw one HUGE keeper halibut that a guy caught off a skiff in the kelp beds, and a good sized ling. My friend was targeting rockfish. He caught 10 small ones, but I did see a few good sized ones caught out of skiffs.

Overall a great day, even with sunburned knees!

Sounds like Good Times, Bill.   

hmmmm.....I have a day off tomorrow and was thinking of targeting Halibut in the Bay....however, I'd rather fish the Ocean over the Bay anytime...perhaps I can try to defeat the "crapitola curse" and give this place ONE MORE SHOT  

Thanks for the report!!!

Hey ganoderma,

I saw you as you were leaving when I was done on the yak and fishing the pier (nice yak by the way).  I got one 23" hali out of the kelp beds off a 4" white floating tube bait and one 20" (released of course) on a 5" fish trap off the pier.  Couldn't ask for better weather.  Makes me wish I'd never left SC for south bay .  Take care.

-SF

Sounds like Good Times, Bill.   

Yeah, it was a blast Eric!  I'll bet you're looking forward to the season opening in Humboldt in less than two weeks.

Hey ganoderma,

I saw you as you were leaving when I was done on the yak and fishing the pier (nice yak by the way).  I got one 23" hali out of the kelp beds off a 4" white floating tube bait and one 20" (released of course) on a 5" fish trap off the pier.  Couldn't ask for better weather.  Makes me wish I'd never left SC for south bay .  Take care.

-SF

Good to meet you, Surf Fisher. Nice job on the keeper halibut. It was a perfect day today. Well. another half inch on my halibut would have made it even more perfect!

Did you see that hog halibut that the guy caught in the skiff?

hmmmm.....I have a day off tomorrow and was thinking of targeting Halibut in the Bay....however, I'd rather fish the Ocean over the Bay anytime...perhaps I can try to defeat the "crapitola curse" and give this place ONE MORE SHOT 

Thanks for the report!!!

Go for it, Mooch.  They're out there! Most people were catching halibut on swimbaits. Some with squid, some plain. Ask the guy in the bait shop to show you the ones that are working.

I saw a guy in a kayak catching rockfish on a Zoom Fluke jerkbait. My friend was using plain squid strips with no lure to catch rockfish. The guy that caught the big Ling was using frozen chovies.

Glad to hear the halis are showing up in my backyard. I'll be going next Friday and Sunday. Were you casting the swim bait or just jigging it? I was planning on slow trolling around the edge of the kelp and just outside the surf zone.

Yeah I saw that nice flatty (wonder how much he paid in gas to catch it from his boat, one pricey fish I bet).  West Cliff Drive is a good spot for big halis like that.  Davenport, adams reef, and soquel point have also produced some of my fifteen pound plus fish.  I love halibut fishing, they attack lures w/ fury. 

Glad to hear the halis are showing up in my backyard. I'll be going next Friday and Sunday. Were you casting the swim bait or just jigging it? I was planning on slow trolling around the edge of the kelp and just outside the surf zone.

Both were caught casting with a spinning rod. I jigged off the bottom on the retrieve.

Yeah I saw that nice flatty (wonder how much he paid in gas to catch it from his boat, one pricey fish I bet).  West Cliff Drive is a good spot for big halis like that.  Davenport, adams reef, and soquel point have also produced some of my fifteen pound plus fish.  I love halibut fishing, they attack lures w/ fury. 

Where on West Cliff do you like to fish for big halibut? I have only caught a small one there by the lighthouse. I did see a guy catch a big one off a longboard around 10 years ago. It was right near shore between Cowell's and the surfer statue.

Natural Bridges b/f they made it into an MLPA but the kelp beds south of it should be just as good if not better.  When we scuba dove the area, we always scared up a few nice halis, gone in a poof of sand.  White scampi's were my lures of choice on that stretch.  Rented a prowler from adventure sports two years ago and pulled two fifteen pounders from that area.

thanks for the great news on the halibut.

I surfed today (monday) and the water was warm warm warm compared to just 2 weeks ago.

that probably helps the bite too.

John

Well, I was moping around yesterday thinking about fish (had to go to Danville for a friend's b-day).

Now I know my plan to hit New Brighton next friday is a good one.  Baby, it's ON.

I will most likely dump crap pots one last time this season on Friday and then hit Capitola and pleasure point for a while before going in. I may be available Sunday for a New Brighton outing if there is enough company. I usually launch at 6-7 am, fish a while and then pick up the pots and hope for the best.