Halibut hot spots???

Just seeing this picture got me all fired-up 

Anyone have some honey holes to share? (I'm not asking for GPD coordinates - just a general location). I figure since the salmon are shut down, might as well try for a big flattie 

These are some of the productive holes that I know:
Davenport - North or South of the mouth
Santa Cruz - Mile Bouy - or by the light house
Oyster Point (on the Bay) - drift in front of the pier
Pajaro - right next to the pipe

(the pix was from a so-cal board)

 

I'm green with envy and my tongue is waggin'.  I can't wait to get out there and catch some flatties.  Is the pipe at Pajaro visible on the land side?  That was where Chuck's derby winning halibut came from right? 

Is the pipe at Pajaro visible on the land side? 

Not sure about that - but I do know you can see it with sonar. I think you line up at the river mouth - I could be wrong - I've only fished this place once.

And yes, that's where Chuck caught his winning halibut on the Kayak Connection Derby 

That photo above is of a gal named Julie and was taken at Dana Point which was the site of KayakSportFishing.com Derby this past weekend.  Kevin and I went back there again Sunday in hopes of scoring too... but we got no love.

Julie knows what she's doing.  Check this out:

Its not secret but anywhere next to Chef is probably a good bet. 

I will try Tomales and Bidega a few more times this year.  I had takedowns at both places, just never got any hookups.

Whats with the CF#'s ......motorized??

I think they are required if you are guiding but I am not sure.

Whats with the CF#'s ......motorized??

It's a vehicle registration number for any motor driven vessel.  She probably uses an electric trolling motor at times.

Just seeing this picture got me all fired-up 

Anyone have some honey holes to share? (I'm not asking for GPD coordinates - just a general location). I figure since the salmon are shut down, might as well try for a big flattie 

These are some of the productive holes that I know:
Davenport - North or South of the mouth
Santa Cruz - Mile Bouy - or by the light house
Oyster Point (on the Bay) - drift in front of the pier
Pajaro - right next to the pipe

(the pix was from a so-cal board)

The best place to fish for halis is in the jump seat of Julie's FND!

i think the mile bouy out of the capitola pier is a good spot in like 40 feet of water. i once rented a skiff for a morning there and friend hooked a nice halibut and as i went to gaff it the line broke. all i could hear in my head was """"DOHHHHH""""" and off it went. I laughed like hell while he almost cried. hell, i thought it was pretty frickin funny.

Life is like a box of chocolates.... blah blah blah...

that spot seems reliable though since even prty boats make it there and occasionally boat many halibut in a morning. sometimes if the tides up the mile bouy is submerged but if you know which direction you can still find it. i think the rope may have gotten tangled somewhere down on the reef its on.

Its not secret but anywhere next to Chef is probably a good bet. 

I will try Tomales and Bidega a few more times this year.  I had takedowns at both places, just never got any hookups.

Let me know, dude, and I'm there! With this damn multi-species pool going on I plan to hit Bodega a lot after work if the wind is ever calm enough, so I'll let you know when/if it starts poppin'.

Sean and Dustin,

Keep me in the loop on bodega halibut trips.  With my new son it's going to be hard to get away for long distance fishing trips into the land of no cell phone coverage, but I drive past the bay every day on my way to work and I'm sure I have enough WAF to do some local fishing.

Brian

One good thing if the wind is really bad the boats will not be going out the jetty, you could always stay in the Bodega Harbor and try there for hali's..
I have seen a few pulled out adjacent to the coast guard station in the channel by small boats drifting.

Way back when, my buddy used to float tube/fly fish for Halibut inside the HMB Harbor. I did not believe him at first but he had pictures to prove it. He aslo had another picture of his wife wading right next to the HMB launch ramp - holding a 15 pound striper  (they would toss kroc spoons and catch 'em right next to the launch)

Way back when, my buddy used to float tube/fly fish for Halibut inside the HMB Harbor. I did not believe him at first but he had pictures to prove it. He aslo had another picture of his wife wading right next to the HMB launch ramp - holding a 15 pound striper  (they would toss kroc spoons and catch 'em right next to the launch)

for those into striper fishing i did some snorkeling / freediving at cowells beach in santa cruz and came upon a big school of 20-30 inch stripers so i would imagine even larger ones would appear there as well. this was in june of 2005. water was pretty murky but the stripers were at the bottom of the staircase where the surf school folks go in at. wood staircase right into the water close to the start of the pier.

water conditions were murky vis and small waves rolling through every now and then. water was about 4 feet deep max where i saw them and there were bits of kelp and rocks dotting the bottom. lots of surge.

i didnt see anything but perch and the stripers that day.