Monterey 10-15: Sanddabs/Halibut

Planning to try fishing Monterey this Saturday for the first time targeting sand dab/halibut (maybe squid?). The conditions seem quite nice and I'm planning to launch from the Coast Guard Pier and heading out about a mile to 120+ FOW based on previous suggestions for Sand Dabs. Welcome any company or additional tips for fishing this part of Monterey.

I've found sand dabs slightly above the Red Buoy
Fairly consistent
I prefer a four-hook sabiki with larger hooks, like #6
Tip with small piece of squid, shrimp or anchovy
Don't forget a pair of needle nose pliers, sometimes they swallow the hooks deep

Good luck, send one down for bait
Let us know how ya do

Heard the squid boats were working that zone too earlier this week too

Squid boats have been here since August. Still no seabass.

Thanks for the suggestion of fishing a bit above the Red Buoy, I'll definitely check it out and make a report. Also very encouraged by squid boats working the area, would love to catch some fresh to eat as well as send some down for bait. Anyone know if sand dabs have a bite at all or its fine to handle them bare-handed?

Fresh san dab. Yum! Geetums. Isopods might nip 

Anyone know if sand dabs have a bite at all or its fine to handle them bare-handed?

They have small mouths, their fins might poke ya tho
They tend to flip and flop around quite a bit too

Fresh san dab. Yum! Geetums. Isopods might nip 

Hah, yeah dont let them Isopods get a hold of ya.  Otherwise they are easy to handle. Be sure to use bait!

Good to know, I'll actually pay attention to what I'm grabbing from my bait bucket. Just googled the beaks on squid and I definitely wouldn't want to blindly grab one of those.

Fresh san dab. Yum! Geetums. Isopods might nip 

Hah, yeah dont let them Isopods get a hold of ya.  Otherwise they are easy to handle. Be sure to use bait!

Planning to try fishing Monterey this Saturday for the first time targeting sand dab/halibut (maybe squid?). The conditions seem quite nice and I'm planning to launch from the Coast Guard Pier and heading out about a mile to 120+ FOW based on previous suggestions for Sand Dabs. Welcome any company or additional tips for fishing this part of Monterey.

How did you do?

Was a long drive so was on the water around 7:45, went out towards the red buoy to test out some spots based on Navionics terrain. First spot got instant nibbles and pulled up 3 relatively small sand dabs but was very happy to see they were out there. Continued to try out different spots and pulled up on average ~2 sand dabs or rockfish while scouting. Kept several of the smaller ones for live bait which I sent down a few times. Got a few rockfish and then got a huge hit that came off, based on the teeth marks on the sand dab it must have been a good sized ling (assuming based on my depth of ~160 unless halibut are that deep too). Weather stayed pretty decent so I stayed out searching for new areas until around 4pm. Towards the end I found a spot much east of the buoy that produced 3-4 dabs per drop and at a decent size.

Haven't counted all of the sand dabs but I think I ended with around 30 not including those for live bait. Overall had a great time and was happy to find that the dabs are out there. One thing to note: I tried the weight on bottom and on top, ended up getting tangled a good amount and once I switched to just the weight on the bottom my hook up rate got a lot better.

When people mention fishing the hotel for halibut which hotel are they referring to? Ended up dragging some live bait back to the harbor but I was going through pretty deep water to get back quicker.

Thanks for the report Pescgatokitchen.  Glad you found those tasty Dabs.  The hotel often referred to is the one next to the  condos in Marina.