Halibut Help San Diego/Mission Bay - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

FishNinjaY · 04-06-2013, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steveooo

I think a bigger factor for catching halibut is where you are are fishing, rather than what rig you are fishing with.

Halibut move more than people give them credit for. Try different depths. I've caught them from about 100ft deep, as shallow as 5 feet. As mentioned previously, they are ambush predators. Bait fish like the structure, halibut like the sandy flat bottom, but they need to eat the bait fish. Concentrate on fishing the sandy bottom areas near structure. These will be the areas that the halibut will wait to ambush the stray baitfish that strays too far away from the structure. When halibut fishing, I always try to locate structure fist, then find the flat bottom nearby.

this makes some good sense.. good tips on this thread!

Yesterday at DP, I caught a pretty big lizardfish (my skunkbuster).. I should have pinned that on and tossed it out there! Same area, my son caught a decent halibut on a dropper loop anchovy, pretty close to the rocky shore. Last year, he caught his biggest halibut (about 19") on a 3" swimbait, only about 10 yards off shore in LB.

Here's a pic of some halibut rigs.. not my pic, but maybe useful..

jbaker · 04-06-2013, 09:22 AM

My go to Hali spot in SD bay is off the end of shelter Island. head out to the bait barge, fill up and drift back towards shelter island. there is a tower in the middle of the channel going behind shelter island and just behind the tower is a small hump. fish that hump going with the tide. if that dosent score a butt I'll head over to just off the tip of shelter and work my way towards the first moored sail boats. another good area is across the main channel, look for a small rock jetty before the big navy fuel docks. there is a small beach right there i have had success on. cast all the way up the beach and work a swim bait back out. the navy boats will ask you to leave but early in the am I've fished it for hours. another good spot is out of tidelands on Coronado. Behind the first bride piling, or between the channel and the moored boats. Watch your FF and look for the "steps". the bottom kind of goes from 46' to 35' to 20' to 14'. I like to drift one step at a time. again cover ground. I'll drift from the hotel dock to the bridge then reset 50' farther out and do it again. I've caught halis in about every corner of the bay but these two spots are my most productive. if your going to keep them I would suggest concentrating on shelter island out to the mouth. Ive got some nasty looking and smelling fish back by the bridge. (not always the case, they do migrate) Good luck and keep trying.

beef78 · 04-09-2013, 08:30 PM

Nailed it! Thanks everyone. Fun fight, I think I need to get a gaff if I am going to land anything bigger than this one. I think it was right about keeper size, but I forgot my measuring tape and didn't want to risk having a short fish.

theluckypig · 04-09-2013, 08:34 PM

Biggameaddict · 04-09-2013, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beef78

Nailed it! Thanks everyone. Fun fight, I think I need to get a gaff if I am going to land anything bigger than this one. I think it was right about keeper size, but I forgot my measuring tape and didn't want to risk having a short fish.

Feels good dont it

FishNinjaY · 04-09-2013, 09:18 PM

Well, that didn't take long.. congrats!

What technique/location/spell ended up working for you finally?

Nice pic..

beef78 · 04-09-2013, 09:33 PM

I didn't really have to change much, I was just letting the wind push me instead of going with the current. When the tide was going out, the wind was blowing me inland. I just had to paddle against the wind so my bait would approach the fish at their heads instead of sneaking up on them from behind. Fish face into the current so your bait needs to go into the current.
I was using a dropper loop with a trap hook. I caught this nice one, two smaller ones and had a really nice one on the line, but he shook the hook before I even saw him.

04-06-2013, 09:22 AM	#2
jbaker Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Redding Ca Posts: 85	My go to Hali spot in SD bay is off the end of shelter Island. head out to the bait barge, fill up and drift back towards shelter island. there is a tower in the middle of the channel going behind shelter island and just behind the tower is a small hump. fish that hump going with the tide. if that dosent score a butt I'll head over to just off the tip of shelter and work my way towards the first moored sail boats. another good area is across the main channel, look for a small rock jetty before the big navy fuel docks. there is a small beach right there i have had success on. cast all the way up the beach and work a swim bait back out. the navy boats will ask you to leave but early in the am I've fished it for hours. another good spot is out of tidelands on Coronado. Behind the first bride piling, or between the channel and the moored boats. Watch your FF and look for the "steps". the bottom kind of goes from 46' to 35' to 20' to 14'. I like to drift one step at a time. again cover ground. I'll drift from the hotel dock to the bridge then reset 50' farther out and do it again. I've caught halis in about every corner of the bay but these two spots are my most productive. if your going to keep them I would suggest concentrating on shelter island out to the mouth. Ive got some nasty looking and smelling fish back by the bridge. (not always the case, they do migrate) Good luck and keep trying. __________________ A SoCal to NorCal transplant Hobie Fishing Team Headwaters Adventure Company Kayak Fishing team

04-09-2013, 08:30 PM	#3
beef78 Large Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: San Diego Posts: 316	Nailed it! Thanks everyone. Fun fight, I think I need to get a gaff if I am going to land anything bigger than this one. I think it was right about keeper size, but I forgot my measuring tape and didn't want to risk having a short fish.

04-09-2013, 08:34 PM	#4
theluckypig Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: San Pedro Posts: 694

04-09-2013, 09:18 PM	#6
FishNinjaY Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Seal Beach, CA Posts: 428	Well, that didn't take long.. congrats! What technique/location/spell ended up working for you finally? Nice pic..

04-09-2013, 09:33 PM	#7
beef78 Large Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: San Diego Posts: 316	I didn't really have to change much, I was just letting the wind push me instead of going with the current. When the tide was going out, the wind was blowing me inland. I just had to paddle against the wind so my bait would approach the fish at their heads instead of sneaking up on them from behind. Fish face into the current so your bait needs to go into the current. I was using a dropper loop with a trap hook. I caught this nice one, two smaller ones and had a really nice one on the line, but he shook the hook before I even saw him.