Halibut addiction

[YakDout]

Originally Posted by Mr. NiceGuy

QUESTION TO EVERYONE: If you don't have live bait, what are your favorite backups for targeting halibut?

I've tried Luckycraft's, hard plastic artificial trouts, soft plastic swim baits, curly tails, chrome diamond jigs, big weighted plastic glowing rubber squids with LED lights, hoochie skirts, and random other things. I don't have any favorite backups to live bait.

For me, halibut can be a by-catch when not expected. When targeting halibut in SD Bay, it's not so easy to avoid collateral damage to bass that suck down the trap hook

For artificial I like a drop shot with a small torpedo weight. 1-2 oz and a 4” MC slug. I use a Vmc inline hook and I tie two separate knots to the eye of the hook instead of the Palomar knot with a long tag for your weight. The inline hook with two knots keeps the bait from rolling as opposed to the palomar knot where you have the plastic rolling on the side and looking un natural. This is especially successful in the surf and I do very well with it. My go to color for halibut is white with a second choice in a smelt pattern. The action on this setup is incredible with even a little current.

I think the biggest key to halibut fishing is finding their depth. If I’m on my yak, in open ocean, ill start shallow because it’s a closer paddle, and make multiple drifts no longer than 30 minutes at that depth then work my way deeper about 20-40 feet at a time. Learning the behavior and knowing when they come shallow to spawn is an invaluable lesson.