California Halibut Hunting

[BrianM]

Were you out around Del Monte beach or a "secret" spot? Are there any other spots accessible by shore for flatties? Majority of my hunting have been on the north coast for cabezon & lingcod.

Ericson

Ericson,

Check out this photo of Peter and the 34" halibut he nailed on Saturday off the north end of Del Monte!! We launched our kayaks and anchored in 50FSW, it really wasn't a great spot since there wasn't much sand but I can't complain since I have been eating fresh halibut for the last few days!!! I heard of a better spot now and I plan on going down there Sunday, if you want to go let me know.

Brian M

 

[scubajunkee]

Brian,

That halibut looks YUMMY! Unfortunately I won't be able to dive this weekend. Are you free during the week? The soonest weekend dive I can do is the June 4-5. Let me know if you're free.

Ericson

Ericson,

Check out this photo of Peter and the 34" halibut he nailed on Saturday off the north end of Del Monte!! We launched our kayaks and anchored in 50FSW, it really wasn't a great spot since there wasn't much sand but I can't complain since I have been eating fresh halibut for the last few days!!! I heard of a better spot now and I plan on going down there Sunday, if you want to go let me know.

Brian M

 

[JustAddWater]

Must....get....to.....water....
I'm jealous. I don't see an available weekend to dive until mid July! This is an unbelievable drought. Save a couple of those flatties, please.

 

[elliptikal]

Hey guys, I'm not a spearfisherman/hunter myself but it's quite interesting to read these posts.

I have a question, where i'm from in British Columbia the halibut get pretty freaking huge.

How do you control a fish of that size after it's speared? Do you have a long line attached to a lift bag or something?

Thanks!

 

[BrianM]

Hi Elliptikal,

Since the halibut we hunt are small compared to the monsters you guys have up there, we just use a shooting line with a bungie, usually about 2 or 3 times the length of you gun. When we make a shot, the line can go as far as 12' to 15' and you try to get on top of the fish as fast as possible and use your knife to dispatch him. Some guys have a reel attached to the gun and they can fight him just like a rod angler.

To shoot a big halibut I would imagine you would have to rig your gun like the bluewater hunters do: They use a breakaway device which allows the shooting line to separate from the gun, with the other end attached to one or two floats on the surface. That way you shoot the fish and the spear is connected to the floats by a long float line, and you are left with your gun, unattached to the fish so he can't drag you down. Then you just wait around and follow the floats until he tires out and you can pull him up safely.

Most guys use a breakaway tip while hunting halibut, since they can fight so hard that they will rip a standard flopper tip right out of their flesh. Big fish actually use the shaft as a lever to rip out the tip... with a breakaway tip, the tip is connected to the shaft by a short steel cable and it toggles sideway so it is almost impossible for the fish to rip the tip out of their flesh.

Hey guys, I'm not a spearfisherman/hunter myself but it's quite interesting to read these posts.

I have a question, where i'm from in British Columbia the halibut get pretty freaking huge.

How do you control a fish of that size after it's speared? Do you have a long line attached to a lift bag or something?

Thanks!

 

[elliptikal]

Thanks a lot Brian! Great information. I don't think i'll be trying to hunt one of those big bad boys any time soon though hehe. I know that some of the ones caught around here range from 40lbs up to 300+lbs.

Spearfishing however really interests me and we have pretty good sized rockfish and lingcod around here.

Once again, thank you for the heads up on techniques.

 

[ifukuda]

Personally, I'm not a big fan of spearpoles. But one of my mentors who has over 3000 dives under his belt, uses spearpoles exclusively (and effectively) when hunting halibut. He likes the fact that he can pin a halibut to the sand with the pole.

 

[ifukuda]

I got these two on 6/25 (Sat).

 

[jpurkiss]

"Personally, I'm not a big fan of spearpoles. But one of my mentors who has over 3000 dives under his belt, uses spearpoles exclusively (and effectively) when hunting halibut. He likes the fact that he can pin a halibut to the sand with the pole."

when go hunting for halibut that is the only thing I use, for the same reason.

 

[Raskal311]

hey guys, which beach in socal/OC area can you spear fish? Any? What about Seal Beach?