Halibut

These flat fish love winter fishing. In fact, most of all Halibut is a winter fish. They can be caught in 3 feet or 300 feet of water and prefer sandy bottom that are near kelp beds or other structure that hold the bait fish they feed on. Although, in the shallows you can find them lurking just about anywhere, even if no structure is around. In the waters around San Diego there are some big halibut! Both inside San Diego Bay, along the harbor mouth rocks, and on the sand bottom anchorage to the south of the mouth of San Diego Bay. If you want to go further out, and away from the crowds, their are several sand bottom areas next to rock beds that allow you to fish for rockfish, lingcod, and halibut, all at the same time. Winter fishing does not get better than that. Lastly, as I am sure you know, it tastes good! A halibut steak will be your reward if you land one. The pictures here answer the question of can you fish in the winter. The answer is undoubtedly yes.

Halibut are ambush fish, hiding out on the sandy bottoms of SoCal waiting for their next meal to swim by. Keeper Halibut are 22' and over and one fish can make dinner for six. Often recognized as one of the flakiest, and tastiest fish of the sea, you will also enjoy the fight these flatfish can provide. They reach a max weight of around 50lbs!

Normally, they are caught strait off the bottom on the drift. Ask one of our deckhands to tie you up a Halibut rig. On occasion though, Halibut have been known to come off the bottom and chase their food down. Pictured to the left, is a Halibut that bite iron about halfway up.

You will definitely have a good time chasing this Pacific bottom fish.