Surf Halibut Tips

Surf Halibut Tips - Winter

California
December 24, 2008 bySinjin Kim

http://www.surffishinginsider.com/wp...alibut-002.jpgAlthough the halibut bite begins to slow down during the colder winter months of December through February, halibut can be readily caught during the coldest of winter days!

A few facts to understand…
Fish are cold blooded creatures. When the water cools, their metabolism slows down causing them to become sluggish and at times down right difficult to catch. Moreover, with a slower metabolism fish such as halibut do not need to feed as often. However, it is during the winter months some of the largest halibut can be caught. Why?

During the winter months, egg-filled female halibut have one thing in mind: to incubate their eggs and nourish it to the best of their abilities by feeding whenever possible.
In open faced beaches such as Huntington and Santa Monica, the shallow areas of the surfline is more prone to colder currents and large wave breaks and winds have a tendency of cooling the surface water temperatures more than stretches of beach that are protected. Targeting winter halibut in areas where the water is less violent and finding finer/softer/darker sand is key. The combination of calmer waters and better sand quality enables that specific region to warm up quicker with sunlight exposure. Why is this important?

Sunbathe…
Larger breeding halibut situated in their deeper “holes” often times move into the shallows during the daylight hours (as long as they are not overly pressured by various factors such as boats, surfers etc…) to warm their bodies to help incubate their eggs properly and perhaps grab a meal if the opportunity arises. Similar to freshwater largemouth bass, halibut are often found “sunbathing” in the shallows for the first couple of hours of sunrise and as long as their is just enough wind to disrupt the surface water, halibut may sunbathe throughout the day.

Slow down…
During the spring and winter months, the action can be furious as halibut compete for forage. During these times, faster presentations such as spoons, swimbaits and the highly regarded Lucky Craft hardbaits are recommended. usually be the difference between catching that sluggish halibut and going home empty.

Dropshot Rig…
There is no better presentation than the dropshop rig to catch winter halibut. The ability to “work” a plastic offering with the slowest of movements while giving enough “action” of the plastic to gain interest from a halibut makes the dropshot rig a true winner!I highly encourage fishing with larger 5″ soft jerkbaits smeared with a scent such as Smelly Jelly. My personal favorite is a Berkley 5" Power Bait Saltwater Jerk Shad in the Pearl color laced with Smelly Jelly’s “Bass Feast.”
The reason why I prefer a larger offering is to first discourage smaller “pancake” sized halibut from biting and to give a larger halibut a substantial meal to encourage the fish to move (become active) and ultimately bite!

Importance of scents…
With cold air temperatures and numbing of the hands, we as angler lose sensitivity. When halibut bite the dropshot rig, it is usually a subtle “tick” and with numbed hands it becomes challenging to detect a soft bite.
By applying scent, halibut are less likely to “spit” an offering and will give an angler more time to detect a bite and set the hook.

Sand and beach…
During my days as a tournament bass angler, I learned a great amount of information in regards to how fish relate to various types of structure during a specific time of year. During the winter months, my tournament partners informed me that areas such as red clay banks heat up quicker than other parts of the lake and that these areas are often abundant with fish sunbathing and a foraging.

Taking the “red clay” concept to the surf was a natural thing for me to do. Halibut and largemouth bass are both predatory fish, they both spawn during the same time of the year and react in many similar ways.
In areas such as Stearn’s Wharf/East Beach in Santa Barbara and the middle sections of Long Beach, darker and finer sand qualities can be found. Along with the sand quality, these areas are somewhat protected from colder currents coming from the north and due to its protected characteristics, the waters in the shallows will warm up quicker than other stretches of beach’ providing a welcoming environment for egg-filled halibut.

Tides…
The same concept for spring and fall halibut seasons is used for winter halibut fishing with one BIG exception: slower the better.
Slower the better? To explain, in the winter months I look for conditions where a high volume of water slowly recedes to a bottom low to .5 to 1 feet. This is important as it will allow enough time for the sun to warm the shallow water and a high enough volume of water for the halibut to feel secure enough to remain shallow.

For instance, if an a.m. high tide peak is predicted at 6 feet at 7a.m. (sunrise) and bottoms out (low tide) to 1 foot by noon, there is a 5 hour window between the high and low tides. In this type of tidal setting, I will focus my efforts on the first half hour of the outgoing tidal shift as there will be enough volume of water to keep the fish shallow.

Heatwave…

Californians are truly bless to live in a climate that allows for summer like conditions even during the dead of winter. When a winter heat wave passes the region, get out there and fish! The sudden increase in water temperature will usually ignite the fish into a feeding mode.

Cloud cover…
Believe it or not, evening cloud cover keeps an area a bit warmer during the night hours. If the weather man predicts thick cloud cover during the p.m. hours diminishing into clear skies in the a.m. hours, this slight increase in temperature will often times be enough to get sluggish fish into biting and/or drawing more and larger fish into the shallows.

Conclusion…
Don’t expect to go out to a stretch of beach in the winter months and catch 5 or even 10 legal halibut. Leave those epic moments for the spring and fall. During the winter months fishing for halibut is noticeably slower than other times of years and ideal conditions are often hard to come by, but by paying attention to tidal and climate changes and selecting an appropriate beach, anglers can venture out and catch quality size halibut while other surf fishermen catch traditional winter fish such as barred surf perch.