| May 2, 2006 - West Beach - Santa Barbara
I heard some halibut had moved into the West Beach area so I thought I'd give it a shot. Got down there around 6:00 pm. Started off with a bang. Missed about 3 or 4 strikes (or at least what may have been strikes) and then finally hooked up with the first short flattie of the evening. A couple of casts later I got another one. Switched colors and got a couple more. In the meantime my 9 year old nephew Zack is getting them just as fast as I am while my 6 year old nephew Ryan gets his first halibut ever at around 19 inches. I ended up with 7 halibut and I believe Zack got just as many if not one or two more. We didn't get any legals but Zack did get one that was close at 21 inches.
Most of the fish were caught using a medium speed straight grind but I got several on a technique I learned last year while fishing for speckled trout in Nag's Head. Basically reeling at a medium/fast speed while sharply jerking the rod every few seconds. It's a great technique but the fish almost always hit on the sink and it's difficult to feel the strikes.
All fish were caught using 3 inch Big Hammers rigged on 3/16 oz. Super Shad jig heads and Pro-Cure's new "Krill" flavored gel. Swimbait colors that caught fish: Sara's Trout, City Shrimp, Pierce's Perch, Sea Wolf, and Margarita.
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