Well Jason, I finally got my halibut season started. I normally start a few weeks earlier but every time I ask someone to go this month, all they want to do is chase the Reds.
I solved that problem today by going solo. The plan was to fish San Diego bay for halibut , taking advantage of some nice tidal swings.
I put in at Shelter Island around 6 then motored over for a nice scoop of 4"-5" deens. On my way out the channel I metered a lot of bait near the bottom in the middle of the channel. Swung back around and five minutes later I've got my first keeper of the year in the box (24 pounds fresh out of the water). Scale said #22.6 after she was bled out at the end of the day.
I worked the area until slack tide at 9, for two more shorts, 2 octopus and a 4 pound Starfish. During the slack I moved out to the area in front of the Hotel Del for my second keeper, an 8.3 pounder.
Around 10am I move back to the channel to work the out going tide. I picked up two more shorts in the middle of the channel before moving in the bay to check out a couple of the old standby spots. I picked up 5 more shorts and a bunch of bass on the inside before calling it a day at 12:30.
11 halibut in 6 hours. Not bad for my first real effort at the halibut this year.
Mike