hey im a first time shore fisher. im looking to shore fish / goleta pier fish / take out a small float in the goleta beach to ucsb campus point beach area for halibut/bass. can anyone please give me advice on what areas to try, how deep i should be fishing, what lures to use, and any other advice that would help me? thank you!

Hey Josh,
I had fished Goleta beach for a couple of years before I knew about the bounty of inshore halibut there. A couple summers ago we were just hanging out late afternoon and a guy comes walking down the beach with 2 legals in hand. Shocked, I asked where he got them. He simply pointed to a fallen tree down the beach and said "Toss in some Pacific Chovy colored swim baits, and you'll get em!" I didn't have "chovy", but whatever similar pattern I used was good enough, second cast I hooked my first halibut ever! It was 21", and let me tell you releasing that guy was one of the hardest things I've had to do haha. You will get into lots of shorts, but the legals are definitely there with em! Swimbaits seem to be the bait of choice for halibut shore fishing, and these two links will tell you most of what you need to know to catch plenty! Good luck!

http://www.swimbait.com/techniques/halibut.htm
http://www.swimbait.com/techniques/surf.htm

thanks so much for your help!

No problem!