Float tubed West Beach in Santa Barbara again this afternoon from 5:00 - 7:30. Started just to the west of Stearn's Wharf and immediately picked up the first legal halibut (just over 22 inches) on the 3 inch Mackerel colored Big Hammer. Couldn't get another bite on that side so I kicked over to the East side of the Wharf and picked up a couple shorts. Then, as if someone flipped a switch, baitfish started going off. It was nuts, bait everywhere, I could feel my swimbait bumping into the baitfish. I even saw a couple short halibut get airborne chasing the bait. One must have jumped about 8 feet and was 4 feet above the water. The weirdest thing was, while all that was going on I couldn't get bit to save my life. I tried everything - three different colors of 3 inch swimbaits, two different colors of larger swimbaits, the Rebel Minnow, and the Excalibur Long A. Then around 7:00 it died down and I caught my last two fish including a 24 incher.

Made a feable attempt at the seabass around the receiver for about 15 minutes for nothing.

Did you get a good look at the bait? I'd bet you anything they were grunion. The runs this week in SD have apparently been pretty heavy. They seem to school up tight to the beach around nearby structure while they're waiting for their midnight orgy. Head back down there tonight around midnight and I bet the grunion will be out in force. Great report too - gotta love it when those halibut get airborne.

TL,
Adam

>Did you get a good look at the bait? I'd bet you anything
>they were grunion. The runs this week in SD have apparently
>been pretty heavy. They seem to school up tight to the
>beach around nearby structure while they're waiting for
>their midnight orgy. Head back down there tonight around
>midnight and I bet the grunion will be out in force. Great
>report too - gotta love it when those halibut get airborne.
>
>TL,
>Adam


Hey Swimbait,

Your closing remark...

Crazy Flying Halibut...Would you mind if I used that to name my first fishing boat? I laughed my culo off when I read it and absolutely love it! Priceless!

Aztecwin

That's interesting about the fish boiling. I saw the same thing at Goleta once. Dozens and dozens of halibut, mostly small, boiling and jumping clear out of the water. It was totally nuts for about an hour. I thought the fishing would be wide but I caught a few right at the start and a few towards the end and that was it, plus they were all shorts. That particular day was very very calm and the fish were boiling mostly in 2 to 5 feet of water. The fish that I did catch I caught mostly by retrieving on a straight fast wind on the surface. Weird but interesting to see. People on the beach were actually standing around watching all the fish jumping. When I told them they were halibut most didn't believe me. But when a fish would go completely airborne it was hard to argue with it. Crazy flying halibut :-)

I didn't get a close look but knew about the grunion run so I'm sure that's what they were. There were two guys surf fishing. When the one halibut came flying out of the water and jumped like 8 feet I thought the guy on shore was going to pass out. He couldn't stop talking about it. The fish was probably about 17-18 inches.

The guys surf fishing report: One guy was using a tiny swimbait and was there before I was and left while all the fish were going nuts (probably because he couldn't get bit either). He got half a dozen fish or so - one of them looked legal. The other guy was using a big swimbait (I think it was one of those Storm swimbaits) and didn't get anything (except shocked to see that Leapin' Halibut :)) When I got out to run down to the receiver I showed him the 3" Hammers and he was a little surprised that I get halibut on something so small but he saw me pull the 24 incher just a few minutes earlier. I gave him a few to try out.

Took a drive to Goleta Rock at lunch today to contemplate some girl drama (better some girl drama than no girl drama :) ). Anyway, I saw a short halibut (probably about 16 inches) jump from the water. There was bait or grunion in the water because I saw two birds working the area about 30 yds. from the rock. I wished I had my rod in the car. . .

maybe you guys can help me out. i want to start surf fishing for halibut and i hear everyone talking about these big hammers. what are they and where can you buy them? also, how do you guys rig/fish them? do you put them on a jig head and swim them slowly in or what? i would appreciate any help anyone could give. also i was thinking of using my freshwater big-bait rod for this. i'm using a 7ft loomis with a calcutta 250 and 20 lb maxima ultragreen. is this going to be too heavy or light? thanks in advance for any help.

They are swimbaits - basically rubber fish tails you rig on a lead head. Here is the website:

http://www.swimbait.com

For information about rigging and fishing go to the techniques section:

http://www.swimbait.com/techniques

There is a dealer listing on the site here:

http://www.swimbait.com/dealers.htm

If you can't find a dealer in your area you can place an order from the website.

thanks for the links. that helped me out a bunch. now i'm starting to understand alot more. now as far as finding beaches with structure how can i do that. are there any maps i can check out? also are there any good areas around ventura or should i go more up north to santa barbara to look for places? thanks again

That question is a little more difficult to answer. Primarily because at different times and conditions I've been able to find halibut at nearly every beach I try. I've really only fished beaches in the Santa Barbara area but I've heard good things about Leo Carillo and Carpinteria State Beach.

My favorite beaches are Goleta (East and West), West (near Stearn's Wharf), & Ledbetter. I've fished Sands and Haskell's but only for perch so far.

I'd been fishing for halibut in the Oxnard area beaches and not having success. Got to wondering if it was me (poor technique?). So, I went to Stearn's Wharf, threw a Frenzy minnow from the beach and whadayaknow, I got a halibut (short)! I think that for this time of year, it may be better to go toward S.B. than fish the Ventura/Oxnard area. While fishing in the Oxnard area for corbina in summer, I have seen a few nice halibuts caught from the surf. Just not recently...