Float tubed West Beach in Santa Barbara this morning from 6:00 - 9:30 am. Most of the floating weeds that were there Wednesday that made fishing tough were gone but the very murky water was still there. I started in the spot I've been getting fish lately (just to the East of Stean's Wharf) and picked up 3 halibut with one legal (24 inches) within the first hour. After that I explored around in deeper water on both the East and West side of the wharf for nothing. Going back to shallow water, this time on the West side of the wharf I picked up a short seabass.

All fish were caught on the 3 inch Mackerel colored Big Hammer, 3/16 oz. Assalt Darter Head and Pro-Cure Calico Cocktail. All fish released.

The first fish I caught had tail rot so bad that it didn't even really have a tail - just a stump. It was sad. A reminder - if you're planning to release halibut - DO NOT NET THEM unless you have one of the rubber catch and release nets. Regular nets do a lot of damage - especially on halibut. A BogaGrip or one of those Berkeley knock-offs is the way to go.