Another Legal Halibut!

Surf Fishing Report (1/30)

In my last surf fishing report, I provided an overview of the surf conditions for the week to come. I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t follow my own advice and test my luck. I was free Thursday morning and I went! Here’s the Report (Coronado State Beach).

Fishing Conditions

At 6 am, the air temperature was 61 degrees and by 11 it was a nice 67. I would call the sky mostly sunny with some streaky patches throughout the morning. As a pleasant surprise, the wind had died down completely from the evening before. The water was listed at a chilling 61 degrees Fahrenheit, but, I was wearing my surf fishing waders so I remained dry and warm all throughout the session. The swells were listed at 2-3 feet and I definitely saw a few 7-9 footers farther out. Regardless, they were so far out it didn’t affect the fishability too much. We fished an incoming tide: (2.4 feet at 6:18 am) and (4 ft at 11:41 am).

First light was at 6:18 am and Sunrise wasn’t until 6:45 am. As I stated in my last surf fishing report, Thursday made for some really solid fishing conditions. The combination of a mild tidal swing and low swells made for easy-to-fish conditions.

Coronado (1/30)

We began fishing at 6:15 am as I started with the Lucky Craft and my buddy started with sand crabs. I’ve been pretty committed to targeting halibut this winter because I figure while the bite isn’t great, I might as well shoot for quality over quantity. Reference this list of the best surf fishing lures. For the first hour, I casted, and casted, and casted some more… nothing. Kyle, on the other hand, had 3 perch by now (2 small ones on sand crabs and another 15″ beast on frozen anchovy!). So after a little more than an hour, I switched to anchovy.

I give it a few soaks and still… nothing. Then I decide to crossover Kyle and fish to his right rather than left. I cast out as deep as I can on the back side of a deep whole that was visible from above. About 20 seconds into my “soak”, I feel my line tighten up just a little. I might be stuck on some shells or maybe I’m right at the edge of the deep whole I was talking about. So I give my line a tug (enough to test what I’m stuck on), and I feel a quick head shake. I give it a wrist-hook set to make sure but I’m still stuck.

Stuck on What?

It feels weird and now I’m on high alert. Right there after, my line goes as tight as it’s been in the past 2 and a half months! My drag ticker starts screaming and I’m stoked! All I can do is wait for a chance to work it back in. So I wait, and my opportunity comes. After the first run, he had one little quick burst left in him and then I was fighting the current. By this time, I know exactly what’s on the other side of my line. I finally beach the fish and let out a sigh of relief. It’s a Halibut, and it looks legal, but it’s close.

We measure it up, and it’s right there… 22.25″. I know that’s a legal Hali, but I decide to let this one go for next time. When it’s that close, I don’t like to take my chances on coming across a Warden having a bad day. Who knows… maybe I’ll catch him again in 2 years when he’s 25 inches!

Conditions Forecast:

Before I go, I’ll provide a quick run down for the upcoming week. In terms of swells, your best days to go would be Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this coming week. By all means… avoid fishing on Monday. The swells could pass the 10 foot mark on Monday and fishing in those conditions is NOT fun! In terms of tidal conditions, if you could swing an evening session, that’s going to provide better overall conditions. Evenings are tough come winter time though because it gets cold and dark quickly and on top of that you’re fighting traffic back home.

Either way, mornings will still provide good opportunities on those days. The only possible issue is with large tidal swings (as predicted), this could possibly churn up sea weed and make the current a little less manageable.

Best of luck to all of you and I hope this next week (and the last) treats you well. Tight Lines!