Halibut Fishing: Best Rigs, Rods, Bait and Surf Fishing Tackle

California halibut are one of the most sought after species to catch while shore fishing. They elude many and require time and knowledge to catch with consistency. This article will explain where to catch halibut from shore, the best baits and lures for halibut fishing, the best rigs for halibut fishing and the best rods and gear and tackle. We’ll also give you the rundown on the species and identification, habitat, range etc.

Table of Contents:

1. California Halibut ID and Info
   • California Halibut vs. Pacific Halibut
   • How Big Do Halibut Get
2. Surf Fishing for Halibut
3. Best Bait for Halibut Fishing
   • Live Bait
   • Frozen Bait
   • Halibut Rigs
4. Best Lures for Halibut Fishing
5. Rods and Reels
6. Where to Catch Halibut
7. When to Fish for Halibut
8. Gear and Tackle
9. Tips and Tricks

California Halibut Identification and Information

Before we get into halibut fishing and what it takes to successfully catch halibut in the surf, here’ some general information on California halibut.

Quite possibly the easiest fish to identify in the surf, the California halibut may be one of the toughest fish to catch. It’s also one of the most coveted catch by surf anglers across the state. Halibut have a brown coloration intermixed with white and black spots on it’s top-side, while the underside is usually all white.

Halibut begin their lives as free-floating eggs and before surpassing their larvae stage, they have one eye on either side of their body. After about 1-month, the eye on the white side will have moved completely over to the top/dark side.

Legal Limit (#)	(3) fish north of Point Sur, Monterey County, and (5) fish south of Point Sur, Monterey County
Legal Size (in)	22-inches
Record Size (ft/lb)	5-feet/72-pounds
Fighting Strength (-/10)	8/10
Range	Magdalena Bay, Baja California, to the Quillayute River, British Columbia
Habitat	Shallow/Sandy (nearby structure helps)

California Halibut vs Pacific Halibut

Commonly confused with the Pacific halibut, the California halibut can be distinguished by a few characteristics. First, California halibut can actually be “right-eyed” or “left-eyed” while the Pacific halibut is always right-eyed. This refers to the direction in which the fish’s head is pointed in relation to an “eyes-over-mouth” position. The picture below depicts a right-eyed halibut as the fish is pointed to the viewers right when the fish is “upright”.

Second, the Pacific halibut usually has about 3 more dorsal “spines” than that of the California halibut. According to the California Department of fish and Wildlife, the California halibut usually has fewer than 77 while the Pacific halibut can have more than 80.

	California Halibut	Pacific Halibut
Max Length	70-pounds	8-feet
Max Weight	5-feet	500-pounds
Depth	Surf Zone – 100-feet	Around 600-feet
Range	Magdalena Bay, Baja California, to the Quillayute River, British Columbia	Santa Barbara, California, to Nome, Alaska
Eyes	Right and Left	Always Right

How Big Do Halibut Get?

While California halibut usually cap off at around 30-pounds, they’re said to be capable of growing to 5-feet long, weighing just over 70-lbs, and living some 30-years! More impressive is the Pacific halibut. It frequently surpasses 100-pounds and the 5-foot mark is considered average. They can reach lengths of up to 8-feet and grow to nearly 500-pounds.

Surf Fishing for Halibut

Alright, so now that we got the general info down, let’s talk about surf fishing for halibut. To have success targeting halibut in the surf, you need to at least know the answer to the following two questions. Where can you catch halibut? And what’s the best bait for halibut? With all this information explained in detail, you’ll be able to piece the criteria together and discover the best beaches to catch halibut near you.

Best Bait For Halibut Fishing

There are two main method of targeting halibut from shore. First is fishing with lures. This is more practical as it’s a very easy to access “bait” option. The next is surf fishing with bait. The best bait for halibut is live bait like grunion and sardine and anchovy. But, these are tough to come by when fishing from shore. Let’s start with bait and we’ll then tak about lures.

Using Live Bait for Halibut Fishing

Live bait will always be the most productive form of fishing (in my opinion) as you don’t need to trick the fish. You’re pretty much trading the fish a meal for a fight. This is much more commonly utilized when fishing from boats and even kayaks after catching bait fish with a Sabiki rig.

There is one really unique opportunity that we as So Cal anglers have that many other surf fishermen don’t have. Grunion runs! When they’re in season, I strongly recommend fishing with grunion during a run as they are perfect halibut bait. Here’s a really good resource on grunion runs that I wrote up a few months ago. I detail when and where to go, including what characteristics to look for in beaches and what tactics to use.

Frozen Bait

The last “bait” tactic for halibut fishing that I’ll talk about is one that I here few people ever using but also one that’s been pretty clutch. Using frozen bait such as Anchovy or Sardine has produced many legal halibut for myself and my buddy and it’s about as easy as it gets. With frozen bait, we catch a wider variety of fish, but halibut are in that variety, and you don’t need to worry about losing $20 lures. You can get these at your local bait shop for 5 or 6 bucks, and a bag should last you two sessions.

Best Rig for Halibut Fishing from Shore

The best halibut rig is very dependent on what method you’re using. Here are four common rigs and when you’d use each.

1. Carolina Rig (with stinger hook/rig) – Frozen anchovy
2. Carolina Rig (without stinger hook/rig) – Live grunion
3. Texas Rig – Swimbaits
4. No Rig – Jerkbaits
5. Dropshot – Fluke

For more information on when to use which rig for all species in the surf, check out my article on the best rigs for surf fishing.

I like to use what’s called a stinger hook when fishing with frozen anchovies for 2 reasons. First, they fall off pretty easily if you cast to quickly. But, second, sometimes halibut will bite the back side of your bait. In that case, your stinger hook will do its job and make sure you don’t get robbed.

Best Lures For Halibut Fishing

When it comes to the best lures for halibut fishing, there isn’t really a “consensus” anymore. The Lucky Craft FM 110 used to have my vote, but then I found a better jerkbait (see in the linked article above) and I also began surf fishing with swimbaits. Where the LC used to be everyone’s go-to, swimbaits now offer an incredible advantage to jerkbaits in that they can be fished weedless and snagless in rocky reefy structure. This type of structure is where you’ll have the best success halibut fishing from shore. Here’s an in depth break down I wrote comparing jerkbaits vs swimbaits for surf fishing.

You’ll want to test out different retrieves and see what works best for you. For jerkbaits, I typically like a slow and steady retrieve. For swimbaits I like the same but I add some twitches here and there. Test out what works best for you though. And again, fish those sandy flats in between or adjacent to rocky structure. I know it sucks losing expensive tackle, and it pains me to say it, but fish where you’d be scared you might lose your lure. It’ll pay off… no pun intended. Try and get that lure right up against rocks and right between that 2-foot gap of reefy structure. I stand by this rule.

Best Rod and Reel for Halibut Fishing

The best rod for halibut fishing from shore depends on where you’re fishing and what you’re using for bait or lure. In general, the best rod for surf fishing for halibut is the Okuma SST. But, I have two different models of this same rod and use each with different lures.

Best Rod for Halibut Surf Fishing

For my main halibut fishing setup, I like the Okuma SST 9′ HA rod rated for 1/2 – 2 oz. This is for swimbaits (1/4 – 1 oz) while fishing heavy structure areas. If I’m using jerkbaits (5/8 – 3/4 oz) and fishing more sandy areas with less structure, I like the 8’6″ MHA version.

For an in-depth article on the best surf fishing rods and why I use each rod for each style of surf fishing, read the linked article.

Best Reel for Halibut Surf Fishing

As for the reel I like to use when targeting halibut from shore, I like the Penn Spinfisher VI 3500. I spool this with 30lb braided line and tie a 3 foot leader of 30lb fluorocarbon

There are some other options and if you’re interested, you can check out the linked article in the image above.

Where to Fish for Halibut

You’ll hear many different opinions on this and the fact is, you can catch halibut at many different types of beaches with varying structure. I’ve caught halibut on flat sandy beaches without any hard structure within miles. On the other hand, I’ve done the same at beaches with rocks and reefs near by too.

It’s tough when you get mixed information, and that’s one of the reasons why it took me so long to figure out halibut fishing. It’s true that you might end up catching a monster halibut in the middle of a flat sandy beach with nothing unique about it. Heck, you might even get on a killer bite too. But, there is a secret to having consistent success when surf fishing for halibut.

The Secret:

The secret is putting these concepts together. Halibut are an ambush predator. They’re also very flat and blend in with sand quite well as they have the ability to slightly alter their appearance in color. That being said, rocks and other structure in the water make for perfect ambush opportunities as halibut can further blend in and hide from their prey before attacking. But almost equally important, these structures actually draw in bait fish too. This is where everything comes together.

Find the structure… and the sand… together

The best spots to catch halibut from shore are where sand meets structure. Halibut mainly prey on smaller bait fish like grunion, sardine, anchovy and other similar species. Structure like rocks, piers, reefs, and even jetties attract bait fish and provide perfect ambush opportunities. Okay… so what about the flat sandy bottom? Halibut are flat and they usually sit on the sand or something else relatively flat so they can comfortably and easily blend in. For purposes of surf fishing, that something flat, almost 100% of the time, is sand, but can also be reef shelfs etc.

Where am I going with this? You need to find areas where there’s structure like rocks and reefs that are adjacent to, or have sandy flats within or around them. These are the ideal spots that have the potential to turn into honey-hole halibut fishing opportunities.

The image above is a prime example. There’s a lot of rocks in this zone, but there’s almost a pool where there are few rocks. A 30+ inch halibut could easily be preying on bait in this hole.

When to Go Halibut Fishing

Halibut, being one of the most coveted catches for light-tackle surf anglers across California, have an interesting “peak season”. The best time of year to go halibut fishing is pretty much year-round. In my experience, I’ve had the greatest success around spring. I’ve also had solid success in winter, but that may be because that’s when all other surf fishing is at its lull allowing me to take the time to fish for halibut. Either way, they can most definitely be caught year-round.

Best Tides for Halibut Fishing

Learn the tides and times for surf fishing that work best for the beaches that you frequently fish. For instance one of my favorite spots for halibut fishing has some really awesome structure, but its optimal water coverage is at a specific range of tidal height. Some people say that you should simply fish 2 hours before and 2 hours after a high tide and what not, but no. Put in the time, and figure out what tides hold the best opportunity for you. With the information listed above, this should be a breeze!

Low tides and specifically negative tides typically offer the best time to see the structure that halibut will hang out near. Use the low tides and especially the King Tides to hone in on the right zones for halibut fishing.

Gear and Tackle for Halibut Fishing

My Set-Up for Targeting Halibut with Swimbaits in Heavy Structure:

• Rod: Okuma SST-S-902HA – 1/2-2oz | 10-30lb | 9ft | H | MF
• Reel: Penn Spinfisher VI (3500 or 4500)
• Main Line: 30-pound braid
• Leader Line: 30-pound mono
• Lure Options:
  • Lucky Craft FM 110 (jerkbait)
  • Keitech Fat Swing Impact (4.8″) | Warbaits 0.5-ounce Weedless Jighead
  • BioSpawn ExoSwim (4.75″) | Mustad KVD Grip Pin Swimbait Hook (5/0 | 1/8oz)

My Set-Up For Targeting halibut with Jerkbaits:

• Rod: Okuma SST (8’6″ MHA)
• Reel: Penn Battle II or III 4000 series
• Main Line:
  • 15-pound monofilament
  • or 30-pound braid
• Leader Line: 15-pound fluorocarbon
• Lures: Lucky Craft FM 110 and Shimano WM 115 SP

Halibut Fishing Tips and Tricks

There are always a couple tips or tricks that might help things click for an angler. let’s talk about some tactics that help catch halibut.

Get a Feel For It

I’ve been asked by many people, especially recently, “where do I catch halibut?”. Many fishermen put in hours and hours before hooking their first halibut. You know that feeling when you’re fishing and that guy 10-feet from you is catching fish after fish, and you’ve got nothing? You’re not catching fish because you don’t have that knowledge and confidence and familiarity of where and when those fish will bite (at least for that given day at that given time).

Every angler goes through a period of time at the beginning of a session in which he/she has to feel out the nature of the day and of the bite-type. After you get those first couple bites, you start to dial it in. The same is true in the long-run. You need to feel the bite for yourself, have success on your own, and then everything will start to click for you.

Put In The Time

And just like everybody else says, put in the time! I was skunked many times using a Lucky Craft before I caught even just one fish on it. It took even longer to figure out swimbaits! But seriously, put in the time and take note of where and when you had success and during which conditions. If you’re fishing near structure, paying attention to the tides (and surf height/wind) just became the most important factor of targeting halibut for you.

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There’s a really cool article referenced below about more on halibut fishing. The author noted a couple interesting points about what time of year you catch more halibut and what time of year you catch bigger halibut with the bigger halis being in winter. In my early experience, he was spot on. In recent years, I like spring a bit better. But either way, it might be valuable to read up on that article as well.

Click the link here. I found this resource really helpful.