I Hooked 10 Halibut From The Beach: A Feeding Frenzy!
I’ve been on a mission since September of 2021. I’ve been after the ever-elusive white seabass. Along the way, I’ve committed to fishing swimbaits in the surf. Before you hop on board and follow me in my pursuits, I warn you – It’s been an incredibly tough, frustrating, discouraging, yet inspiring, addictive and motivating journey full of emotions and so much new-found knowledge, experience, and wisdom.
Am I there yet? Nope. Will I get there? It’s only a matter of time.
My Best Day Yet Using Swimbaits
I arrived at a spot I’d never fished before. The tides were right, the surf was rough and the wind was okay to start but worsened throughout the afternoon. I began my session in the mid-to-late afternoon and had to wrap up a couple hours prior to sunset so I wasn’t expecting much but man, was I wrong!
See the video at the bottom of the story.
Gear and Tackle for the Day
- 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:
Of the above selection, I was using the Okuma SST along with the Penn Spinfisher 4500 as described. Technically, I’ve been using 20-pound braid, but I already purchased my 30-pound spool for when I need to respool. A 300-yard purchased spool will fit your 4500 Spinfisher better than the 20-pound as I learned when I spooled up… So get the 30-pound… it might also save you a big fish.
On this day, I used the 50-pound leader line linked above and I attached it via a size 7 barrrel swivel. My lure choice was the second one mentioned: the Keitech paired with the Warbaits weedless jighead.
Gettin’ to Fishin’
The spot looked good. I picked out a zone and started fishing. The early-goings were pretty slow, but my history with fishing new spots, especially on this recent journey of mine, is one of low expectations. Being that I was content with learning the area, I continued on.
The first zone didn’t produce, so I tried another. What was I looking for? Deeper areas of water where the sea was a bit mellower than its surroundings. Sometimes it’s be caused by a sandy trough, others times maybe a rock of sorts. Learning how to read the surf can really accelerate your learning curve when fishing new spots. Zone to zone, I hopped until one started producing.
It started with a strong tap as I ran my lure through a nice looking area. That strong tap seemed to stick and I was on something… something decent.
Trouble with My Hook Sets
Going from jerkbaits to swimbaits has been a tough transition. With a jerkbait, I don’t set the hook upon a bite. Rather, with so many hooks and points of leverage, I let the fish hook itself. Swimbaits are very different. So, it’s been a work in progress as I learn to turn off my muscle memory while using swimbaits and create new muscle memory.
Bottom line, my hook sets are a little weak, as you’ll see in the video at the bottom of this story. So, what I hooked felt decent. It felt like a halibut that could have been 25+ inches. Just as I began to work it in close enough to peak a look at what it was, my lure popped free, and the fish swam off. It felt like the fish literally opened its mouth and released the lure that may have never been “set” via the hook.
Maybe 10 casts later, I hook up again! This time, a bit different. my first reaction was, “this is the same fish”. But, I quickly realized it was a little angrier. Immediately, headshakes and seemingly whole-body shakes.
Could have been an angry halibut or even a bass or rockfish of sorts. Either way, my drag had been set too tight (which, after reviewing my footage, I kept my drag a little too tight all day) and after I couldn’t manage to loosen it in time, that fish popped off same as the last.
I don’t think I realized the incorrect drag setting with the bigger halibut prior to this hook-up because it was much mellower as it cooperated with me for the majority of the fight.
My First Couple Halis on the Day
After a couple frustrating misses on what I think were two of the biggest fish of the day, I had some good fortune. I moved down the beach a little further as the bite subsided for a little while and continued to try my luck. I cast out into a nice cut and after a few turns of the reel, wham! We’re on! My hook sets were still really poor for what seemed like the whole day (I really need to work on that), but this one stuck. After I settled into the fight she took off on me! “TZZHHHHH!”. It was nice to feel and hear my drag functioning seamlessly as I made sure to fix my previous screw-up and after maybe 30 seconds, I had her at my feet.
Close to legal I’d say. I wasn’t planning on keeping and I didn’t want to take the time to measure knowing it wasn’t anything more than 23 inches, so I got back to casting.
Hali Central!
Shortly after that first halibut, I caught one more about the same size and the bite simmered down for just a bit. Then, after moving down the beach a little further, the bite went off! On four consecutive casts, I hooked up on something. One was a halibut which I was able to land, and two were most definitely halibut that I wasn’t able to land. The fourth… well, the fourth was the reason I didn’t get five consecutive bites. The fourth was a crab that tore my lure and caused a bit of a delay as I had to swap out for a new one.
When I resumed casting, the wind had picked up, the surf was getting choppier, and I was beginning to think I missed my window. Or at least, the window that I had some success in was seemingly now closed.
Lack of Focus = Heartbreak… Twice
When you stop believing the fish are there, you lose confidence and you lose focus, and that’s exactly what happened to me next. The conditions were really getting tough to work through, but I just kept casting, sure enough, I hooked up and this one was big! Maybe bigger than the first fish I lost.
In the moment, I really wasn’t focused enough to see it, but my drag was still too tight. One thing you should know when you’re surf fishing for halibut is that halis are best fought with somewhat loose drag, and you can see that (in the video) when he was ready to go for a run, my drag simply didn’t let him. I can’t blame my gear though. My spinfisher is performing like new. Drag is pristine… I just set it too tight and got used to it throughout the day. Next time, maybe.
After I lost that fish, I regained focus, but the bite was dead. I walked a lot and continued to cast as I searched for a spot that had nice depth closer. I did this because the wind and choppiness of the waves was cutting into my casting distance and distance which my lure could swim in an attractive manner.
I Really Need to Get Better at Hook Sets
I finally found a spot and when I hooked up… I wasn’t ready for it. You can’t really tell from the video, but this was much bigger than anything I’d hooked up on earlier, and it wasn’t a hali. Could it have been a big sand bass? Maaaaaybe… but the first thing my mind jumped to was the white seabass I’ve been after.
Next time… I’ll be ready.
Hi Nick, dang son, you were on them…👍
Great video.. Good job.👌
Have a peaceful week Nick.
Thanks, Richard! You too!
That was an awesome day of fishing Nick. Really enjoying your site. I fish a lot of swimbaits for halibut and bass in my neck of the woods. My opinion, take it for what it’s worth, it’s your hookset that was the weak point. When fishing those weedless swimbaits, you need to use a lot more authority on the hookset, you don’t need to swing for the fence like you see freshwater bass fisherman do, but the hookset needs to be a quick decisive upwards jerk using the rod tip. I also believe your drag was sent fine in the beginning a little looser would also have been fine, but by the end of the video, it was too loose and was contributing to a lack of an effective hookset. I also agree with your assessment on the lost fish, my gut feeling tells me that most of those were never hooked and simply opened their mouth and spit the swimbait out. I have personally pulled halibut in for 30-40 feet thinking it was just a snagged piece of kelp all the while the swimbait is simply in their closed mouth.
Thanks! I really appreciate all of that and I’ll be the first to say I need a lot of work on timing and applying the right pressure on my hook sets with swimbaits. I think it’s no secret there’s always more to learn and to improve. Interesting take on the drag though as I have weighed that in my mind before. I almost want to have it tight for the hook set and then ease back as soon as I settle into the fight. Really making me think now. Tight lines!
I generally run a softer drag with hardbaits and a stronger drag with weedless swimbaits. With the swimbaits, you need to accomplish 2 things, if the swimbait has been completely inhaled, you need to force the swimbait head outside the closed mouth of the fish, and secondly you need enough force to compress the weedgard. This is my reasoning behind a quick popping hookset for weedless swimbait.
That makes perfect sense! It always helps to envision your goal when you can’t actually see it.
Thanks for always sharing your thoughts & lessons learned Nick! I look forward to reading your blog every Sunday. Hope to see you on the beach this summer. Hoping the water warms up soon, I think we had some upwelling from the recent wind event! Tight lines buddy! Also, if anyone reading this is considering booking a trip with Nick, do it! Nick guided my buddy & I last season, it was amazing! -Joel
Thanks, Joel! Really appreciate the kind words and support. Hoping the same about the water temp and I wouln’t be surprised about the upwelling from the recent wind.
Good read my man, thanks for sharing. I also have a really hard time making the transition from LC’s to swimbaits, I miss more than I end up sticking.
Yah… but hey, practice makes one step closer to perfect, right?
Excellent video thanks for sharing! Was this just after or during the last Grunuin run? Finally got one on the Battllestar ( thanks for the discount) personal best barred surf perch! Then I got a walleye on a zmann mini swimbait. More with lug worms, Ventura area. Think I’ll go out for a session back in SD with just swim baits you inspire me!
Awesome, Larry! Glad to hear you’re killing it out there! It was a few days before the grunion run.
Try reeling them on when using a plastic bait. If you need to, you can give it a set once everything comes fully tight. Good luck!