I Hooked 10 Halibut From The Beach: A Feeding Frenzy!

halibut caught from the beach
California Halibut

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

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.

halibut with lure in it's mouth
One of a few halis I caught that day

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.

fish on!
The Moment of Painfully Honest Truth

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.

13 Comments

Leave a Reply