LA Harbor Halibut

[Nefarious]

Went to L.A. Harbor to drag for Halibut since my friend has been doing so well. he got 2 27" fish, however we did alittle better/. At 8.00am ,Jeff gets a 26" fish, minutes later, Mark gets a 30" fish, new personnel best.

At 8.30 I get a 28" shaker. Small lull till 9.40 when Marks rod in holder gets pinned to rail, very funny to watch, soon I gaff his new personnel best 38" 22lb'r, is he ever happy.

Jeff finishes off our morning with another 26" Real nice morning of fishing.

 

[NCangler]

Nice work guys!

 

[albacore11]

Judging from your pictures, that is the same area I was motoring around last weekend in the fog. You couldn't see either side of the breakwater entrance if you were at the mid-point....all you could go by was your GPS and the sound of the horn.

When I get my prop issues worked out, I am definitely going to take you up on your offer to learn your halibut tricks. I assume you are just drifting across the bottom bouncing the ball.....but you and your buds have great success.

Some fine eating there.

Chris

 

[wpschaef]

Yummy

Excellent!

 

[rcargn]

Very nice !

 

[katfish]

Awesome day of fishing. Do we have to drive all the way to L.A. for a few Nefarious tips on hooking flatties? Come on...offer a few tid bits big guy!

 

[Nefarious]

Do you want the long detailed version, or short and sweet.

 

[Fly Fisher]

Very cool guys. I fished LA and Long Beach area as well as the Coronado's (San Diego) for years. Now in Virginia and fishing the Chesapeake Bay. I miss those barn door Halibut and the Albacore.

 

[katfish]

A detailed short and sweet version will do. If you have a picture or reference for your set up, that would be helpful. Thanks.
Steve

 

[Nefarious]

Sorry but ain't nothing about me short or sweet, but I'll try. I power drift, modified ball bouncing. If you look at the picture of my boat at beginning of this post you will notice a trolling plate attached to the cavation plate of my Yamaha. This cuts down speed at idle to between .7 and1.3 mph. Critical to drag baits in an controlled path along structure. My favorites are dropoffs , dredge lines, and anchor points for shipping. For those of you lucky enough to fish LA Harbor, anchor poits are CRITICAL.These are shown on NOAA charts as large circles with a dot in center. Think.......every week on this hard bottom ships drop 7 ton anchors on the dot, swing around some, then pull it up making a nice soft depression to lay in ambush in. Halibut are not bottom feeders, they are bottom ambushers that are always looking up. Enough of those hard earned secrets, on to rigs. I fish 6 to 10 rigs at once on my boat.........all are 8 ft Calstars except 2 that are custom 1 piece 12 fters.

All are loaded with 50 lb test spectra straight to a swivel. On the spectra is a sinker slide. Approx. 3 ft of 30 lb florocarbon leader with a chartreuse hoochie 3 or 4 beads to a single owner SSW , 1/0 or 1 tied on with nail knot , tag end to #4 Owner stinger hook as a trap. If you are not using a trap, you are missing 75%of your Halibut. On the sinker slide is 12 oz to24 oz weight on 16 to30 inch 12 lb leader with a swivel to change out weight as needed. Heavier weights towards bow, you want your rigs as straight up and down as possible to stay away from tangles, and you will have tangles, from sharks,black seabass, white seabass, and the large Hallies.Oh so fun.Always keep boat in gear, even when hooked up to stay away from tangles, rods in holders in gear with trolling straps, hope you can't get them out of the holder, thats how you know it a toad. Good luck,,I'll be in the Harbor This Sat. at sunrise,call on 88a. Trolling plate available at Bass Pro or Cabela's as "The Happy Troller"

 

[katfish]

Nefarious,
Thanks for a great, semi-detailed and sorta sweet post. Now I have to go out and try it. Next weekend hopefully.

 

[Nefarious]

More Info

A couple of other Monster Halibut guys from Oceanside have this info out there, thought I would pass it on to those interested. That time of the year is now
Best of Big Game Bounceballing Techniques and Rigging Diagrams This is good stuff too!!