A Rare Male Keeper

#1
The great majority of the halibut I keep have been females. But this one was definitely a male. He had recently dined on ghost shrimp. Not often I get to see what a halibut has eaten.

Got up this morning with one of those feelings. Change was in the air. We were between storms and the energy was still teeming. I checked my rigs and was very happy I did. The leaders were frayed and would have betrayed me. I planned to arrive at Point Richmond just before the top of the tide and fish the outgoing. Fastest water of the day, a good steady five-foot drop. The recent rains have muddied up the water and (I believe) have brought more brackishness to the Central Bay. Last week's bounty of bait (smelt, shiners, herring) has vanished. The good news is that some of the seaweed has been swept out by the tides and rain. (Four different types of seaweed to clog your line or muck up your lures. I know because I looked them up in my Audubon Pacific Coast guide.) I used a sabiki for quite some time to jig up only a couple of herring. I let the pole sit for 15 minutes on both those casts.. Crabs. Same as it ever was. The cold wind was picking up. One more foray at live bait for a last cast. Took a while to get another herring. Maybe another 10 minutes, then the telltale twitch and tug. I picked up the pole and waited for the "real" bite. Good fight on slippery rocks and all the time in the world. At 23 inches, it is is the smallest halibut I've kept this year, but I am in the mood for fish tacos during tomorrow's Oregon/UCLA game. Measured him four times to be sure.

I consider it a good job when I catch the bait myself, land and net the fish myself, and set the hook in such a way that keep or release is an honest choice. And even a smallish flattie in late October is pretty neat.

halitwokenobi.jpg

hookset.jpg


Friday 2021-10-22
Sunrise 7:25 PDT, Sunset 18:21 PDT
Moonset 9:21 PDT, Moonrise 19:40 PDT
High Tide: 2:05 PDT 4.8
Low Tide: 7:17 PDT 2.2
High Tide: 13:14 PDT 5.8

Low Tide: 20:02 PDT 0.1
Fish was caught just after 2pm. Outgoing tide but slack current.
23" Left-Eyed Halibut
Ugly Stik lite 7' one piece (renovated from stripped blank)
Okuma Avenger 3000
CXX 10# mono line
Sliding bait rig with 2oz ball and size 1 Owner SSW.
Live herring (5-6")

autumn halibut
took a fancy to my bait
so I took it home
 
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Fishman Fishman

Well-Known Member
#5
The great majority of the halibut I keep have been females. But this one was definitely a male. He had recently dined on ghost shrimp. Not often I get to see what a halibut has eaten.

Got up this morning with one of those feelings. Change was in the air. We were between storms and the energy was still teeming. I checked my rigs and was very happy I did. The leaders were frayed and would have betrayed me. I planned to arrive at Point Richmond just before the top of the tide and fish the outgoing. Fastest water of the day, a good steady five-foot drop. The recent rains have muddied up the water and (I believe) have brought more brackishness to the Central Bay. Last week's bounty of bait (smelt, shiners, herring) has vanished. The good news is that some of the seaweed has been swept out by the tides and rain. (Four different types of seaweed to clog your line or muck up your lures. I know because I looked them up in my Audubon Pacific Coast guide.) I used a sabiki for quite some time to jig up only a couple of herring. I let the pole sit for 15 minutes on both those casts.. Crabs. Same as it ever was. The cold wind was picking up. One more foray at live bait for a last cast. Took a while to get another herring. Maybe another 10 minutes, then the telltale twitch and tug. I picked up the pole and waited for the "real" bite. Good fight on slippery rocks and all the time in the world. At 23 inches, it is is the smallest halibut I've kept this year, but I am in the mood for fish tacos during tomorrow's Oregon/UCLA game. Measured him four times to be sure.

I consider it a good job when I catch the bait myself, land and net the fish myself, and set the hook in such a way that keep or release is an honest choice. And even a smallish flattie in late October is pretty neat.

View attachment 2634

View attachment 2635


Friday 2021-10-22
Sunrise 7:25 PDT, Sunset 18:21 PDT
Moonset 9:21 PDT, Moonrise 19:40 PDT
High Tide: 2:05 PDT 4.8
Low Tide: 7:17 PDT 2.2
High Tide: 13:14 PDT 5.8

Low Tide: 20:02 PDT 0.1
Fish was caught just after 2pm. Outgoing tide but slack current.
23" Left-Eyed Halibut
Ugly Stik lite 7' one piece (renovated from stripped blank)
Okuma Avenger 3000
CXX 10# mono line
Sliding bait rig with 2oz ball and size 1 Owner SSW.
Live herring (5-6")

autumn halibut
took a fancy to my bait
so I took it home
Enjoyed your detailed experience. I felt I was there with you! 👍
 
#9
After The Storm...

Thank you, Jeff! Time now to target striped bass--before you catch them all!
Good day to target stripers. Muddy roiled water and roving schools. Bait and predator. I saw someone get a good bass a couple days ago. Looked like a classic schoolie. I think this one does, too. Female. A well-digested shore crab was in her stomach. Resorted to live bait because of the opaque water, but I think something noisy might stir up a striped bass. I did not have much time to innovate and experiment with artificials. I got in the game with a live bait rig and the pole bent over minutes after the cast. I caught my fish, bled it and left. One is enough for me. But ya know... As Radiohead said, "Everything in its right place." I'll go back even further and quote Steve Allen: "This could be the start of something big." Best wishes.



schoolie.jpg

23" striper, same place, same bait, and so on.
Caught around 13:45 on a super sluggish tide. Lots of bait.
Wednesday 2021-10-27
Sunrise 7:30 PDT, Sunset 18:15 PDT
Moonset 13:56 PDT, Moonrise 23:24 PDT
High Tide: 7:08 PDT 4.3
Low Tide: 11:32 PDT 3.6

High Tide: 16:34 PDT 5.0
 
#10
Nice, Glen! I was out this morning, probably a little north of you - just plugged with a hair raiser and it was pretty dead. Only one small shaker very early in the am. Maybe the storm pushed some stripers up. Live bait was probably the way to go, as you said - but I'm too lazy these days.

Salty.
 
#12
A shifted pattern striped bass!

In more ways than one. It's like reading code, viewing the lines on a striped bass. Less and less I''m seeing the ones with the perfect unbroken lines. More and more I'm seeing breaks and even spots instead of stripes. This one almost made it, except for the obvious break below the anterior dorsal fin. Once upon a time we could differentiate river stripers (Sonoma and Napa) from the traditional spring and fall run bass by the lines: straight on the long migration fish and crooked on the local guys. Not so anymore. I have caught speckled striped bass off the seashore.
 

MisterT

Well-Known Member
#13
Interesting that once there was a time where you could differentiate. A nice striped bass nonetheless. My online reading indicates the striped bass stock is not as great currently.

Striped Bass is rare in SoCal (LA Area). I'd like to catch one myself though. I don't put in enough fishing time in general. :)
 

Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#14
Striped bass in SoCal are relatively rare although we get occasional reports of their capture. Years ago attempts were made to stock them in places like Newport Bay but there was not, as far as I know, much success with those stockings (they did not reproduce).
 

Red Fish

Senior Member
#15
The great majority of the halibut I keep have been females. But this one was definitely a male. He had recently dined on ghost shrimp. Not often I get to see what a halibut has eaten.

Got up this morning with one of those feelings. Change was in the air. We were between storms and the energy was still teeming. I checked my rigs and was very happy I did. The leaders were frayed and would have betrayed me. I planned to arrive at Point Richmond just before the top of the tide and fish the outgoing. Fastest water of the day, a good steady five-foot drop. The recent rains have muddied up the water and (I believe) have brought more brackishness to the Central Bay. Last week's bounty of bait (smelt, shiners, herring) has vanished. The good news is that some of the seaweed has been swept out by the tides and rain. (Four different types of seaweed to clog your line or muck up your lures. I know because I looked them up in my Audubon Pacific Coast guide.) I used a sabiki for quite some time to jig up only a couple of herring. I let the pole sit for 15 minutes on both those casts.. Crabs. Same as it ever was. The cold wind was picking up. One more foray at live bait for a last cast. Took a while to get another herring. Maybe another 10 minutes, then the telltale twitch and tug. I picked up the pole and waited for the "real" bite. Good fight on slippery rocks and all the time in the world. At 23 inches, it is is the smallest halibut I've kept this year, but I am in the mood for fish tacos during tomorrow's Oregon/UCLA game. Measured him four times to be sure.

I consider it a good job when I catch the bait myself, land and net the fish myself, and set the hook in such a way that keep or release is an honest choice. And even a smallish flattie in late October is pretty neat.

View attachment 2634

View attachment 2635


Friday 2021-10-22
Sunrise 7:25 PDT, Sunset 18:21 PDT
Moonset 9:21 PDT, Moonrise 19:40 PDT
High Tide: 2:05 PDT 4.8
Low Tide: 7:17 PDT 2.2
High Tide: 13:14 PDT 5.8

Low Tide: 20:02 PDT 0.1
Fish was caught just after 2pm. Outgoing tide but slack current.
23" Left-Eyed Halibut
Ugly Stik lite 7' one piece (renovated from stripped blank)
Okuma Avenger 3000
CXX 10# mono line
Sliding bait rig with 2oz ball and size 1 Owner SSW.
Live herring (5-6")

autumn halibut
took a fancy to my bait
so I took it home
 
#18
Whew, barely legal, taped (three times) @ just over 22 inches. Nice to get one this late in the year. Another left-eyed male. Also caught one that may have gone to 17" but no point measuring, so splashed immediately.

This one was from Ferry Point Pier. Same gear, same bait, but this time the solo net job was performed with a crab ring. Tricky on one's own, but I'm a tricky guy. Confidence is good, and patience is even better. Helps to have another perfect hookset in the corner of the mouth. Again, satisfied with sabiki'ing my own bait and landing the fish unassisted. Truth is, people who know me are aware that I do not like anyone else to net my fish. It's a personal choice.

22+" Left-Eyed Halibut around 1:15pm
Friday 2021-11-19 Full Moon
Sunrise 6:54 PST, Sunset 16:54 PST
Moonset 7:12 PST, Moonrise 17:14 PST
High Tide: 0:24 PST 4.7
Low Tide: 5:13 PST 2.5
High Tide: 11:06 PST 6.1

Low Tide: 18:07 PST -0.4

november192021hali.jpg
 
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Red Fish

Senior Member
#19
Whew, barely legal, taped (three times) @ just over 22 inches. Nice to get one this late in the year. Another left-eyed male. Also caught one that may have gone to 17" but no point measuring, so splashed immediately.

This one was from Ferry Point Pier. Same gear, same bait, but this time the solo net job was performed with a crab ring. Tricky on one's own, but I'm a tricky guy. Confidence is good, and patience is even better. Helps to have another perfect hookset in the corner of the mouth. Again, satisfied with sabiki'ing my own bait and landing the fish unassisted. Truth is, people who know me are aware that I do not like anyone else to net my fish. It's a personal choice.

22+" Left-Eyed Halibut
Friday 2021-11-19 Full Moon
Sunrise 6:54 PST, Sunset 16:54 PST
Moonset 7:12 PST, Moonrise 17:14 PST
High Tide: 0:24 PST 4.7
Low Tide: 5:13 PST 2.5
High Tide: 11:06 PST 6.1

Low Tide: 18:07 PST -0.4

View attachment 2676
Good job Glen. And people that know me know that I like to net my own fish as well. I will ask them to hold the rod (and don’t really move or adjust the drag and just let it strip line if it does). I will let Pete or Danny net sometimes as sometimes it doesn’t matter if I go home with fish or not. My biggest halibut at Berkeley, I only had my net with a smaller 32” ring and the hook came out as it went catatonic as I guided it to the net. I am glad I got my net away from the guy trying to help net because if I’m going to lose something, I want to do it myself. I figure 40’s on the 1. 1 other 1 at Paradise (and I knew this young guy from the board that is a space physicist was going to lose it). I had enough fish but it was worth it to humble this guy. :) Funny, he kept talking about how big it was in the 40’s.
 
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