My mini-report:
East Bay
Whole first week of April
I've been fishing a spot that doesn't actually receive too much fishing pressure and have been targeting hali with a drop shot and either a white pearl Zoom Fluke or a Keitech. 1/0s Owner worm hooks on the dropshot and a torpedo or other drop shot weight. Mono, spinning reel.
The week has been good. I've caught more halibut this past week than I caught all last year, and drop shot is a new technique I'm learning. It's fun to imagine what's going on underneath the water as the halibut ambush the bait and then take their second bite, and I'm slowly learning when to set the hook and how to keep them calm as possible so they don't shake the hook off. No keepers (ranging from ~10-19") but a lot of fun. I'm starting to have a strong preference for lures. I spent way too much time last year trying to get lucky on hali with dead frozen bait, and wasn't able to catch any even when I did have live bait, be it smelt, shiners, or anchovies at times. I've been fishing around the peak of the hi but also the start of the incoming and the peak of the low, feeling out to see how the tides impact this spot. I'm hoping that this is a good sign for the rest of the year.
I did have an annoying experience when I asked for help on a net job with a hali on the line. Unfortunately, the hali broke off, and I announced it aloud to waive the help. "Sure it did", a nearby angler said, mocking me as if I hadn't hooked onto anything. He proceeded to joke out loud to his friends for the next bit of time about "make sure your net is ready!" and other asides to his friends, but very loudly as I could tell he wanted me to overhear them. Lesson learned, I need to just rely on myself for the net job.
I really don't understand that attitude and bad intentions, but I got the last laugh when I did end up bringing up another halibut and he skunked without a bite. I walked by him proudly when I left. He wasn't talking smack then.