Halibut Fishing

Halibut are one of the prized eating fish of the Northwest. These fish are bottom huggers, so in turn to catch them your gear must be in the bottom feeding zone. Common methods used to catch these big barn doors are jigs tipped with bait, jigs, spreader bars and standard salmon mooching gear. 

Common baits for halibut are squid, octopus or large herring. Octopus is the toughest of the baits and hardest to find. Squid is readily available and is a tough strong bait on the hook.  Herring is used on the spreader bar to add even more flash to the set up.

A big strong reel is needed to hold enough of the heavy line used to hoist these monsters up from the depths. The rod of choice is usually a Heavy duty rod with a roller tip about 7-8 ft in length.

Spreader bar

On spreader bars a small flasher in front of the bait will help attract attention. The leader used on the spreader bar is generally a wire leader with double hooks 5/0 -7/0 range.  The wire leader is used to help combat the dreaded dog fish bites. 

Jigs usually range from 6-12 oz.. The jig is either tipped with a big soft worm body, a piece of octopus, or squid.

Halibut spear

Halibut spears are used once the fish is close to the boat. The spear is tipped with a hinged point and comes free of the pole and tied to a floating buoy line. Once the fish is hauled back to the boat it is either shot with a gun or dragged by its tail until it drowns.  The fish is then hog tied with its head to its tail. If will rock in the boat instead of flopping when tied in this fashion. Do not bring a halibut into the  boat alive. It is very dangerous and powerful fish that can break a leg or damage your boat.