Holy cow…get a load of this nearly 70-pound California halibut! Frank Rivera of Camarillo, CA landed this 67.3-pound beast on Friday, July 1 off Santa Rosa Island while fishing aboard the 60-foot Mirage out of Oxnard.
The massive flattie is nearly nine pounds bigger than the current IGFA All-Tackle World Record, which also was caught off Santa Rosa Island in 1999, and, pending the application process, Rivera’s fish will take the top slot soon.
By the way, the Mirage struck again on July 3, with another massive butt — a 59.1 pounder — which you can see HERE
by JD on September 8, 2010
Todd Knuthson was looking for a little white meat when he went rockfishing out of the San Francisco area last month…but a wayward Pacific halibut probably wasn’t what he had in mind. Not that he was too bummed that the 44 pounder came calling. California halibut are the main game in these waters and Pacifics are pretty rare south of Shelter Cove, so the fish was definitely a nice surprise. Knuthson bested the beast with a light WW Grigg steelhead rod and 15.lb test and becomes our first Hawg of the Month Contest entry for September.
While live bait drifting has always been a popular method for hooking California halibut from Baja to Oregon, trolling is really gaining a good following and its easy to see why: it allows you to cover lots of ground quickly and locate fish…plus, it’s deadly!
Here’s how to do it:
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To someone from outside the area, it may see odd that San Francisco Bay can produce some red hot fishing action for a variety of species. After all, the bay is the center piece of an immense and sprawling mega-metropolis and is surrounded on all sides by densely-packed civilization.
Despite all that, fishing remains good and, right now, California halibut are the main focus for anglers. On Wednesday, I headed down to the bay to see how the bite was going and I wasn’t disappointed…
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