Halibut at night?

[jplee3]

Ever since catching the 15"er, getting a nice legal (to eat) has been on my to-do list. I know, in general, the most productive way [assuming I'm not in a boat or skiff] is off the surf, right? And not too far out either. But what constitutes "too far" and "too close" like no more than 50 yards from the shoreline?
So my next question: can night fishing (between the hours of 6-10pm) for halis be productive at the surf? Or is that just a bad idea? I find the only time to fish these days is after work through the night. I've been having a hard time getting up in the morning :( :D

TIA guys.

[Halibut Dude]

Umm i have gotten a few halibut at night my biggest a 28 incher in the pitch darkness on a swimbait but like i belive if their is day light the halibut will bite

[fish4keep]

Night fishing for butt is very hard to do. I think those that are caught are mostly by catch. Butts can be anywhere there is water. I've seen and caught them in under a foot of water to over 100' of water. There's nothing to constitute as "too far" or "too close".

As for your Q about fishing from 6-10 pm, yes it can be productive but more when the sun is still out. Once the light starts to disappear and night creeps in your chance will also start to deminish.

The other thing about evening fishing is the water and wind tend to get a bit worst than it is in the morning. But you can only fish when you can, so head out there.

[uandme]

i attempted to write a short "article" about behavior of halibut and where/how to fish for them. but someone has already done that. search the forums for halijedi's article. or do a google search.

[uandme]

just a quick glaze at the weather report and next week looks good. however, the tides are a little "off" at night. so best bet for some legals would be early mornings. see yall out there! 8)

[paintnfish]

You mean like before work :D

[uandme]

You mean like before work :D

yup! give me a call if you want to meet up tomorrow or fri.

[jplee3]

You mean like before work :D

yup! give me a call if you want to meet up tomorrow or fri.

thanks for the replies guys! what time do you usually head out? you're more around the LB area right?

[spiceguy]

I catch 'em at night in the harbor. Most productive bait for me at night is squid...

[jplee3]

I catch 'em at night in the harbor. Most productive bait for me at night is squid...

Hey spiceguy!

But don't the batrays ever grab onto your squid? :lol: :lol: :lol:

That reminds me, I was out a couple nights ago (at NPH) and one of my rods went off SCREAMING. Although, right as it went off, one of those covered skiff/pontoon boats drifted by. So I have no idea if my line got caught up on the boat or if a huge ray took my bait (frozen grunion). Fortunately, I got my tackle back but the bait was missing :shock: