SB report

[Halibitesb]

I’ve been following this forum for a while now. While I haven’t had much to contribute until now, I really appreciate all of the information and advice everyone provides.

So yesterday a buddy and I got up early and headed to one of our favorite spots in Santa Barbara with LC 110s. After about 2-3 hours without success (with the exception of foul-hooking a shovelnose) we had all but given up when I got a strong bite. It immediately starting peeling line and my rod was bent in half. Because it felt so heavy, I figured I’d probably hooked into a large bat ray. I was able to start pulling it in after it’s initial run but anytime it saw the shore it took off again. We went back and forth like this about a dozen times until I got it close enough to see that it was not a bat ray and actually a huge halibut. It had one more run after I spotted it and I finally got it close enough for my friend to yank it out of the water.

My first legal halibut! I’ve been chasing one for the past few years and couldn’t be more stoked. The stats were 31 inches, 12 pounds!!!

Thanks again for all of the info on this site especially from the SWAT guys.