California Halibut occur from Magdalena Bay, Baja California, to the Quillayute River,British Columbia. A separate population occurs in the upper Gulf of California. They are found primarily over sandy bottoms,that the fish can use to camouflage itself.

Halibut can be caught year round, but in southern California, the best fishing takes place during the months of April through July. This is the time when large numbers of halibut move into shallow water to spawn. They can be found in bays, around kelp beds and even in the surfline.

Halibut feed primarily on anchovies and other small fish. Many people think that halibut are only bottom feeders, lying in wait on the ocean floor for an unsuspecting fish to swim by, but they will also swim up into the water column to pursue their prey and have sometimes been seen jumping clear of the water in pursuit of anchovies near the surface. The most successful fishing method , is drifting with live bait. They can also be caught on artificial baits, but your best bet is with live bait.

For many years, commercial fisherman targeted halibut using gill nets in nearshore waters. This caused a dramatic decrease in the halibut population. Now that gillnetting for halibut is illegal off the California coast their numbers are starting to rise. The minimum legal length is 22 inches, this allows the fish to spawn several times before being harvested.

The fish in the photo was caught off the southern California coast by RBBA member Halibut Larry Brown on an frozen squid and 12 pound test line at a depth of about 60 feet. It weighed about 25 pounds. The largest California halibut on record was 5 feet long and 72 pounds. The California state angling record is 58 pounds 9 ounces caught off Santa Rosa Island on June 26,1999.