Posted on June 16, 2019

Sadly, but as expected, I didn't come close to playing a salmon, but entirely not as expected we would return with triple halibut limits. Yes, triple, because we crossed paths with one of the greatest halibut fishermen on the West Coast. And yes, triple limits means 9 fish in total. That's a whole lot of 'but.

Koji and I met up at first light to try our luck on the Pacific shores of Marin County. There were few people around but at the launch we ran into a familiar face: it was Keith The Lost Anchovy on a solo trip.

We were looking for salmon and trolled for several hours, practically all day until we were exhausted, but did not record a single bite. Sometimes you can will your way to a nice catch, but at other times it simply isn't there for you.

Defeated and on the way back to shore Koji suddenly received a call. Keith was fishing further inshore and struck gold as he came across a school of halibut. At first he landed a few undersized fish but then got into bigger ones. Soon we were headed toward Keith's location and when we came closer we watched him battling yet another halibut.

What then ensued was the most epic halibut fishing I had ever witnessed. In a mere 30 minutes we slayed 9 solid fish and played several more that were swiftly returned (the daily possession limit for California Halibut is three per person).

Epilogue

I've seen some amazing halibut fishing since then, including the session recorded in Live Baiting with Eddie, but this particular halibut bite was so off the charts that I consider it the best one yet.