We published this story 14 years ago, and the techniques and tackle that it described remain successful for hooking halibut in California’s surf zone. As with many aspects of fly fishing, however, evolutions have occurred over time, so we’re running it again, with updates.
A typical morning of California halibut fishing begins at 7 a.m. on a foggy summer day. Small waves roll onto the beach with a lazy cadence. The surface of the water looks like it is covered in silvery film and merges with the sparkling gray of the fog a short distance offshore. The presence of anchovy schools is frequently betrayed by the small breezy wakes they create on the surface. As these small fish make their way along the beach, beady eyes are watching them from below. Lying in the sand, plump halibut patiently wait for breakfast to come to them. As the anchovies swim overhead, a halibut arches its back and, with several powerful thrusts of its tail, shoots upward. The anchovy school bursts out of the water like shattered glass as the halibut plows through them. The water is only two feet deep, and in the halibut’s excitement, it has thumped its tail too hard. Unable to slow its ascent, the halibut tears into the air like a huge piece of well-done toast popped right out of a toaster. A fly fisher on the beach starts to shake from an adrenaline rush. He shouts to his nearby friend: “That was a 10-pound fish!”
Each spring and summer, halibut move out of the deeper waters of Monterey Bay to feed and to spawn. In the past, I would target these fish with a Deceiver-style fly fished on an intermediate line. Now I use a totally different technique developed by an innovative fly fisher in Southern California (apologies, I don’t know his name). The concept is both ingenious and relatively simple. To the end of a floating line, you attach a 20-foot leader of 6-pound-test monofilament. On the business end, you tie a small Clouser Minnow. You cast the rig out, let the fly sink, and then pull it back, retrieving the fly in short hops. Like a good nymph fisher, you watch the end of the line, and if it twitches, you strike.
I tried this technique in my home waters of Monterey Bay and enjoyed some success. But there was a problem. I could make this setup work only with small flies and flat water. The fish also had to be stacked up against the nearshore ledge just 30 feet offshore. We get conditions like that in Monterey Bay about once a year. When the waves picked up or the fish were out beyond 40 feet, I was basically out of the game. I was also having some difficulty casting the extra-long leader with anything more than a small Clouser. It was clear that the technique was a sound one. All I had to do was figure out how to adapt it to my local waters.
Visibility, Buoyancy, and Sin
One of the main problems I had with the original system was my inability to see strikes beyond 40 feet. The end of the line was simply too small for me to be able to see it hesitate, dip, or twitch. While I still caught some fish close in, experience had taught me that more fish were sitting farther offshore. I needed something I could see at 60-plus feet against rippled water. In addition to the need for visibility, I also wanted something that would provide additional buoyancy. With anything other than a really small Clouser pattern, the end of the fly line simply got dragged under the surface when retrieved. This significantly reduced the effectiveness of the retrieve, because executing the hop off the bottom depends on the fly being pulled up, as well as in. It also further complicated the visibility of the strike. It was obvious to me that to achieve both visibility and added buoyancy, I needed a brightly colored foam or cork indicator. With great distress, I realized I was going to have to sell my soul to the devil and use an indicator to catch fish.
The Right Indicator
The water in the cove was about six feet deep and stirred only by small, lazy swells: in other words, perfect conditions for halibut fishing. I strung up a 10-foot leader and tied on a size 1 chartreuse over-white Clouser. Where the leader attached to the floating line, I twisted on a bright yellow-and-red indicator. The rig was not an absolute dream to cast, but after some initial adjustments to timing and power, I was getting the fly out about 70 feet. That’s when I discovered that twist-on indicators are not the ideal design for this application. After 15 minutes, three indicators had popped off, creating painfully obvious marine litter. Eventually, they floated back to shore and were quickly returned to their baggie. My other indicators had a central hole and used a piece of toothpick to secure them to the leader. Once firmly pegged on, these orange, pear-shaped indicators stayed put. Feeling more confident, I fished the beach methodically. After each cast, I gave the fly a count of 20 to reach the bottom. The retrieve was a simple pull-and-pause routine, designed to make the fly hop. In the space of two hours, I landed four fish. Up to that point, this was the most halibut I had ever caught in a single trip. I packed up and headed back home feeling on top of the world.
Since that initial trip, I have fished the Clouser-and-indicator rig countless times and had friends fish it, too. With each outing, I tinkered with the tackle and technique. While the basic system remains the same, there are some refinements that have made the system more productive and user-friendly.
2022 indicator update: A one-inch Thingamabobber or equivalent strike indicator (red or chartreuse) provides plenty of buoyancy and is easy to see at a long distance. You can secure it by passing a doubled section of leader through the eye and looping it over the indicator, but the indicator might still slip down the leader with longer casts. To overcome slippage, add a snap link to the eye and secure the snap to the loop on the end of your fly line.
The Fly
I have settled on a size 1 Clouser with lead or bead-chain eyes for most of my halibut fishing. I tried smaller flies, but for some reason, the halibut in Monterey Bay respond better to a larger fly. Most of the time, a simple chartreuse over-white pattern does the job. Beadchain eyes work fine unless the wind is blowing or the waves are up a bit, when it helps to use a fly with medium lead eyes to help keep the fly down when retrieved. Like many West Coast saltwater fly fishers, I tie most of my Clousers on Eagle Claw 413 jig hooks. The orientation of the point and eye on the jig hook almost completely eliminates deep hooking. Believe me, when fishing for halibut, this is good for both you and the fish. Halibut have wickedly sharp teeth, and if they so much as touch your flesh, you will bleed copiously. Using flies tied on a jig hook and a good pair of forceps pretty much eliminates massive blood loss. As always, make sure your hook is really sharp. A larger hook will not penetrate well if the point is dull. I have also found that going barbless actually helps to hook and retain fish and of course makes releasing them far easier. Finally, I recommend tying the fly on using a loop knot to help it sink faster and hop better.
2022 fly update: The jig-hook Clouser is still my workhorse fly for halibut, but there are times when other designs work a bit better. If the bottom is littered with loose kelp, a fly tied on a spiral-wraps-weighted EWG bass-worm hook, such as Hud’s Bushwacker, will snag bits of weed less frequently. If the fish are holding tight to a kelp bed, a slip-on fluke fly (see “The Fluke Fly,” November/December 2020) mounted on a (weighted) thin-wire EWG hook can keep fly losses to a minimum. If you snag a kelp holdfast or rock, the thin wire usually bends, freeing the fly. If the hook point is damaged, you simply slip the fly off the hook, tie on a new hook, and thread the fly onto the fresh hook.
The Leader
A 20-foot piece of 6-pound-test mono proved a bit too challenging for me to cast far. It was also too light when the occasional striper inhaled the fly and got very angry. To deal with this, I use a shorter two-part leader made from fluorocarbon. The leader has to be at least one and one-half times as long as the water depth in order for the fly to reach the bottom and hop properly. Since most of the beaches I fish for halibut are about 4 to 6 feet deep, I typically use a 10-foot leader. The butt section is made from 7 feet of 25-pound test fluorocarbon with a 3-foot tippet of 10-pound or 15-pound test. Once properly stretched, this leader handles the bigger fly well and sinks quickly.
2022 leader update: Fluorocarbon does not appear to have offered any advantages for this sort of fishing, so my current setup uses 25-pound and 14-pound Trilene XL monofilament, which is reliable and inexpensive.
Lines
During the first couple of weeks fishing the indicator rig, I used an old trout-taper, weight-forward, floating 7-weight fly line. The relatively long front taper on this line was not ideal for turning over a large indicator and lead-eyed Clouser. Casting beyond 60 feet consistently was a chore. I went back to the fly shop and searched the fly-line shelves for something a bit beefier. Eventually, I found a weight-forward line specifically designed for casting big, heavy flies; it seemed like it would be a good match for my mutant indicator rig. Back at the beach, the new line made casting much more pleasant, and I was able to throw longer casts without screwing up my rotator cuff. The new line also proved that there were plenty of halibut farther offshore. On some days, the fish simply did not come in closer than 70 feet. You had to cast at least that far or you were essentially out of the game.
The Retrieve
Having cast the fly out, you want it to settle to the bottom, or nearly so. The way to ensure it does this is to count the fly down. I find it helps to make an initial cast of about 40 feet and begin a steady count as soon as the fly hits the water. While counting, pay careful attention to the indicator. It should be moving slightly as the fly pulls the leader down. Your fly has hit bottom when this steady movement stops. That is the count you need to remember for all subsequent casts. If you can’t see the indicator’s subtle movements at this distance, don’t despair. Simply determine the sink rate of your fly in shallow water and guesstimate the depth at which you are fishing. If the fly takes a count of three to descend two feet, and you are fishing in water about four feet deep, you will need a count of at least six to hit bottom. Since the leader will slow the descent somewhat, it helps to add a few counts to ensure the fly is on or near the sand. Most of the time, I add another 5 counts before beginning the retrieve.
Once the fly has reached depth, I make a strip that causes the indicator to move about a foot. The actual speed and length of the strip needed to make the indicator move this much depends on the wind and waves. On calm days, a relaxed strip will usually do the job. On windy days or when the waves are up, you will have to deal with more slack in the floating line, which dampens the effect of your strip on the indicator. To overcome this, your strip needs to be a bit more aggressive. After each strip, stop and let the fly drop back down through the water. A count of two or three is usually enough time for the fly to get back to depth. Repeat this “strip, stop, strip” sequence all the way back to shore. The stop-and-go retrieve makes the fly hop through the water like an injured baitfish. This is by far the most deadly retrieve for halibut. It can also do a number on big stripers, too.
The Bite
You need to strike whenever the indicator twitches, slides, or just looks odd. In fact, I have found that the plunging-indicator take is rather uncommon with halibut. Most of the time, the fish nails the fly in between strips as it drops back down on a loose line. You know this has happened when the indicator stops its slow slide or twitches.
The Strike
Halibut generally don’t chase food very far, and they also have relatively soft mouths. These two factors mean you should use a relatively modest strip strike when responding to your indicator. If the fish has clamped down on the fly, the sharp hook point will set and stay in soft or hard mouthparts. If the fish struck short and did not get hooked, the fly will only move a foot or so away from the fish. The fish will usually come back for a second or even third attack.
Bringing the Fish to Shore
I find that I fight halibut two ways: gently and not so gently. With the first couple of fish or for a larger fish, I apply steady pressure and basically coax the fish to shore. This low-impact technique usually ensures that the fish stays hooked and does not react with any panic moves. Indeed, many fish will be quite docile until they are out of the water, when they tend to go nuts, flipping around and throwing wet sand in your face. After the first couple of fish have been brought to hand, I go to a more aggressive style. The fish respond to this by making quicker moves and longer, faster runs. A legal-size halibut on a 6-weight or 7-weight rod is no slouch. Bigger fish will have you running up and down the beach with a rod that is bent and bucking like a palm tree in a hurricane.
The shallow-water gill-net ban enacted in 2000 not only helped reduce sea-otter mortality, but it also appears to have resulted in a significant increase in the number of halibut along Central Coast beaches. Fishing for “butts” these days is far better than it was in the latter decades of the Twentieth Century. Grab a bag of indicators, a couple of Clousers, and go down to a quiet beach or bay and have a ball.
