Homer and halibut fishing go together like Orlando and Disney World! Huge schools of these flatfish follow spawning runs of herring, hooligan, and salmon into lower Cook Inlet throughout the summer, making them much more accessible to sport fishermen. These fish can weigh well over 300 pounds!
Everyone wants a trophy, but 20-30 pound “chickens” are much more realistic, bountiful, and better eating. We often catch and release 50-100 of these “smaller” fish in a day! Most halibut over 60 pounds are breeding females that are best left to renew the resource. The halibut limit is two fish per day, per person, of any size.
We bottom fish for halibut in 30 to 200 feet of water, 30 minutes to 2 hours from the harbor. We use herring, cod, and even whole salmon heads for bait on giant circle hooks and use anywhere from 1 to 3 pounds of weight to get our bait into the strike zone. Sometimes, we'll use a large jig with a rubbery twister tail. In fact, most of our bigger fish are caught on jigs.
When planning your trip, be sure to consider tidal movement. Look for dates with the least amount of water movement or call us for advice. Our tides are among the largest in the world, more than 25 feet sometimes. By contrast, Puget Sound in Washington State, rarely sees tides larger than 14 feet, and Tampa, Florida’s tides are seldom greater than 3 feet. Click here for more about how tides are generated.
Halibut fishing may also be combined with salmon, rockfish, or lingcod.
Watch this amazing video taken from the “Last Laugh” in August 2008 while we were fishing in 200 feet of water. Halibut are on a feeding frenzy at the surface. Baitfish ball up on the top of the water column and in turn, attract halibut who engage in a surface bite. This will change the way you think about these “bottom feeders”.
For safety, we have to subdue larger fish before bringing them into the boat. Listen to the excitement as we land this 150-pounder!
Email us: poiboyfishing@alaska.net
Call us: 907-235-0778 or Toll Free: 888-Poi-Boy1