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The pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) is undoubtedly Alaska's number one heavy weight sportfish. Halibut over 100#'s are not at all uncommon. Fish on the top end of the halibut's range (fish over 300#'s) are a little more scarce, though a few over 300#'s are landed by our fleet every season. Halibut are a very migratory fish and have been known to travel thousands of miles in a year. They can also be found as deep as 3000ft. In the winter months female halibut will deposit up to 4 million eggs into the icy currents of the Gulf of Alaska. Even though mature halibut are one of the largest and voracious predators in our waters they don't start out that way. After hatching, the small halibut, called larvae, are at the mercy of the currents and ,interestingly enough, are shaped like a normal, upright swimming fish. It is during the first six months of life that the halibuts features are slowly changed to the flat, flounder like shape we are all familiar with. After spawning halibut begin to move into the shallower waters near the coastlines of Cook Inlet. It is here that we begin our quest for this mighty denizen of the deep. During May and June we will pursue halibut close to the beaches where we also troll for the mighty king salmon, sometimes even picking up some nice halibut on our salmon gear while trolling. Later in the season we will begin to follow the halibut out towards deeper waters where we will fish as deep as 300ft. Halibut may be bottom dwellers but they feed on a variety of prey from shrimp and candlefish, when they are young, to full grown salmon, and cod as well as crabs and octopus. It is no wonder halibut are such great table fare! | ||||||
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