Also known as Cali halibut, California flounder, chickenbill, barn door (for big ones), flattie, halibut. Bait, technique, tide windows, and where the bite is on right now.
California Halibut — The ambush flatfish that buries in the sand and crushes a drifting anchovy. Also called Cali halibut, California flounder, chickenbill, barn door (for big ones), flattie, halibut.
California Halibut is also known as: Cali halibut, California flounder, chickenbill, barn door (for big ones), flattie, halibut. The ambush flatfish that buries in the sand and crushes a drifting anchovy.
Regional names can confuse anglers and cause misidentification. The table of common names below covers the most-used alternatives across Australia, New Zealand and the US:
Key to correct identification: check the regulations-authority species sheet for your state or territory before keeping any fish — minimum legal sizes, bag limits and identification guides are published by each fisheries department and are the authoritative source.
Hero spots in our coverage where California Halibut is in season for June. Click through for the live forecast.
Out of season across our covered spots in June.
Drift fishing is the bread and butter. Set up upcurrent of a sand flat, bay mouth, or a sand-to-structure transition and drift live anchovies on a Carolina or dropper-loop rig with just enough lead (3/8 to 1-plus oz) to tick bottom. Halibut are ambush predators that lie buried in the sand and explode upward, so keep the bait near the bottom and let them eat: feel the tap, drop the rod tip, feed line for a few seconds, then come tight and swing. When the wind lays down, drag a leadhead swimbait slowly across the bottom or slow-troll a plug along channel edges and drop-offs. Use light fluorocarbon leader (their eyes are keen in clear water) and Owner or Gamakatsu live-bait hooks matched to bait size. Watch the meter for sand fingers, color changes, and bait balls; halibut stack where current funnels anchovies past structure, and do the net job tight-lined at the boat.
Best on a moving tide, especially the first couple hours of an outgoing tide when current sweeps bait out of bays and estuaries past waiting fish; the bottom of the tide and slack water are slow. A mild to moderate exchange that gives you a steady, fishable drift beats a screaming spring tide that drags your bait off the bottom.
Halibut feed on tide and current more than moon phase, but the larger tidal swings around the new and full moons push stronger flushes through bay mouths and tend to fire up the spring and early-summer bite as fish slide shallow to spawn and chase anchovy and grunion runs.
State-water and federal limits exist and differ, and seasons (especially Pacific groundfish, plus grouper/amberjack in other regions) are set annually with depth and area rules. California (and southern Oregon) can have area-specific halibut rules including gear and bay-mouth restrictions, so always check the current California Department of Fish and Wildlife or Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife regulations before keeping a fish.
US state size & bag limits for California Halibut: CA
Olli-Mikael Vaittinen has fished his whole life. Fifteen years of fly fishing, guiding seasons on Norway's Lakselva — his favourite Atlantic salmon river — and a blue marlin landed in Vava'u, Tonga. Founder of Fishare — the app that puts the data behind the decisions every angler makes on the water.
Fishare tracks your home spots and pings you when the next 3-hour peak window opens. Log catches and blanks to teach the model your local patterns. Free forever for everyone who joins now.
Open Fishare