California or Pacific Halibut?

[WildHawg]

So what are we catching off our coast, Pacific or California Halibut. No doubt both, 'but how many of us would know the difference? Never seen anybody question the species, so I'm curious.
There range is as far north as BC, and I had a Bio from Ca once on my boat when we caught a 36" "Calibut" off the tip of the North Jetty at Winchester Bay (30' feet of water mooching a herring)--but are they common?
How many that we bring in are Californian's??
Not bad enough half their state is moving north--we have to deal with their "wee baby 'but's" too! :tongue:
Seriously though, I think my last little 33" 'but may have been a Cali. Anybody else out there catch these "Calibut's"?
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/mspcont8.html

[ 12-03-2003, 06:02 PM: Message edited by: WildHawg ]

[Mello-Yello]

Actually, it's relatively easy to identify each species. When you harpoon a Pacific Halibut, it says "Ouch, that hurt man!"...the Californian Halibut responds with "Whoah dude! Easy with the poon, huh?!"

[Crashin' Bait]

I'll take a stab at this.

Hippoglossus stenolepis, the Pacific Halibut can be identified by:
1.more than 80 dorsal fin rays.
2.always has its eyes on the right side of it's head.
3.the maxillary does not extend past the eye.

Paralichthys californicus, the California Halibut can be identified by:
1.77 or less dorsal fin rays.
2.eyes can be either on the right or left side of it's head.
3.the maxillary extends past the eye giving it a larger mouth when compared next to a Pacific halibut.

Also, the Pacific Halibut appears to be more diamond shaped than the California Halibut.

[ 12-03-2003, 09:31 PM: Message edited by: Crashin' Bait ]

[verysweepy]

I think I like mell-yello's theory better

[Hamachi]

They are easy to distiguish. The CA halibut has rounded dorsal and anal fins with a tail that protrudes in the center.

The Pac halibut has pointed dorsal and anal fins giving it more of a "diamond" shape. Also the tail is concave from top to bottom.

The CA version are thinner than the Pac, which are more meatier, for the same length.

Check out these pictures -

CA HALIBUT

PAC HALIBUT

CA 'buts run much smaller, with a 20lb being a nice fish, 30 a great fish, and 45 being a trophy. Most Californians spend their time throwing back 10 shorts for every 22" keeper.

[WildHawg]

I figured out how to tell the difference when I linked--but the Q remains, what percent of the 'buts caught off Oregon are "Calibut's". Anybody else catch 'em?

I might be wrong here but I think the California halibut stay fairly shallow.

All of the fish that I saw last season were Pacific Halibut. California halibut spawn on the beach south of Brookings and are fairly easy to catch.

[Dave's not here]

We do alot of Calif Halibut fishing here in Eureka. This year very few came in. We catch them mostly in 30 feet or less of water.

[Hamachi]

In So. Cal. during spring and summer they are usually caught in 60' or less. Sometimes they are caught by surf fisherman as they chase grunion during grunion runs.

I've caught them in 250' during winter but they're hard to find.

[Orca]

Never caught one, never seen one at the dock.

[Pilar]

Left and right handed Halibut?

[Booja 1]

Pilar,,right hand or left,,what that means is when the halibut is born, they swim like a regular fish, vertically with an eye on each side of its head. Pretty soon the fish starts to lay on one side or the other,with one side being the top or dark side and the bottom side being white. I don't know if you can picture what I'm trying to say but what the heck, when I catch em I personally don't care if they are right or left, as long as they are legal and in the boat.....

[Sensei-san]

You mean to say that some Pleuronectiformes anglers can't tell if a flatfish is right eyed or left eyed?

Most all Pacific Halibut are right eyed. California Halibuts (some people call them chickens) are mostly left eyed but can be switch hitters. I guess their new governor will straighten them out in due time.

I doubt one would use a harpoon on a chicken halibut. But they swish nicely in a net.

[Pilar]

I guess I meant left or right eyed. Knew about the swim upright when little and then go flat thing.

Are Halibut live born or egg hatched? Where do they spawn? What the heck are they thinking when they are swimming around in the pitch black 100 fathom water?

Does the Black/White color happen before or after the go flat?

So many questions, so little time.

[BaitStop]

Both species are egg layers. The larvae are pretty much clear or lightly pigmented before they "settle out". The eye migration takes place before settling.

One major difference in the two is their eating habits or bait preference: Pacific halibut will take dead/cut baits readily & are not really "line shy" while the California halibut can be "line shy" & generally prefers live baits, anchovies, sardines & squid.

[Threemuch]

And preferred depths, Pac halibut are deep water fish, venturing into the shallows rarely. CA halibut love shallow water, I have caught them in 6 feet.

I doubt any caught here in deep water are CA halibut. Last year we caught a Pacific Arrowtooth Flounder, or Turbot, which looks alot like halibut, but runs smaller. Bigger mouth for the size of fish, believe it or not. And toothier.

Three,
Did you try to eat the "Turdbutt"? They're mushy and you eat them with a straw. We tried to grill one and it slithered through the grate. Not bad flavor though.

If we got into them we moved, they prefer sandy areas and the halibut liked rock and gravel.

What about that mouth full of teeth?

[Threemuch]

We let it go, we didn't know what it was, and because it looked too much like an undersized and over limit flatty, we didn't want to be arguing with the state trooper at the beach without knowing what it was.

"Honest, officer, I don't know what it is, but it aint a halibut!"