BajaNomad - halibuts in baja waters, SOC or pacific?

halibuts in baja waters, SOC or pacific?

capt. mike - 5-2-2008 at 07:12 AM

are flat fish in SOC really halibuts or are they flounders?
i always wondered this. i thot halibuts were from cold water up in alaska??
what about the pac side, are they halibuts?

woody with a view - 5-2-2008 at 07:15 AM

probably the same fish, but they get caught sooner and can't reach those enormous sizes up north.

just my guess!

David K - 5-2-2008 at 07:52 AM

Go to http://MexFish.com for all Baja fish info!

See photos and details: http://mexfish.com/fish/chal/chal.htm

Here's a couple from Gene's web site:

California Halibut, Paralichtys californicus (tentative identification): caught Nov. 25, 2005, by Shawn Gustafson, Chandler, Ariz., below, and John Korhonen, above, in the Sea of Cortez, about 50 miles south of Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico. "On our boat Murphy Girl, we then headed south another 40 miles and drift fished a reef in 268 feet of 74-degree water, using both live bait and cut bait. I caught a nice 15 pound California Halibut on a live mackerel and we also had two break-offs with larger fish. We decided it would be best to try drifting the rock pile instead of anchoring and then started catching nice 20 to 25 pound halibut on almost every pass using live spotted bay bass." --Description and photos courtesy Shawn Gustafson.

The California Halibut is a type of Flounder:

"California Halibut, Paralichtys californicus: The California Halibut is a member of the Bothidae Family of Left Eyed Flounders which includes flounders and sanddabs and the Paralichtys Genus which has only flounders. There are 98 global members of this family from 16 genera. There are only two members of the genus found in Mexican waters. The California Halibut is an exceptional species, with 60 percent of the individuals having eyes on the left side and 40 percent on the right side."

Halibuts are on both sides of Baja... I have caught them at Laguna Manuela's north beach (Variety Beach) and I have seen photos of lots of them caught at Bahia San Rafael on the opposite coast, south of L.A. Bay.

[Edited on 5-2-2008 by David K]

tattuna - 5-2-2008 at 08:17 AM

Fishermen generally refer to a flat fish as a halibut only if they have teeth. From what I understand the Cortez halibut is a different species than the California halibut.

California halibut get upwards of 70 lbs. and Cortez halibut rarely reach 30 lbs. They look nearly identical. The only difference I've noticed is that the dorsal fin on Cortez halibut begins a lot closer to the face, nearly behind the lip.

shari - 5-2-2008 at 08:23 AM

So is this a left eyed halibut?

IMG_6286-1.JPG - 31kB

Skipjack Joe - 5-2-2008 at 08:44 AM

The halibut caught in alaska is the pacific halibut. A different species entirely. They get up to 500 lbs. Anything under a hundred pounds is considered a baby.

lizard lips - 5-2-2008 at 09:27 AM

They are called "Linguado" in Mexico.

Bob and Susan - 5-2-2008 at 01:18 PM

is this then...a right eyed halibitt