Fishing for Halibut

The waters of Lower Cook Inlet and the Kachemack Bay produce one of the worlds most productive marine environments. Wildlife abound here. Whether in direct contact with it - Halibut on the line - or viewing sea otters, puffins, eagles, porpoises, and whales, it's an experience of a lifetime...the highlight to any trip to the Great Land.

Pacific Halibut are bottom dwellers and the largest of all flat fish. They spawn in the winter in deep waters and feed in the summer in shallower coastal waters.

Halibut fishing is fun and easy - put the bait on the bottom and hang on. Reeling it in might be a different story but fun nevertheless.

The average halibut weights 23 lbs but larger ones are common. Take a look at some of the pictures on this web site! The limit in Alaskan waters is two halibut per person, with throw-backs a plenty - most of the time, in fact.

Alaska's Awesome Halibut

Halibut migrate into Cook Inlet each Spring. Juvenile halibut, between one and three years old, are usually less than 12 inches in length and are nurtured in the shallow waters of the continental shelf.

Female halibut grow faster and bigger and live longer than male halibut. But females reach reproductive maturity four years later than do males. Egg production is size dependent: A 50 lb. female can produce over 500,000 eggs, while a 250 lb. female may produce 4 million eggs. The largest halibut caught in Alaskan waters (Bering Sea) weighed 500 lbs!

Halibut are travelers! Adult halibut may swim hundreds of miles from their spawning grounds. they have been tracked migrating all the way from the Bering Sea down to southeastern Alaskan waters and beyond.

The otoliths, or small bones in the inner ear, show annual growth rings like that of a tree an dare used by scientists to determine the ages of halibut. The oldest age recorded is 42 years for a female and 27 years for a male.

Indian Names

Halibut are known by at least nine Alaskan names in the coastal regions where they are found. Here is a list of names for halibut for nine native tribes of Alaska.