It is an amazing fish, Paralichthys californi (California Halibut). They get huge! I lose the vast majority of these big fish to light tackle, but I've seen them close to five feet long, beneath my board, caught on my line. They can be real monsters, but there are even bigger ones out there......giant Pacific Halibut, which get to 400 pounds and bigger, absolute killers. There are stories of 1000 pounders swallowing men whole, and lesser ones grabbing onto a person and sinking to the bottom, only to drown and devour their victim in secrecy. Just ask the local Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest about their legends of 'Halibut Man' and 'Flat Death'.
Back in the 90s when I first learned how to surfboard fish, I had some awesome days catching halibut close to shore. We caught 5 or 6 in a row in one day, all legal size. My buddy and I were so sick of halibut, we started letting our fish go, remembering the moment, saying "Good Bye" to a fat 27 incher, and sliding the halibut back into the waves.
Five years later and that fish becomes a 40 pound terror. Halibut of this size have protruding teeth that can be a half of an inch and longer. The danger is not in the teeth so much as in the jaws and massive mandibular muscles that clamp shut like a sledge hammer on raw flesh. Any bait fish caught in this vice gets chopped in half, only a few ligaments will keep it together. Then the Halibut gobbles it down.
There have been times fishing, I've hooked into something big, and the whole floor of the ocean rises up and starts tracking under my feet. Scary! I don't know if I've hooked a shark, a ray, or a halibut, but whatever it is, I keep my toes tucked near my board.
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