Here's a nice fish and a better story from Nicolai Stoll: "Got this nice 14 lb halibut on a blue and silver  Kastmaster with a single hook bucktail between Hog and the yellow buoy. The drift was slow so I thought I'd cover more ground if I cast around from the bow like a clock and bam! Ever heard of a halibut taking a Kastmaster? It's shiny and wiggles so... "  I have heard of halibut biting Kastmasters. They're a good lure, as like you said, they're shiny and they wiggle. Mostly it's the surf guys throwing them, as when you're stuck on the beach having a lure you can cast far gives you more options. Nice work on the fish, and even better thinking out of the box that most of us spend our lives in. Just because you haven't heard of someone doing something, it doesn't mean that something doesn't work. That new thing you're trying may be the new big deal that catches fish at will! It probably won't be, though. Almost surely it won't work. Almost....

   I only heard of a few others caught and a few lost at the boat. Learn to use a gaff, folks. It really works better on halibut. Catching bait was, maybe not easy, but definitely not as hard as it will be come October. The tides are starting to ease up, so maybe later this week the numbers will pick up, along with the predicted wind.