Great pics and story. I was surprised that his halibut is the only one in the book. Other divers must have speared Pacific halibut, and not entered them.
I used to love to free dive for California halibut, a smaller species. The state record used to be 63 lbs. and the biggest I ever saw was 48 lbs. speared by a friend. We dived for lobster all winter and halibut all summer. I always wanted to dive northern waters for Pacific halibut but never did once we moved north and away from the coast.
Re how deep are halibut: I have speared them in four feet of water in the surf and many in 15 feet. That has always surprised fishermen who catch them in hundreds of feet of water. My opinion, which could be wrong, is that the bottom habitat is more important to a halibut than the depth. If the bottom is the kind a halibut likes, it is a good place to look for them no matter how deep or shallow, especially at certain times. Having said that, the odds of catching a really big one were better in deep water in my fishing experience.
In the early 70's, the limit was five halibut per day, and I got a limit twice. Got two or three several times. Pardon the reminiscing of a codger...
