Sport fishing for halibut in Alaska is very popular.  Some say it's an experience you'll never forget. Imagine having a 250 lb. angry halibut on the other end of your line with incredible swimming powers. As you reel it in and your arms tire from its brute strength, you wonder just how big this giant behemoth of the deep could possibly be. This could be the best fishing story of your life!

Being a flatfish, halibut have both eyes on the upper dark side. Their upper sides tend to assume the coloration of the ocean bottom, while there underside, being as whitish as it is, tends to blend in well with the sky when viewed from below. These color adaptations allow halibut to avoid detection by both prey and predator.

Halibut spawn in the winter with peaks for December through February. Most spawning takes place off the continental shelf in deep waters of 200 to 300 fathoms. Females lay two to three millions eggs annually, depending on the size of the halibut. Males and females mature 7-8 and 8-12 years, respectively.

Fertilized eggs hatch in about fifteen days. Free-floating eggs and larvae float up to 6 months and are transported up to several hundred miles by currents of the North Pacific Seas. During the flee-floating stage, many changes take place in the young halibut, including migration of the left eye to the right side of the fish. Eventually as the young halibut are carried into shallower waters by prevailing currents, they begin life as bottom dwellers.

Halibut live a long time. Females grow faster and live longer than males. The oldest recorded female was 42 years old and the oldest male was 27 years old.  They are opportunistic feeders, using whatever food is available.  Being strong swimmers, halibut are able to eat a large variety of fish including cod, turbot, pollock, crab, and shrimp.

Halibut is prized for its delicate sweet flavor, snow-white color and firm flaky meat. It is an excellent source of high-quality protein and minerals, low in sodium, fat and calories and contains a minimum of bones.  Halibut is very versatile in the kitchen, as well, with many recipes for baking, broiling, pan-frying, deep-frying, poaching or barbecuing.  A fletch refers to a large halibut fillet. One halibut will yield four fletches. Halibut also yield round cheeks which are extracted from their head area. Halibut cheeks are sweet flavored and are considered a delicacy.