Ep. 20: Lane Kilian on Local Water, Spinner Baits & Hunting Halibut

Guest: Lane Kilian Hosts: Daniel Dahlin ([FISH]rx), El Charly, Luke Dean (Bait Slingers / Artemis Charters)

Episode 20, recorded live on June 27, 2023, brought in Lane Kilian for a local water breakdown right in the middle of a spinner bait run. Daniel, Charly, and Luke had all been building their own spinner baits and running them in the harbors — and Lane confirmed what they’d been finding: the bladed bait bite was on and producing both quality fish and unexpected species.

In This Episode

• Spinner bait run in the harbors — the crew had been building their own spinner baits and fishing them hard for several weeks. Bites coming consistently on half-ounce to two-ounce presentations across different harbor sections
• Halibut on spinner baits — Lane caught halibut on a spinner bait in 40 feet off a sandy incline. Not a typical target on bladed tackle, but the slow bottom roll triggered the bite. The spinner bait as a versatile search bait that covers more species than most anglers expect
• Heavy swimbait rod for spotties — Daniel’s setup at the time: throwing a 7–8 inch trout swimbait on a heavy rod in Huntington Harbor and picking up spotties. The bigger profile working in summer conditions when fish are willing to chase
• San Diego launch for mixed species — Lane’s trip out of Mission Bay targeting a mix of inshore species. The offshore edge producing bait in the hundreds of thousands, which set up the topwater and bladed bite inside and outside the harbor
• A-rig and MDR C-rig mechanics — discussion of how heavier heads on multi-hook rigs change the retrieve angle and bottom contact. The difference between a flat trailing retrieve and one with more drop on the outside hooks
• Bait sensitivity and high-quality reels — Lane’s point that a quality spinner and a high-sensitivity reel lets you feel the blade rotation change before the strike happens. That feedback loop changes how you fish the pause

Beyond the Rod & Reel on Spinner Baits

The halibut on spinner bait story is the standout of this episode. Nobody was targeting halibut. Lane was covering water with a spinner bait off a sandy incline and the fish ate it. The lesson isn’t “throw spinner baits for halibut” — it’s that a bait slow-rolled on the bottom covers more water and more species than a stationary presentation. The spinner bait as a search tool beats a drop shot for covering ground.

The spinner bait run during this period was notable across the whole community. Daniel, Charly, and Luke had all been building their own and fishing them, and the conversation confirmed that this wasn’t just one person’s result — the bite was real and consistent across multiple harbor sections. That kind of community-wide confirmation is worth paying attention to.

Watch the full episode on the Time On The Water YouTube channel. New episodes every Tuesday at 6 PM.