The splitter bar setup is one of the easiest and most effective ways to fish for halibut. I like to rig a splitter bar set up and fish a large horse herring with a large halibut hoochie on top of it. See splitter bar setup below.

It’s not shown in the picture below, but I like to take a couple old spoons and attached them to the swivel right above the lead ball. This is an extra rattling noise that may attract a halibut.

Below is a typical set I would run off of a splitter bar. I tie my own circle hooks and then put a spin glow on top for extra action.

There’s a reason why commercial fisherman use circle hooks. Millions of pounds of halibut are caught every year and it is the circle hook that is used. Don’t get me wrong there are times where you should use a j-hook with halibut, and sometimes a combination of both a circle hook and a j hook.