They’ve caught them using a combination of both methods.

When they’re “finning” on the surface of the water, they won’t bite but can be snagged. When they’re feeding it’s sort of like fishing for salmon:

First you have to find them. If they’re feeding, they’ll be on a bait ball, so you have to find a bait ball first.

Then use your sounder to look for their particular signature. One of the commercial guys said they look like gummy worms stacked up on the bottom on his.

If you find them down there on your sounder, then you can fish them at all levels of the water column - from the surface to the bottom - by drifting through the bait ball. There are no pole count limits. They’ll bite on most any bait, and halibut rigs work well. They’ll also bite on artificials.