77 replies to this topic

[Chasmodes]

Amazing stuff Ben!  That is some diversity, wow.  Benthic fish species galore!

[gerald]

OK so maybe CA is not as fish-poor as we easterners tend to think.

[BenCantrell]

I've shifted my focus to surf fishing for the past couple of weeks.  On my first trip (first page of this thread), I caught a shovelnose guitarfish.  On my second trip I caught a very small leopard shark.

 

Leopard Shark (Triakis semifasciata)

 

Third trip was more leopard sharks.  I was really hoping for a corbina or spotfin croaker, but these leos are experts at finding your bait when the sun is setting in the evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BenCantrell]

To avoid the guitarfish and leopard sharks I switched to a morning session for my third trip.  I also left the bait at home and fished sand crabs exclusively.

 

California Corbina (Menticirrhus undulatus)

 

 

 

Spotfin Croaker (Roncador stearnsii)

 

 

 

All of these fish were released, but apparently they are quite tasty.

[mattknepley]

Stop jealousofying me, Ben! Actually, your photos are really, really nice. Those leopards are beautiful fish, even if they are bait thieves. So, yeah, keep on jealousifying me...

[gerald]

Are your California "sand crabs" the same thing as our Atlantic mole crabs?

[BenCantrell]

Are your California "sand crabs" the same thing as our Atlantic mole crabs?

 

Yeah looks like it.  From google images it looks like the Atlantic ones are a hair bigger though. 

[Chasmodes]

Great stuff Ben, congrats on your catches.

 

Have you ever tried FishBites?  Croakers, spot, kingfish, flounder and sea trout love that stuff.  Easy to pack and no mess, stays on the hook.  I've even cut up small pieces and caught killifish on them!

[FishGuyJosh]

Great pics Ben! I can't wait to meet up and fish next time we visit home in San Diego.

[Isaac Szabo]

Very cool, Ben.

[BenCantrell]

NANFA forum user MichaelAngelo was in town for a visit, and we did some night surf fishing.  We were successful!

 

Leopard Shark (Triakis semifasciata)

 

California Butterfly Ray (Gymnura marmorata)

 

California Moray (Gymnothorax mordax)

 

Shovelnose Guitarfish (Rhinobatos productus)

 

All of the fish were released in good health, but someday I plan to take one of the guitarfish home, because I hear their meat is quite good.

[Chasmodes]

Awesome!

[itsme]

If you don't slow down, you're going to exhaust the species diversity there in a couple of weeks!  What will you go after then?  Seen any CA Killifish?  The coastal streams in CA are beautiful.

[BenCantrell]

Ryan (rc6750) of fishmap.org fame paid me a visit last weekend.  He caught around 15 new lifers, and I quite surprisingly added 5 new ones.

 

yellowfin croaker

 

sargo

 

black perch (new)

 

spotted kelpfish (new)

 

copper rockfish

 

vermilion rockfish (new)

 

honeycomb rockfish

 

flag rockfish (new)

 

chilipepper (new)

 

kelp rockfish

[itsme]

Do the eyes on those Rock Fish pop out due to pressure change or is that what they look like while still on the bottom?  Awesome Photos, BTW!  Thanks for posting!

[BenCantrell]

Yeah it's from the pressure change.

[rc6750]

Ryan (rc6750) of fishmap.org fame paid me a visit last weekend.  He caught around 15 new lifers, and I quite surprisingly added 5 new ones.

 

yep, good times! Thanks for the tour haha. I feel like I could get 15 more rockfish alone

[Chasmodes]

Congrats on the new species.  Cool fish pics.  Love the kelpfish and wow, some of the rockfish are spectacular!

[mattknepley]

That Flag Rockfish looks like Nemo on Weider Weight Gainer... Great lookin' fish!!

[BenCantrell]

Nothing new last weekend, but I went out on a boat with some friends and caught some dinner.  Bonito is best as sashimi, and lingcod is good breaded and fried.  

 

Pacific Bonito (Sarda chiliensis)

 

Lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus)