Mister Bigmouth Of The Briney

When you say “large mouth” to a fisherman there never seems to be any doubt as to what you are talking about. The largemouth bass is a great fish, pure and simple. But did you know there is a large or big mouth in the ocean? Scientifically its name is Sebastos (magnificent) Pauci (few) Spinus (spine). For the angler, the name is bocaccio, Italian for big mouth.

If you live in California and have done any rockcod fishing you almost undoubtedly have caught bocaccio, although perhaps under a different name. Bocaccio are among the top four types of rockfish caught by central and northern California anglers; they are among the top five types caught in the southern part of the state. Bocaccio are the only type of rockfish to rank so high in all of the different areas of the state. In addition, bocaccio make up 35-40 percent of the state’s commercial rockfish catch.

Bocaccio aren’t just found in California. They range from Sacramento Reef, in Baja California, to Kruzof Island and Kodiak Island, in Alaska. Anglers have a chance to catch old Mr. Bigmouth along more than 3,000 miles of shoreline.

Bocaccio are easy to recognize. The most obvious characteristic is the big mouth just as the name implies. The fish is bass shaped, olive to brown on the back, red to pink on the sides, and pink to white on the belly. Young fish sometimes have speckling on the sides and some of the older fish, but not all, will have large black spots on their sides. The fish is slender and the head pointed. The lower jaw projects out past the nose thus accounting for its big mouth. It is not one of the prettiest rockcod, or the largest, but it is one of the most dependable catches in the rockcodder’s bag.

In most of the range you’re talking of fairly deep water if you wish to catch them. In southern California you may catch the smaller bocaccio in fairly shallow water but for the larger fish you will be fishing in water 300-600 feet deep. Further north, in spots such as Monterey, Santa Cruz, and out of San Francisco, you will normally catch bocaccio in between 200 and 350 feet of water. Generally, adult bocaccio live in water 200 to 750 feet deep, but they have been landed in water as deep as 1,050 feet. Up north in British Columbia, bocaccio, usually called rock salmon, are a popular fish taken deep trolling with light tackle. It is reported that in the spring, large schools migrate to shallow water and are taken on bucktail flies in Finlayson Arm, Saanich Inlet.

Its range and the number of people who thus catch bocaccio are one reason for their popularity. Another reason is their size. It does not attain the size of cow cod in the south, or yelloweye rockfish (turkey reds) in the north, but it is still often the largest fish caught— the jackpot fish.

My first bocaccio was an example. In the spring of 1965, while in high school, I was fishing in a small skiff off of the La Jolla canyon just north of San Diego. My companion was Ed Noble, my math teacher, and the advisor to the school fishing club. We had caught a few fish, mainly kelp bass and olive rockfish (Johnny bass), along with a few barracuda. All had been fairly small with nothing over 5 pounds in weight. Suddenly, something grabbed my anchovy and pulled like mad, not fast like a pelagic, but strong. After a few minutes, a beautiful kelp bass of just over 9 pounds came to the gaff. It was the biggest fish we had caught that day and seemed destined to win the friendly, non-monetary, competition between teacher and student. But no! Within five minutes another fish grabbed my bait and the monofilament streamed from my spinning reel. I thought I had hooked a brother to the previous bass. Imagine my surprise when I gaffed a 9 1/2 pound bocaccio.

It was the first bocaccio I had ever caught, and beat out the bass for the jackpot fish. I have caught bigger bocaccio since, but never one quite like that. What that bocaccio was doing in the fairly shallow depths we were fishing is a mystery. Although the La Jolla submarine canyon is in very deep water, the water we were fishing was rarely over 60 feet deep.

Another jackpot winner was at Santa Cruz. I was fishing on the Stagnaro II party boat out of the Santa Cruz Wharf in July of 1975. Everyone aboard had caught easy limits of rockcod that day with the primary species being chilipepper, greenstriped, and vermilion rockfish, together with an occasional sablefish. Few large rockcod had been caught, and no lingcod, the normal jackpot fish. But shortly before we headed in something hit my shrimp-fly leader. At first, I thought it was a ling. Slowly I gained line, and slowly I began to feel like my arm was going to fall off. But it wasn’t a big ling! I had three bocaccio on the line—each of which weighed over 10 pounds. They were the biggest fish of the day and all were on the same line at the same time.

Bocaccio are reported to reach 36 inches and 25 pounds but the IGFA world record is 21 pounds, 4 ounces, and anything over 12 pounds is a large fish. However, it has been my experience that most of the fish you catch will be of fairly good size: 5 to 8 pounds. This is especially true here in northern California. In southern California, bocaccio, (often called salmon grouper) are the number one type of rockcod caught but schools will often be of different size. You may run into a school of 3, 5, or 8 pound fish. In northern California, bocaccio are less abundant, but I have seen few small fish.

For example, I’ve fished on the party boats out of San Francisco, which go to the Farallon Islands. On these boats the most commonly caught fish are yellowtail rockfish that average 3-5 pounds. In my records, I catch only one bocaccio for every eight yellowtail rockfish but the average bocaccio weighed 7 1/2 pounds. With the exception of lingcod and yelloweye rockfish, the bocaccio were usually the largest fish.

The story at Santa Cruz is the same. When the deepwater reefs are fished, chilipepper, greenstriped, and greenspotted rockfish will predominate and make up two thirds of the catch. Bocaccio will make up less than ten percent of the catch but are often the largest fish caught. When the shallower reefs are fished, the catch will be principally orange (canary), yellowtail or blue rockfish. Bocaccio will be far fewer in number but again will often be the jackpot fish—if large lingcod are not caught. In checking my records, the same holds true in more northerly ports such as Bodega Bay and Fort Bragg.

However, at times the story will be quantity instead of quality. Many years ago my son Mike and I were fishing on the barge California out of Redondo Beach. We had arrived at six p.m. and caught the shuttle boat out to the barge. Anglers could return each hour to the landing, stay until midnight, or stay overnight. If you did not catch the midnight ride back, you were stuck until five a.m. We intended to return on the midnight shuttle boat but we changed our minds. What a fantastic night. Shirtsleeve weather, an ocean that looked like glass, and fish, an unbelievable number of fish. Everyone was catching the fish of his choice: bocaccio, mackerel, sablefish, or a combination of all of these and more.

For myself, it was a night of experimentation. Sablefish is one of the best tasting smoked fish so I tried to catch as many as possible. It was also a night to fish for sharks, and several 100+pound sharks were landed. But the majority of fish were bocaccio, small fish of 1 to 3 pounds. Hundreds of bocaccio were caught that night. Everyone had easy limits. And the deckhands said it had been that way for several weeks. The image in my mind is one of hoards of fish being caught every hour. As the fish are being caught others are being cleaned at the fish cleaning stations. As the remains are washed under the boat, a steady stream of food descends to the depths. Coming up to the food is a steady stream of fish out of the deep-water Redondo Canyon. It seemed like a never-ending cycle. Of course it isn’t always like that, but that night still brings back excitement many years later.

About this time you might be wondering how so many fish can be caught without damaging the fishery and if uncontrolled that could happen. Yet to say bocaccio are prolific is like saying rabbits have a few bunnies. Female bocaccio may release two broods of embryos each year; the first in March and the second late in the year. Up to two million embryos may be released each time. Since females become mature at age three (when they are about 17 inches long) and can live over twenty years, that’s a lot of reproduction. After being released, the embryo for a time will drift at the surface. Young bocaccio normally come into shallow waters for their first year and then move into deeper water as they age.

This habit of schooling in shallow water when young leads to phenomenal fishing at times; especially in central California. Many years will see piers between Pismo Beach and San Simeon, and sometimes those all the way to Santa Cruz, surrounded by dense schools of the young, immature bocaccio. When this happens, whole families flock to the piers to catch the tasty small fish. Although signs warn not to catch more than the 15 rockfish limit, literally everyone catches fish and families fill their buckets as fast as they can bring the fish up—three at a time. Calling the fish either red snapper or tom cod, most of the anglers may not even realize they are catching the youngsters of the larger bocaccio caught out on the boats.

The runs do not happen every year, but when they do, it is a sure sign that anglers will not be far behind. I have seen these schools of small bocaccio as far south as the Newport and Balboa Piers, and as far north as the Point Arena Pier. Since there are more than five hundred miles between these points, there must be an unbelievable number of bocaccio.

They are also fairly easy to catch. Traditionally, and still the most commonly used rigging, is a simple shrimp-fly leader which has three large flies and either a sinker or a diamond jig weighting down the line, and the sinker should be heavy enough to keep the line vertical. In southern California, because of the depths fished, a leader containing as many as six hooks is used. Almost any bait will work. However, since you are often fishing at a considerable depth, you should use something that is going to stay on your line and not require a lot of rebaiting. Squid works best; it is cheap, readily available, and will stay on your line very well. I usually cut the squid into strips 4 to 6 inches long and 1-inch wide, then run the hook twice through the strip bait. If bocaccio are around, you should have no trouble hooking the fish.

Given the number of fish, the range of the fishery, the relative ease in catching them, and the size they attain, it is not surprising that bocaccio are popular. However, one more factor must be mentioned: bocaccio are delicious to eat. The small bocaccio are simply cleaned and pan-fried whole, much like many small panfish. Larger bocaccio are normally filleted and then deep-fried with batter. The meat is white, mild flavored, low in fat and delicious. A bonus with bocaccio is that the meat also seems to hold up better in the freezer than some types of rockfish. If cleaned and frozen in a proper manner, the meat should last many months in the freezer with no apparent deterioration. Handled properly, I will guarantee you that you will get no complaints from guests who come for dinner. In fact, you may see a big mouth stuffing itself with old Mr. Bigmouth.

By Ken Jones

California Angler, January 1994

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