Ken Jones - Writer & Pierfisherman |

Queenfish

October 23, 2016 by kenjones

Croakers—Family Sciaeidae

Queenfish from the Ventura Pier in 2011

Species: Seriphus politus (Ayres, 1860); from the Greek word seriph (a kind of locust, an island near Greece, or a kind of wormwood—take your pick. Evidently, the scientist who gave the fish its scientific name, a Dr. Ayres, never specified why he used this name.), the Latin words us (word for an ending), polit (smooth or polished), and us (same ending word).

Alternate Names: Commonly called herring in SoCal; also herring croaker and brownie or brown bait. For some unexplained reason called sea trout in the Ventura area. Early 20th century names included kingfish, tomcod and sea trout. Called corvineta reina in Mexico.

Identification: Queenfish have a long slender body, a large mouth with a projecting upper jaw, and small eyes. Their two dorsal fins are widely separated which distinguishes them from other croakers. Their coloring is metallic; silver-blue on the back, a silver or whitish belly, and dusky fins.

Queenfish from the Ocean Beach Pier in 2007

Size: To 12 inches, although most caught off piers are less than 8 inches in length. An 11-inch queenie weighed a little over a half pound.

Range: West of the Uncle Sam Bank, Baja California, and the Gulf of California to Burrard Inlet, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Queenfish are uncommon north of Cayucos and rare north of Monterey.

Habitat: Common in shallow-water sandy areas, both oceanfront and in bays, especially around piers. Often found in densely packed schools, sometimes along with white croaker. Most commonly found at depths from 4 to 27 feet happily munching on free-swimming crustacea, small crabs, and fish.

Queenfish from the Port San Luis Pier in 2014

Piers: Common at most southern California piers. Best bets: Imperial Beach Pier, Ocean Beach Pier, Crystal Pier, Oceanside Pier, Seal Beach Pier (I think it’s the best), Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier, Santa Monica Pier, Malibu Pier and Ventura Pier. Abundant inshore from late spring to the beginning of winter. Dense schools of queenfish are often found in the shady areas under piers. I have also caught a few queenfish at both the Cayucos Pier and Monterey Wharf No. 2.

Shoreline: An occasional catch by shore anglers in southern California.

Boats: Not a common boat species but some are taken in southern California bays.

Queenfish from the Hermosa Beach Pier in 2008

Bait and Tackle: The best bet is to either use a Sabiki/Lucky Lura-type leader (size 6-8 hooks), or to simply tie four size 8 hooks directly to your line spacing them every six inches with the bottommost hook 18 inches above the sinker. Drop your line to the bottom and reel in slowly until you find the depth at which the fish are biting. Once you find the fish, drop the leader down and slowly work it up and down. When the schools are thick you may not even need bait—the fish will strike the bare hooks. Other times you may need to use bait such as a small strip of anchovy or squid. Schools can be kept around your line by occasionally tossing in a few pieces of stale breadcrumbs or a few small pieces of anchovy chum. Schools often move into deeper water at night so adjust your spot on the pier accordingly.

Food Value: Queenfish are good tasting little panfish but only the larger specimens have enough meat on them to use as food fish. Pan-frying is the common method of cooking.

Comments: This small fish is another that had a Navy vessel named after it. The USS Queenfish (SS-393) was a Balao-class diesel-electric submarine built in Kittery, Maine. Launched on November 30, 1943, it was commissioned on March 11, 1944. After training in Hawaii she began a distinguished career that included duty in the Luzon Strait, the Formosa Straits, and waters adjacent to the China coast. She sank many ships and engaged in rescue operations of Allied soldiers. She was at Midway, preparing for another patrol, when the war ended. The Queenfish was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation (US), and received 6 battle stars for World War II service. Later she served as Flagship Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet and was homeported at Pearl Harbor before later transfer to San Diego. She was struck from the Navy List in March 1963 and sunk as a target by the Swordfish (SSN-579), in August 1963.

Queenfish themselves are attractive little fish that are fun to catch even if they’re not exactly a sporting catch. Small queenfish can be used at piers as bait for halibut or any other large fish. Queenfish were numerically ranked first in an early Fish and Game survey of fish caught from southern California piers and jetties.

Posted in Daily musings... · Tagged California piers, Hermosa Beach Pier, Pier Fishing in California, pierfishing, Port San Luis Pier, Queenfish, saltwater fish, saltwater fishing, Ventura Pier · Leave a comment

Halfmoon

October 22, 2016 by kenjones

Sea Chubs—Family Kyphosidae

Halfmoon caught at Catalina in 2010

Species: Medialuna californiensis (Steindachner, 1876); from the Spanish word medialuna (halfmoon, referring to the shape of the tail) and californiensis (California, where first found).

Alternate Names: Catalina blue perch, island mackerel, blooper, blue wizard, blue perch or blue bass. In early days sometimes called medialuna. In Mexico called chopa medialuna.

Identification: Halfmoon are perch-shaped but heavier bodied; they’re similar in many ways to opaleye. Their coloring is normally bluish-black above, bluish-gray on sides, and light blue below. Their tail is shaped like a half-moon.

Halfmoon caught by Isogure in Mission Bay in 2014

Size: A 19-inch fish weighed 4 pounds 12.5 ounces.

Range: Gulf of California to Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Habitat: Halfmoon are found in shallow-water, rocky areas and kelp beds. They’re often in small loose schools in the mid-water area and, at times, mixed in with schools with pileperch.

Piers: Common at southern and central California piers that are located near rocks, reefs or kelp. They’re common as far north as Cayucos but occasionally taken as far north as Santa Cruz. Best bets: Ocean Beach Pier, the Green Pleasure Pier and Cabrillo Mole in Avalon (the two best piers), Hermosa Beach Pier (by the reef), Redondo Harbor Sportfishing Pier, Santa Monica Pier, Gaviota Pier, and the Paradise Cove Pier.

Halfmoon caught by Jimbojack at the Cabrillo Mole in 2007

Shoreline: A common catch of rocky shore anglers in sourthern California.

Boats: Although mainly considered an inshore species, quite a few are landed by anglers fishing from boats, especially at Catalina.

Bait and Tackle: Halfmoon will take almost any bait but they prefer fresh mussels, shrimp, or small crabs. When schools are present, a small strip of squid will often work, and you will lose far less bait. Halfmoon caught from boats seem to be less picky and will often hit pieces of anchovy, sardine, or sqiuid.

Food Value: A good eating, mild-flavored fish.

Comments: Halfmoons are good fighters, very similar to opaleye and the larger perch. Their eating habits are also similar to opaleye (both are considered to be herbivorous species) but will eat almost anything in their environment including red, green, and brown algae, sponges, bits of seaweed, green moss, shrimp, mussels, squid, and fish. Apparently they have a hard time deciding whether to be vegans or meat-eaters and that may explain their scrappy and perhaps irritable nature.

KJ and a halfmoon caught at the Cabrillo Mole in 2014

Halfmoon from the Cabrillo Mole in 2016

Hans Jones and a halfmoon from the Cabrillo Mole in 2014

Halfmoon from the Cabrillo Mole in 2014

An early day rendering of a halfmoon. Note the slightly different scientific name. Picture courtesy of NOAA.

Posted in Daily musings... · Tagged cabrillo mole, California piers, Green Pleasure Pier, Halfmoon, Hermosa Beach Pier, Pier Fishing in California, pierfishing, Redondo Beach Sportfishing Pier, saltwater fish, saltwater fishing · Leave a comment

California Needlefish

October 21, 2016 by kenjones

Order Atheriniformes

Needlefishes—Family Belonidae

Needlefish caught from the Hermosa Beach Pier by Frenchy in 2002

Species: Strongylura exilis (Girard, 1854); from strongylura (meaning round tail) and exilis (meaning slender).

Alternate Names: Garfish, pike needlefish, billfish. Called agujón bravo de California or agujón Californiano in Mexico.

Identification: Jaws form a long, pointed needle-like beak with many sharp teeth; body very slender and rounded; dorsal and anal fins situated far back on the body. Greenish-blue above, silver on sides and belly, bluish band along side; teeth green.

Needlefish caught by my dad in Mission Bay in 1984.

Size: Length to 3 1/2 feet.

Range: Cabo San Lucas, southern Baja California, and the Gulf of California to San Francisco. Also found south to Peru and the Islas Galapagos. Uncommon north of Point Conception.

Habitat: Shallow waters to 300 feet; generally found near the surface. Common to San Diego Bay and Newport Harbor as well as the Long Beach-San Pedro Harbor.

Needlefish caught by my dad in Mission Bay in 1984

Piers: Coronado Ferry Landing Pier, Pep Pepper Park Pier, Embarcadero Marina Pier, Oceanside Harbor Pier, Dana Harbor Pier, Seal Beach Pier, and Belmont Veteran’s Memorial Pier.

Shoreline: Often seen by southern California shore fishermen, especially those fishing in bays.

Needlefish caught by my dad in Mission Bay in 1984

Boats: Rarely seen by boaters unless fishing in SoCal bays.

Bait and Tackle: Very difficult to hook. Usually landed when either using a live (small) smelt under a float or on lures like Krocodiles or Kastmasters. The same bobber/float rig baited with a strip of mackerel or squid will also sometimes attract them. They are often hooked on bait rigs like Sabikis but will often jump and roll on the leader resulting in an impossibly tangled up and generally no longer usable bait rig.

Food Value: Good, mild-flavored meat. The light blue or green colored flesh will turn white upon cooking.

Comments: A good fighting little fish that will often jump when hooked. Often mistaken for barracuda when seen from a pier.

Needlefish caught at Seal Beach in 2009 by DompfaZack

In Baja California needlefish are quite common but also one of the most disliked fish. Once I was fishing with the Pirate fleet out La Paz, we were fishing the famous Esppirito Island, and we were catching an interesting variety of fish—dorado, roosterfish, jack crevelle, weird-looking trunphetfish and various varieties of cabrilla. We also caught needlefish, big needlefish, and almost invarably when the needlefish would show up the skipper would move. Two days later we were fishing the East Cape area on a boat out of the Rancho Buena Vista Resort. We were concentrating on roosterfish, slowly trolling the inshore waters, and every so often would pick up a roosterfish or two. However, often when we would stop at a spot for the roosterfish we would see schools of needlefish headed toward the boat and the sardina bait. Hopefully a roosterfish would hit the bait before the needlefish but sometimes not and then the hated needlefish would be pulled aboard as quickly as possible (or simply jerked off the hook). They actually put up an interesting fight (including sometimes jumping out of the water) but their habit of twisting the line and their needle-sharp teeth were hated by the boatmen who were looking for larger game fish.

Posted in Daily musings... · Tagged California Needlefish, California piers, Coronado Ferry Landing Pier, Pier Fishing in California, pierfishing, saltwater fish, saltwater fishing, Seal Beach Pier · Leave a comment

Black Croaker

October 21, 2016 by kenjones

Croakers—Family Sciaeidae

A black croaker from the Oceanside Harbor Pier

Species: Cheilotrema saturnum (Girard, 1858); from the Greek word cheilotrema (lip pores) and the Latin word saturnum (dusky color).

Alternate Names: China croaker, Chinese croaker, Chinafin croaker and red roncador. Early names included black perch and black bass. Given the references to China croaker, it is called 黑唇孔石首魚 in Mandarin Chinese. In Mexico it’s called corvina roncacho or corvinata negra.

Identification: A very deep-bodied croaker that is recognized by the black edge on the upper opercle (gill cover) and the dark black-purple coloration. They usually have a pale bar at midbody. However, adults seem able to change color patterns dependent upon the environment. In open water, over sandy bottoms, they may be somewhat tan in color while over rippled sand they can assume a striped pattern. Large adults, black in color, move into dark caves, crevices and grottoes where they can be almost invisible. Juveniles may be yellow-white with several black horizontal bands on the upper portion of the body (and closely resemble juvenile sargo and salema). They have a blunt snout and the upper jaw projects over the lower jaw.

Size: Up to 16 inches although most caught off piers are less than 12 inches long. A 14-inch fish weighed 1 pound 9 ounces, and was 20 to 21 years old.

A black croaker taken from the rocks in Mission Bay by geese in 2010

Range: Bahia Magdalena, southern Baja California to Point Conception.

Habitat: Young like shallow-water areas with sandy bottoms, and are found along the open coast and in bays; adults are found in both sandy and rocky areas. Ranges down to 150 feet but generally found from 10 to 50 feet. Feeds primarily on rock dwelling crabs such as lumpy crabs, young masking crabs (spider crabs), and red-rock shrimp.

Piers: Black croaker are found at most southern California piers but are rarely caught; they are very shy and hide in caves and crevices most of the day. By the time they come out at night to move around and feed, there are less anglers around to catch them. Best bets: Embarcadero Marina Park Pier, Shelter Island Pier, Oceanside Harbor Pier, San Clemente Pier, Seal Beach Pier, Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier, Hermosa Beach Pier, and the Santa Monica Pier.

Shoreline: An infrequent catch by shore anglers in southern California.

Boats: A few are taken by boaters fishing the southern California bays.

Another black croaker taken by geese from the rocks in Mission Bay in 2010

Bait and Tackle: Similar to most other croakers; use a high/low leader with number 6 to 4 hooks. Bait with sand crabs, clams, fresh mussels, ghost shrimp, shrimp, bloodworms, or innkeeper worms. The best area for black croakers is from the surf area to midway out on a pier.

Food Value: Similar to yellowfin croaker in taste and texture; eat only a limited amount in areas that are known to be polluted—and check for warning signs.

Comments: Black croaker are the least commonly caught croaker. It is reported that young black croaker, along with sargo and salema, lead extremely boring lives. All will school together just beyond the surf line in areas where there are rocks to provide protection against the surge of the surf. All will face directly into the surge and the schools will not shift position more than 10 feet during an entire season. However, within the schools, the size and numbers fluctuate from day to day. As the black croaker grow larger, they break away from the schools and begin to frequent caves and crevices (from boring to bleak). Illegal to buy or sell in California since 1933.

Posted in Daily musings... · Tagged Black Croaker, California piers, Embarcadero Marina Park Pier, Oceanside Harbor Pier, oceanside pier, Pier Fishing in California, pierfishing, saltwater fish, saltwater fishing · 2 Comments

Cortez Bonefish

October 20, 2016 by kenjones

Bonefishes—Family Albulidae

Bonefish caught at Spanish Landing in San Diego Bay by jkim

Species: Albula gilberti Pfeiler & Van der Heiden, 2011. Previously referred to as Albula vulpes and “Albula sp. A” (Pfeiler and Van der Heiden 2011). From the Latin Albula (meaning fox).

Alternate Names: Ladyfish, mullet, silver ghost, silver shuttle, sanducha and macabi. There are hundreds of local names for the fish worldwide. My favorites: banana or bananafish (many countries), sorte de mullet (New Caladonia; and it does sort of look like a mullet), salmon peel (Barbados) and Zorro (Spain and Peru). Called macabi in Mexico.

Identification: Snout conical and cartilaginous with a small mouth. One dorsal fin located at the middle of the back. Generally gray, bluish or greenish above, silvery below; base of fins yellowish. Sometimes bars at side, usually in younger fish; bars fade at death. Often confused with mullet by anglers who see mullet milling down around the pilings of piers.

Bonefish from the Balboa Pier in 2007

Size: Length in the eastern Pacific to 14.2 inches (Pfeiler and Van der Heiden 2011). Typical size from California piers is 10-12 inches.

Range: San Francisco, northern California, along west coast of Baja California, and into the Gulf of California (Pfeiler and Van der Heiden 2011) to Acapulco, Mexico (Palacios-Salgado et al. 2014). Increasing number have been seen in southern California in the past twenty years with a regular fishery developing in San Diego Bay.

Habitat: Shallow waters, in bays, lagoons, estuaries and along sandy-beach shores.

Bonefish taken by anadomous at a “secret” spot in south San Diego Bay

Piers: In California, In California, most often encountered at piers inside of bays but occasionally found at ocean-front piers. Best bets are the Ferry Landing Pier (Coronado), Bayshore Park Pier (Chula Vista), L.M. “Pep” Pepper Park Pier (National City), and the Embarcadero Marina Park Pier—all located in San Diego Bay. Also reported from the Oceanside Pier, Dana Harbor Pier, Balboa Pier, Newport Pier, Seal Beach Pier. Unconfirmed reports from the Imperial Beach Pier, Belmont Pier and San Francisco Bay.

Shoreline: An occasional catch by anglers at SoCal bays and harbors—San Diego Bay, Mission Bay, Newport Bay, Huntington Harbor, Alamitos Bay and Marina Del Rey Harbor.

Two bonefish taken from the Newport Pier in 2001

Boats: An inshore species rarely taken from boats unless fishing in bays. South San Diego Bay is considered an excellent area for bonefish.

Bait and Tackle: Light to medium tackle, size 6 or 4 hooks, and ghost shrimp, bloodworms, clams, fresh mussels, or cut shrimp as bait.

Food Value: Reported to be good eating but they also supposedly contain many small bones. Perhaps that’s why they are called bonefish?

Comments: Bonefish are a highly sought out fish in many parts of the world (especially in the Caribbean). However, the more prized fish are a different sub-species reaching a much larger size. The Cortez bonefish found in California is a smaller sized bonefish and an incidental catch for most California anglers. I’ve only caught two, both in 1999, and both from the Embarcadero Marina Park Pier in San Diego Bay (on ghost shrimp) and while they put up a good fight, the fight didn’t equal the stories I had heard over the years regarding the “silver ghost.” But, to be fair, the fish I caught were relatively small and were caught on medium tackle, not on a fly rod.