Ken Jones - Writer & Pierfisherman |

Spotfin Surfperch

November 28, 2014 by kenjones

Spotfin Surfperch from the San Simeon Pier

Species: Hyperprosopon anale (Agassiz, 1854); from the Greek root words hyper (above) and prosopon (face, from the upward direction of the face) and the Greek prefix ana (back again or similar). Family Embiotocidae, subfamily Amphistichinae.

Alternate Names: Silver perch. In Mexico called mojarra aletimanchada or perca.

Identification: Although similar to both the walleye surfperch and silver surfperch, the spotfin surfperch is identified by the large black spots in the dorsal and anal fins. Their coloring is a silver body with a dusky back.

Size: To 6 inches; most caught from piers are near this size.

Range: Bahia Blanca, central Baja California to Seal Rock, Oregon.

Habitat: Shallow-water, sandy-shore areas.

Piers: Although relatively rare at southern and northern California piers they do show up along the central coast. At the Pacifica Pier they will often be mixed in with schools of walleye and silver surfperch. A few are taken at piers located near the entrance to San Francisco Bay, especially the Fort Baker and Fort Point Piers. Best bet: Pacifica Pier.

Shoreline: An occasional catch by sandy shore anglers in central Californnia.

Boats: An inshore species rarely taken by boaters.

Bait and Tackle: Spotfin are often taken incidentally by anglers pursuing the larger walleye and silver surfperch. Although some anglers save the fish for pan-frying, most are really too small, in my opinion, to keep. Anglers wanting to catch the fish should try size 8 or 6 hooks baited with small pieces of pile worms or a very small strip of anchovy. However, most are probably taken by anglers using Sabiki/Lucky Lura-type bait riggings and light tackle.

Food Value: Really too small to eat so throw them back.

Comments: This is an attractive little fish that should be returned to the water unless the angler desires to use it as bait for larger fish.

Many thanks to Robert O’H for the help with the pictures.

Posted in Daily musings... · Tagged California piers, Pier Fishing in California, pierfishing, saltwater fish, saltwater fishing, Spotfin Surfperch · Leave a comment

Redtail Surfperch

November 28, 2014 by kenjones

Retail Surfperch, Humboldt County

Species: Amphistichus rhodoterus (Agassiz, 1854); from the Greek words amphi (double), stoichus (series, referring to the two rows of teeth in each jaw), and rhodoterus (rosy). Family Embiotocidae, subfamily Amphistichinae.

Alternate Names: Redtail perch, rosy surf fish and porgy (or porgie).

Identification: Their coloring is silver with olive green mottling and bars on side; fins red with the caudal fin (their tail) pink to deep purple. The longest dorsal spines are longer than the dorsal soft-rays. More elongate than calico surfperch.

Size: To 16 inches and 4 pounds; most caught from piers are under a foot. The California record fish weighed 2 lb 15 oz and was taken from Klamath Beach in 2003.

Picture below: Redtail Surfperch (and Mel) from the Paradise Beach Pier

Range: Avila Beach to Hesquiat Bay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Habitat: Shallow-water, sandy-shore, oceanfront areas. Although generally found in the open ocean, they enter sheltered estuaries and bays just before spawning in the spring and early summer. At such times, hundreds of fish may be concentrated in a fairly small area and it’s pretty easy for anglers to catch a limit.

Piers: Commonly caught at sandy-shore piers and bay piers north of Pacifica. Best bets: Pacifica Pier, Del Norte St. Pier (Eureka), and both the “B” Street Pier and Citizen’s Dock in Crescent City.

Shoreline: One of the main fish for sandy shore anglers in northern California anglers.

Boats: An inshore species but sometimes taken by boaters fishing Humboldt Bay.

Mike Jones and a Redtail Surfperch from Mendocino County

Bait and Tackle: Use medium tackle, a large enough sinker to hold bottom, a high/low sinker, and hooks size 6 to 2. Best baits include live sand crabs (in the surf areas), fresh mussels, pile worms or bloodworms, and clams. North of Eureka, two favorite baits (if you can find them) are tube worms (generally frozen) and crab backs.

Food Value: Generally considered a fairly good, mild-flavored fish. Usually pan-fried in butter.

Comments: Redtail surfperch, along with barred surfperch and calico surfperch make up the trio of large surfperch that dominate action on the surf end of most California piers; all are fine sportfish and fine eating.

Mike Jones and a Redtail Surfperch from Humboldt County

Posted in Daily musings... · Tagged California piers, Paradise Beach Pier, Pier Fishing in California, pierfishing, Redtail Surfperch, saltwater fish, saltwater fishing · 2 Comments

Calico Surfperch

November 28, 2014 by kenjones

Calico Surfperch

Species: Amphistichus koelzi (Hubbs, 1933); from the Greek words amphi (double) and stoichos (series, referring to the two rows of teeth in each jaw) and Walter Koelz, a U.S. ichthyologist. Family Embiotocidae, subfamily Amphistichinae.

Alternate Names: Surf perch, humpback perch, porgie (or porgee). Called majarra angaripola or perca in Mexico.

Identification: Their coloring is silvery, with olive-green mottling and bars on sides (bars usually broken and disconnected); most fins are reddish colored; caudal fin (tail) pinkish to deep red. Longest dorsal fin spines about equal to or slightly longer than longest dorsal soft-ray; pronounced notch between dorsal fin hard rays and soft rays. Lower edge of eye is below the upper lip. More disc-like shaped than in redtail surfperch.

Calico surfperch from the Capitola Wharf (Photo courtesy of Capitola Boat and Bait)

Size: To 12 inches; most caught from piers are 9-11 inches.

Range: Arroyo San Isidro, northern Baja California to Shi Shi Beach, Cape Flattery, Washington.

Habitat: Shallow-water, sandy-shore areas.

Calico surfperch from the Trinidad Pier

Piers: Calico surfperch are the number one surf area fish caught on central California piers north of Cayucos. In the Pismo Beach-Cayucos region, large numbers of both barred surfperch and calico surfperch are caught; more barred surfperch are landed but the calico surfperch will be slightly larger in size. Best bets: Avila Pier, Cayucos Pier, San Simeon Pier, Seacliff State Beach Pier, Capitola Wharf, Santa Cruz Wharf, Pacifica Pier and (surprisingly) Point Arena Pier.

Shoreline: One of the main fish for sandy shore anglers in central California anglers.

Boats: An inshore species rarely taken by boaters.

Calico surfperch from Citizen’s Dock in Crescent City

Bait and Tackle: Bait and tackle is the same for all three of the large surfperch. Best bait is live sand crabs followed by live sea worms (pile worms or bloodworms); next would be fresh mussels, shrimp or clams. Tackle should be heavy enough to hold bottom in the surf area, and hooks should be size 6 to size 2 baited on a high/low leader.

Food Value: Reaches an edible size but like most other perch the flesh is only fair in taste. Generally pan-fried in butter after coating.

Comments: Calico surfperch will often school right around the inshore pilings; at times, fishing right under the pier, as close to these pilings as possible, will yield the largest fish. Calicos are sometimes mistaken for redtail surfperch.

Calico surfperch from the Capitola Wharf (Photo courtesy of Capitola Boat and Bait)

Many thanks to Robert O’H for the help with the pictures.

Posted in Daily musings... · Tagged California piers, Capitola Wharf, Citizen's Dock—Crescent City, Pier Fishing in California, pierfishing, saltwater fish, saltwater fishing, Trinidad Pier · Leave a comment

Barred Surfperch

November 28, 2014 by kenjones

Barred Surfperch from the San Simeon Pier

Species: Amphistichus argenteus (Agassiz, 1854); from the Greek word amphistichus (a double series, concerning the two rows of teeth in each jaw), and the Latin word argenteus (silvery). Family Embiotocidae, subfamily Amphistichinae.

Alternate Names: Silver perch, barreds, sand perch, surfperch, and silver surf fish. In Mexico called mojarra de bandas or perca.

Identification: Barred surfperch are one of three large surfperch with bronze or brassy bars on the side. Their coloring is brassy or silvery; olive-green to yellow-green on the back, silvery below; no red in their tail. Most have vertical yellow or gold bars on the sides, generally with a few spots between the bars; some are seen lacking the bars on the sides. The upper jaw extends slightly beyond the lower jaw with the lower edge of eye above the mouth. Dorsal spines are always shorter than the longest dorsal soft-rays.

Barred surfperch from the Pismo Beach Pier in 2000

Size: Up to 17 inches and 4 1/2 pounds (a 9-year-old fish); most caught from piers are less than 14 inches in length. Two fish share the title of California record fish at a weight of 4 lb 2 oz. One was caught in Morro Bay in 1995 and the second was caught in Oxnard in 1996. (See additional information at the bottom.)

Range: Bahia Santa Rosalia, central Baja California to Bodega Bay, Sonoma County.

Habitat: Shallow-water, sandy-shore areas where markings blend with the wave churned environment (although some feel a large population lives in deeper water.) Primarily feeds on sand crabs; also bean clams and small mussels.

Barred surfperch from the Goleta Pier

Piers: Barred surfperch are common at almost all sandy-shore, oceanfront piers, north to the Pacifica Pier. Best bets: Imperial Beach Pier, Crystal Pier, Oceanside Pier, Huntington Beach Pier, Hermosa Beach Pier, Malibu Pier, Ventura Pier, Goleta Pier, Gaviota Pier, Pismo Beach Pier, Avila Pier, Cayucos Pier and San Simeon Pier. Quite a few are also taken further north, especially at the Seacliff Pier, Santa Cruz Wharf and at the Pacifica Pier.

Barred surfperch from the Pismo Beach Pier, 2000

Shoreline: One of the main fish for sandy shore anglers in southern and central California anglers.

Boats: An inshore species rarely taken by boaters.

Barred surfperch from the Cayucos Pier, 2008 (Photo courtesy of the Tidepool, Cayucos)

Food Value: A mild-flavored flesh that is usually pan-fried in butter.

Bait and Tackle: By far, the best bait for these perch are live sand crabs, which make up 90% of the diet of barred surfperch. Live sea worms, mussels and clams would be the next best baits but barreds are landed on just about every bait imaginable (and many regulars use nothing but plastic grubs). Light to medium tackle can be used depending on conditions. Since the best water to fish is found just outside the first set of breakers, most anglers use a pyramid sinker (with whatever size sinker is needed to hold the bait in place). Line can be 8-to 20-pound test. A high/low leader is most often used with size 6 to 2 hooks. Barred surfperch are caught year-round, but December-January are the best months in southern California according to the California Fish & Game studies. The same studies found the Oceanside area to be the top producer of fish.

Barred surfperch from the Capitola Wharf (Photo courtesy of Capitola Boat and Bait)

Comments: There are three species of surfperch that are large and which are predominate in the inshore surf area: barred surfperch, calico surfperch and redtail surfperch. Barred surfperch are the number one surf-area fish caught on southern California piers. North of Morro Bay, calico surfperch start to replace barred surfperch as the main inshore perch species; north of San Francisco, redtail surfperch replace the calico surfperch. At the Pacifica Pier it is occasionally possible to catch all three species on the same trip, a tri-fecta of sorts. Barred surfperch put up a spirited fight and are a favorite of surf fishermen.

Barred surfperch from the Pismo Beach Pier, 2000

Of note was a study done by the Department of Fish and Game in the Bolsa Chica-Hermosa Beach area between 2007 and 2009. One conclusion was that the number of barred surfperch in tha area had increased relative to the 90s. However, barred surfperch dropped from third to tenth place relative to other surf species collected.

Barred surfperch from the Pismo Beach Pier

Barred surfperch from the Pismo Beach Pier, 2000

Barred surfperch from the Cayucos Pier, 2008 (Photo courtesy of the Tidepool, Cayucos)

Barred surfperch caught by Ravis at the Cayucos Pier, 2010 (Photo courtesy of the Tidepool, Cayucos)

Barred surfperch from the Pismo Beach Pier, 2005

A bucket of perch from the Imperial Beach Pier

Barred surfperch with young from the Avila Beach Pier

Barred surfperch from the San Simeon Pier caught by Gip of Paso

Teeth of a barred surfperch taken from the San Simeon Pier by Gip of Paso

A small barred surfperch but a great shirt — Mike Granat at the Santa Monica Pier in 2014

Wylie’s Bait and Tackle — and a record

A state record barred surfperch hanging at Wylie’s Bait and Tackle in Malibu

The official California Fish and Wildlife records show Fred Oakley as one of two anglers holding the state record for barred surfperch with a 4 pound two ounce fish (the other being Artie Ferguson Jr. who caught his fish in Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo Co. on 11/8/1995). According to their records, Mr. Oakley caught his fish in Oxnard, Ventura Co. on 3/30/1996 using a lure. However, Ginny Wylie at the iconic Wylie’s Bait and Tackles in Malibu said they weighed the fish and it actually weighed 4 pounds 2 1/2 ounces and was caught on bait. She says Fred Oakley, who was a friend and a regular at the shop, and who also holds the record for yellowfin croaker, NEVER used lures.

Wylie’s, which has been in business since the ’40s, measured two other barred surfperch on their scales that would have been state records. One was a 4 pound 12 ounce fish and the second was a 5 pound 3 ounce fish “caught by a little girl” around 1950. Ginny Wylie is trying to find me additional information and pictures but says most people simply never submit their catches to the state.

Below is a story from Western Outdoor News on a new record.

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Angler Gets Approved By IGFA For All-Tackle World-Record Barred Surfperch

BY BLAKE WARREN/WON (Western Outdoor News) STAFF WRITER
Published: Feb 17, 2015

VENTURA — Surf angler Bert Uyemura of Torrance had quite a 2014 on the beach, picking up a number of chunky barred surfperch over the 14-inch mark early in the year, including 3 that breached the 17-inch mark. That got the fisherman’s wheels turning.

NEW WORLD RECORD barred surfperch for Bert Uyemura of Torrance, approved by the IGFA late last year. The slab perch went 18 inches in length and nearly 4½ pounds, and was taken on a Lucky Craft jerkbait near Ventura.

“After my third 17-inch perch, it got me thinking and I went home to do some research on the biggest barred surfperch ever caught,” Uyemura said. “What I found out was surprising to me. The current record was 17 inches and 4-pounds, 2-ounces, recorded by the IGFA in 1975. With what I found out, it got me thinking that I might’ve had a record fish.”

Uyemura kept plying his trade in the breakers and ran into a nice big perch bite one day in mid-March, plucking out 4 BSPs over 14½ inches. As the tide was beginning to peak, he started fan-casting his way back towards the car when his line went tight once again.

“After about a 3-minute fight, all of a sudden it felt like I was snagged on the bottom no more than five feet from the shoreline,” recalled Uyenmura. “My first thought was of my $20 Lucky Craft lure, but my second thought was the hope for another 17 incher.

“With waves crashing the shoreline, I started walking towards my lure. I managed to get within 5 feet of where my lure was when a bigger wave crashed on the beach. As the big wave receded, I thought I felt some strong head shakes. This fish was sitting in a big trench right out in front of me with my lure in its mouth.

“I couldn’t tell how big the fish actually was, but when the next wave came in, I reeled as fast as I could to beach the fish…there she was – my personal best BSP, at 18 inches in length and 4-pounds, 7-ounces.”

Late last year, the IGFA approved Uyemura’s surfperch as the new all-tackle world record for barred surfperch, giving surf fishers up and down the coast a new benchmark to aim for moving forward.

[It should be noted that his record is an IGFA record and not the California record since he apparently never filed for the state record.]

Article and photos courtesy of Western Outdoor News

_________________________________________________________________________________

Many thanks to Robert O’H for the help with the pictures.

Posted in Daily musings... · Tagged Avila Pier, Barred Surfperch, California piers, Capitola Wharf, cayucos pier, goleta pier, Imperial Beach, Pier Fishing in California, pierfishing, Pismo Beach Pier, saltwater fish, saltwater fishing · Leave a comment

Walleye Surfperch

November 27, 2014 by kenjones

Walleye Surfperch

Species: Hyperprosopon argenteum (Gibbons, 1854); from the Greek root words hyper (above) and prosopon (face, from the upward direction of the face) and the Latin word argenteum (silvery). Family Embiotocidae, subfamily Amphistichinae.

Alternate Names: Silver perch, white perch, surf fish, bigeye perch, and China pompano. In Mexico called mojarra ojona or perca. Occasionally called wally perch, probably by those who have watched too many Leave It To Beaver reruns.

Identification: Typical perch shape. Identified by the tips of the pelvic fins being black and their very large eyes. Their coloring is silver with some duskiness on the back. Can have bars or no bars on their sides.

Walleye surfperch from the Cayucos Pier

Size: To 12 inches; most caught from piers are less than 10 inches. Fish caught in northern California tend to be larger than those caught in the south.

Range: Punta San Rosarito, central Baja California to Esquimalt Harbor, Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Habitat: Shallow-water areas, near both sand and rocks. Common in both oceanfront areas (throughout the year) and in bays (primarily during the summer). Often found in dense schools consisting of several hundred fish.

Walleye surfperch from the Capitola Wharf

Piers: Walleye are one of the main catches at almost every oceanfront pier in the state but larger concentrations seem to exist in the north. Best bets: Crystal Pier, Seal Beach Pier, Malibu Pier, Gaviota Pier, Pismo Beach Pier, Avila Pier, San Simeon Pier, Seacliff Pier, Pacifica Pier, Fort Point Pier, Elephant Rock Pier, Fort Baker Pier, Point Arena Pier, and the Commercial Street Dock in Eureka.

Shoreline: One of the main fish for sandy shore anglers in California.

Boats: An inshore species rarely taken by boaters.

Walleye surfperch caught by “Minnow Magnet” from the Berkeley Pier

Bait and Tackle: Tackle can be kept light. Best bet is to rig a modified snag line, three or four size 8 hooks, each baited with a very small strip of anchovy and a 1/2-to 1-ounce sinker. Cast the rig out, let it sink to the bottom, then begin a slow retrieve; the walleye surfperch will often follow it from the bottom to mid-depth range and hit it on the way up. Many, many times I have seen anglers trying to catch these fish but failing simply because their bait or rigging was too large; walleyes have small mouths and will peck away at larger baits but not be hooked. Walleye will eat shrimp, mussels, worms, squid and pieces of fish, but small strips of anchovy have proven to be the main winner in my experiences.

Food Value: Fair, although most of the fish are too small to have much meat available.

Walleye surfperch from the Paradise Cove Pier in Malibu

Comments: This fish numerically ranks first among the fish I have caught at California’s piers. In the Department of Fish & Game studies, it ranked fourth among all pier-caught fish in southern California, and third among fish in central and northern California.

Of note was a study done by the Department of Fish and Game in the Bolsa Chica-Hermosa Beach area between 2007 and 2009. Walleye surfperch ranked fourth among surf fish collected in the study and showed an increase in numbers from the 1990s.

Walleye surfpech from Crystal Pier in San Diego