Non-Fly Interesting PS catch
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Uptonogood
PNW raised
The one I caught had green flesh that fried up white and was absolutely delicious!
I, Cabezon (and a sculpin / cottid scientist since 1977), know that that fish is a cabezon. The diet dominated by crabs is very typical, especially Telmessus cheiragonus (helmet crab). Like some ling cods and other greenlings, a subset of cabezon (and a few other sculpins) have bluish-green meat. The blue/green color is due to biliverdin pigment, an intermediary product in the breakdown of the heme component of hemoglobin. In some human bruises, there may be a temporary phase where the bruise turns green (as part of the breakdown of blood in the bruise) and then yellowish (=bilirubin). There has been little detailed scientific research on why some of these fish have this color, just some correlations. Hypotheses include diet, sex, age, as a sunscreen against ultraviolet radiation, etc. (see here).
Steve
Steve
Despite being one of the least fun fish to cut, I agree. Interesting texture and a very crab/shellfish-like flavor.
Yeah just fillet it out. I say "just" but it's not nearly as easy as a lingcod. Their skin is really tough and rubbery. Very hard to cut through. Then there's the massive ribcage with very thick bones you have to cut around, which takes way longer than you'd expect.
I had never heard that the organs of cabezon are toxic. The eggs are poisonous (see case here) and ingestion triggers acute gastrointestinal toxicity (chills, non-bloody diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain and cramping). The suspected toxic compound is an unusual phospholipid, dinogunellin. This toxin is found in a few other fish.
Steve
Phil Fravel
Steelhead
Definitely a cabezon. Very tasty
We skinned the tails of smaller ones and used them for bait for summer steelhead and SRC.
Uptonogood
PNW raised
Steve, you are an incredible resource on this forum. Thanks!
Another interesting “catch” from yesterday in 10. Struck out fly fishing and jigging so ended up trolling flies around on divers. @Kfish rod goes off on a decent sized salmon which runs into the other rod’s line/diver. We stop the boat, let the second rods diver sink to the bottom so we can land the salmon. We do that, untangle the line and I start reeling in the second rod. Damn, snagged on the bottom. Oh, wait, it’s moving. That’s a fish and a large one.
A few minutes later this comes net.
Pacific Big Skate @Cabezon?
Anyway. I’m
In the end he was not hooked in the mouth. We did not realize the second rod got hit by a shaker which was dragged to the bottom by the diver. Based on how it was hooked (and the pinned shaker to the skate) we assumed it tried to eat the struggling shaker stuck on the bottom when it was hooked as I reeled in. It was a big skate. Lou in the net for scale.
BTW if anyone lost this giant net in PS, let me know. We found it floating and picked it up.
A few minutes later this comes net.
Pacific Big Skate @Cabezon?
Anyway. I’m
In the end he was not hooked in the mouth. We did not realize the second rod got hit by a shaker which was dragged to the bottom by the diver. Based on how it was hooked (and the pinned shaker to the skate) we assumed it tried to eat the struggling shaker stuck on the bottom when it was hooked as I reeled in. It was a big skate. Lou in the net for scale.
BTW if anyone lost this giant net in PS, let me know. We found it floating and picked it up.
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