Seward, Alaska 08-26-07 40#Ling & 18# yelloweye

tsturm

Here are some Seward Alaska Rock fish Mr. Green

RJD Wannabe · Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 1:44 am Post subject:

Nice, one of my favorite places in the world.

Jack in Alaska · Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 3:28 am Post subject: Old fish.

Check out how old those yellow eyed red rock fish are.
It is a real shame to take them after living all that while.
Halibut are much more prolific and grow much faster.
Just something to consider.

Happy · Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 4:04 am Post subject:

Looks like you guys had a good day.

tsturm · Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 12:57 pm Post subject: Re: Old fish.

starcrafttom · Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 2:03 pm Post subject:

nice fish. I have to get up there some day soon. jack thats what limits are for and yes you can deflate the air bladder but I have a question about how well that works. I have not caught any rock fish so it has not been a problen for me. wish it was. I will say that I have seen small rock fish get tossed back in b.c. with the air bladder full and eagles swoop in and pick them off. the guide boat was showing off for a new york client. Every one has to eat.

dogon dory · Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 5:44 pm Post subject: Re: Old fish.

Sorry, Folks - Post Deleted By Author

rogerbum · Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:49 pm Post subject:

I agree with Dan on this one. I have had some success with deflating the swim bladders of fish I have to release but the success is limited. with any fish brought up from more than about 80ft. down. I'd guess that fewer than 1/3 of the fish that I deflate, make it below the surface prior to getting eaten by birds, sea lions, seals etc.

In WA, we are now restricted to fishing for bottom fish inside of 20 fathoms to help protect yellow eye and canary rockfish (which tend to live deeper than other, more abundant species of rockfish). However, it still pains me to throw back a nice canary or yellow eye that I know has a limited chance of survival.

CatyMae n Steve · Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 7:36 pm Post subject:

Beautiful catch and good eating ta-boot! Thumbs Up

gljjr · Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 9:45 pm Post subject:

I've read several posts on other boards where guys put a milk crate upside down on the down rigger and push the rockfish into the milkcrate and lower them down with the downrigger. Supposedly that reduces mortality to less than 10%. Just going down 33ft would likely suffice to reduce the swim bladder size by a significant amount.

Note that I have never done this as the only rockfish I have caught were all in shallow water (less than 50ft).

hammerhead · Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 11:08 pm Post subject: Nice fish

Great fish and good eating too...........

Fillet and release mmmmmmmmmmmmm

conservation at its best

Jack in Alaska · Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 4:46 am Post subject:

I didn't mean to stir up the proverbial pot. Just thought a second or two consideration in taking a 40-50 yr old fish was worth it. I also realize it is hard to differentiate as to what will bite "your worm" on the bottom.
I have never personally caught a yellow eyed red rock fish but have caught plenty of gray cod which react the same way. Bladders out and pecked to death before they can go down. I use them for bait usually.

Anyway...nice catch. Smile

dogon dory · Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 2:21 pm Post subject:

Sorry, Folks - Post Deleted By Author

tsturm · Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 9:09 pm Post subject:

breausaw · Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2007 1:52 am Post subject: never bust a gut.

I grew up in Seward and use to clean fish for the returning boats when I was young. I can remember boats returning with lingcod still flopping. I’d fillet them out on the cleaning table, toss them back in the water, and watch them swim away..no s—t.
That was 40 years ago.. If you know how to do it right you’ll never bust a gut.