Rare catch (for me)

[the rockfish ninja]

Starry Flounder





I could have sworn it was going to be a Halibut, it was almost as big and put up such a fuss, but as soon as I saw the black and gold fins I knew it wasn't.

When I was a kid in the 70's they were still somewhat plentiful on the coast and in the bay, but for decades they've been sparse, and catches are rare. Normally I wouldn't even take one, and would release it, but this guy was bleeding and didn't have much of a chance survival, so I just enjoyed a top notch seafood that I hadn't had for a very long time.


-Shimano Trevala 'S' rod
-Lews Tournament pro reel
-Berkeley PowerWorms - Motor Oil

[gstours]

Yes,  that's a nice one,   Pretty fun on lite tackle from the beach.   Good mild white meat. 🎣😊

[CooldadE]

In the late 70s we a couple of drought years in Cali... we saw salt water intrusion here in the San Joaquin river. We would catch those flounder as a by catch while Sturgeon fishing with grass Shrimp. Not much of a fuss on the heavier gear we were using but very tasty in deed... that one pictured is a big one compared th the ones we were catching..

Cool

[El Pescador]

Starry, Starry night...

Tony!!

Very Nice Catch!!!

The stripes on the fins and tail are very distinctive!!

Question, how do you fillet it???

And a quick saute in a hot pan like Sole???

Wayne

[Hardy Boy]

We still catch them here but they were quite common when I lived in Prince Rupert and we would get some big ones while fishing for butts. I also used to catch them off of the dock/ log booms when I was a kid. While they can be tasty they can also have a strong iodine taste sometimes. You can't tell til you cook them; so I usually let them go. They are scrappy.  Nice fish and they are pretty. Its obvious why they are also called emery wheels.

EP: You fillet them same as any flat fish or you can fillet into 4 fillets like halibut. Cook like any sole/ flatfish species.

Cheers:

Todd

[the rockfish ninja]

Starry, Starry night...

Tony!!

Very Nice Catch!!!

The stripes on the fins and tail are very distinctive!!

Question, how do you fillet it???

And a quick saute in a hot pan like Sole???

Wayne

Fillet it just like any other flatfish, pretty easy, and yes you can cook like sole cause it has a similar texture. This one was big and the fillets were thick so breadcrumbs and a pan fry was the ticket. They have more flavor to me than sole, so you can do more with them.

[the rockfish ninja]

While they can be tasty they can also have a strong iodine taste sometimes.

When caught close to shore they can have that, it's why I won't take anything from inside the Bay at this point. This one was caught about 3 miles outside of the GG bridge, clean as a whistle.

.... also, bleeding them helps.

[Benni3]

Great job,,,,,

[handi2]

That's a cool Flounder. All we have are Gulf Flounder and Southern Flounder.

Keith

[Benni3]

If you cut some shin off the belly that's really good bait for more,,,,,,,

[Cor]

The closest I ever came to something like that was catching sole with a pitchfork as a kid late 60's

Pretty fish!

[thorhammer]

Nice fish, Tony! Really nice coloring. We don't get them here- and we only get two weeks of flounder season period, in NC- for Summer and Southern's.

[steelfish]

nice fish congrats. those trevala S rods are thin as Bass rods.

i just modified a Bass rod with nice backbone but with really short reargrip and added a longer butt, I just made it with a standard size split grip, the idea is to use it as light rod from the shore for spotted bay bass and triggers. no flounders, halibuts near here.

it will be paired with a vintage shimano bantam 2000GT,  abu garcia revo sx or a daiwa airD coastal 100 HSA but it still needs a full bearing kit 

[Cor]

I have a question.   Holding the butt of the rod horizontal will give you the strongest way to deadlift something as the bend is 90 degr.

If you keep holding the rod in that position and add more weight slowly, it will start to flex more towards the rear using more of the rods backbone and therefore in theory bearing more weight until it becomes too much and breaks.

Is there an obvious spot where the rod would break if the blank is perfectly made and has no weaker or unevenly thin wall areas?

My thinking is that it will break somewhere at the rear, near the holders front hand in this case?   I have repaired many broken rods, nearly all broken in the front half probably as a result of high sticking.

Something for the engineers or scientists. 

[the rockfish ninja]

nice fish congrats. those trevala S rods are thin as Bass rods.

i just modified a Bass rod with nice backbone but with really short reargrip and added a longer butt, I just made it with a standard size split grip, the idea is to use it as light rod from the shore for spotted bay bass and triggers. no flounders, halibuts near here.

it will be paired with a vintage shimano bantam 2000GT,  abu garcia revo sx or a daiwa airD coastal 100 HSA but it still needs a full bearing kit  

Nice mod, should do the trick. The only difference is Trevala 'S' has the carbon wrap that gives that extra resiliency to fight bigger fish.



It was the precursor to the slow pitch rods I use for jigging, which are even thinner than the Trevala, and even stronger.