Golden Gate Bridge report

[the rockfish ninja]

So I'm mucking around under the GG with a 1 3/4" grub on a tiny hook catching small rockfish and baby lingcod. Just a little target practice for an artificial angler to keep my chops up. After a few hours of catch & releasing the little beasts I decide to give it one good heave out to the deep water on the last cast before I go.

After a couple bounces off the bottom, I get a fat hit, a little bit of drag burning, and a 15 min back and forth battle with something. At one point it gets stuck on some structure and even with the tiny hook and light leader I miraculously horse it out and get it near shore, use the wave surge to toss it up on the rocks and what? A 27" 8lb Hali.    ... sometimes you just land on your feet.

[Swami805]

nice fish!

[Vintage Offshore Tackle]

Beautiful fish.  That last cast is always the best!  And if it isn't, then we take one more last cast. 

[Ron Jones]

Lovely,
Enjoy dinner
The Man

[Wompus Cat]

Ain't that a Flounder .
I thought Hali's had different dorsals and tail fin shapes plus they have their eyes  on the other side ?
Or is a Hali per say a Cali nomenclature for the fish you caught ?
Either way Damn Good Eatin. Just trying to learn sumpin . I probably wouldn't know the difference if one bit be on the Leg.

[the rockfish ninja]

Ain't that a Flounder .
I thought Hali's had different dorsals and tail fin shapes plus they have their eyes  on the other side ?
Or is a Hali per say a Cali nomenclature for the fish you caught ?
Either way Damn Good Eatin. Just trying to learn sumpin . I probably wouldn't know the difference if one bit be on the Leg.

Halibut are left side heads and flounder are right side. The tail shape tells you the difference between California and Pacific halibut, two different species, Pacific being much bigger. You'd definitely know the difference by the size of chunk taken out of your leg.

.... I still like Rockfish better.

[Wompus Cat]

Evey thing I see is different





This says just the opposite ...lol
And then there is the Summer Flounder and  the winter flounder .
I dunno ...............

[Ron Jones]

Ain't that a Flounder .
I thought Hali's had different dorsals and tail fin shapes plus they have their eyes  on the other side ?
Or is a Hali per say a Cali nomenclature for the fish you caught ?
Either way Damn Good Eatin. Just trying to learn sumpin . I probably wouldn't know the difference if one bit be on the Leg.

The fish caught is a California halibut, the Diamond in the picture is a Pacific halibut. the rounded fish in the picture is one of several additional flounder species, actually several put together. There is something about the eyes, but I've never bothered to figure it out. The difference between California halibut and other flounder is obvious in real life, and nothing can be confused with a Pacific.

The Man

[Gfish]

Ron's on the money. You can barely see it in the Ninja's picture, but it has that high-rounded lateral-line section near the head, not shown in the drawing, cause it's a Flounder vs a P. Halibut. Also, the tail-fin in the Ninja's picture has the correct shape.
I vaguely recall something about the C. Halibut could be either right, or left-eyed...?

[steelfish]

Yay !!   great fish Tony boy

I bet it was on a Bass rod setup, I know what you mean about liking rockfish better.

[the rockfish ninja]

Evey thing I see is different





This says just the opposite ...lol
And then there is the Summer Flounder and  the winter flounder .
I dunno ...............

Nothing there is "opposite" of what I stated. I never mentioned body shape, I did say the pacific is bigger than california halibut (fact), both are bigger than flounders, the tail on Cali Hali's is flat where a Pacific has an arrow shape, CaliHali's also have a rounder dorsal fin and less diamond shaped.

This are all facts that you can confirm with some research.

They say Halibut can be left or right eyed but I've been fishing here since 1971 and have never seen a Right eye come out of these waters.

[Wompus Cat]

Ain't that a Flounder .
I thought Hali's had different dorsals and tail fin shapes plus they have their eyes  on the other side ?
Or is a Hali per say a Cali nomenclature for the fish you caught ?
Either way Damn Good Eatin. Just trying to learn sumpin . I probably wouldn't know the difference if one bit be on the Leg.

Halibut are left side heads and flounder are right side. The tail shape tells you the difference between California and Pacific halibut, two different species, Pacific being much bigger. You'd definitely know the difference by the size of chunk taken out of your leg.

.... I still like Rockfish better.

Well as usual I  got the ol proverbial pot stirred .
The illustration I posted shows Halibut have the head on the Right Side your fish looks like it has eyes on the Left side .
I Dunnnnno but I know the diff between Hally Berry's Butt and a Flounder and at my age that is all  that matters.

[the rockfish ninja]

I bet it was on a Bass rod setup

Lews tournament pro bass reel
St Croix ML rod
1 3/4" grub on a trout hook

Most of the 15 mins fight I had my mind accepting I was going to lose that fish.

[the rockfish ninja]

Ain't that a Flounder .
I thought Hali's had different dorsals and tail fin shapes plus they have their eyes  on the other side ?
Or is a Hali per say a Cali nomenclature for the fish you caught ?
Either way Damn Good Eatin. Just trying to learn sumpin . I probably wouldn't know the difference if one bit be on the Leg.

Halibut are left side heads and flounder are right side. The tail shape tells you the difference between California and Pacific halibut, two different species, Pacific being much bigger. You'd definitely know the difference by the size of chunk taken out of your leg.

.... I still like Rockfish better.

The illustration I posted shows Halibut have the head on the Right Side your fish looks like it has eyes on the Left side .
I Dunnnnno but I know the diff between Hally Berry's Butt and a Flounder and at my age that is all  that matters.

Supposedly they can be either left or right butt they are from the Bothidea left eye family, and again I've never seen a right eye hali in 5 decades of fishing. That illustration from fishing booker is a bit generic, here's something more specific.

http://identifyfish.blogspot.com/2010/10/california-halibut-paralichthys.html


PS-Halle is pushing 60 now, I think there's a rule against mentioning granny age derrieres.... 

[happyhooker]

Must be a nice spot to fish from--scenic.

Frank