5/26/07 Report-Thresher Pics

[yellowtail55]

My friend and I launched in our double peddler at 4:20am to angle slappers. Bait was hard at the pier, but easier 50 yards off of it. Headed to off of the condo, and saw someone (sorry, I never got your name) hooked up on a thresher. We helped him release it. The thresher was just a pup, around 40 pounds. My friend Aaron saw a decent yellowtail jump, but other than that it was a fairly slow day for the "right kind." I didn't see any wsb or yellows caught, but I'm assuming there must have been at least a couple. However, we managed to have a little fun catching several nice cuda between 30-34". We also found a tiny blue fish hanging out in our mirage drive hole, which was interesting. It looks like something you'd see in a fish store! All fish were released.

[Iceman]

Great pix, if I were to guess I would say that lil one is some kind of fry, looks like a greenback?, cool, nice release on the T shark Jimbo!

[Louis Clarke II]

Way to go jimbo. Post up the story!

Louis & Clarke

[fishinhb]

Looks like a baby black seabass fry.

[nmbrinkman]

I think that's what the birds were splashing on. I wasn't marking them but the birds were busy everywhere. The only thing I was marking on Sat. were cudas and the occasional school of mixed mackerel. Seems really fishy out, just waiting on the right conditions. I a friend of mine thinks the bite has a lot to do with barometric pressure. Something to do with the fish being more active before a storm.




I'll see if I can't get the fry ID'ed...

[jimbo]

Little-t tail slapped the rapala just off NW corner of preserve as I was rounding the corner around 6 AM. For a moment, hoped it was a solid YT, but it started towing me pretty fast and I figured it was a cartilege skeleton of some sort. Thanks for the help with the release and pix guys. Nice shot of the fish underwater!
Fishing was similar to day before. Tons of spaniards and cudas around kelp. Had good hookup on the bottom bait later in morning and the head shakes got my hopes up. But turns out is was about 20# BSB. I guess you could call it 'baby big fish day' for me. Still lots of fun to have some up and down action.

[Corey]

WTG on the release Jimbo. Nice report & pics guys.

[nmbrinkman]

..

Originally Posted by lunchbox (from BD)

It's a cabezon. I get those all the time at work (I study baby fish). Even at that size the color is really variable - I've seen a bunch like that, some red, some olive, some brown, some almost all black, some bright green/black/silver like mackerel. usually the bright silver ones are the smallest and they darken up as they get a little bigger (bigger = ~50 mm = ~2 inches).

[lamb]

Wow cabezon, you'd never think.

Cool report.
Nice c&r Jimbo!

[nmbrinkman]

More info...

Originally Posted by lunchbox

Cabezon, like most fish, spend the first part of their lives as larvae floating around the open ocean with other zooplankton. After a few days, weeks, or months (depending on the species), the lucky ones that end up near a reef settle out and grow up into adults. Cabezon do this when they are about 2 inches long. Several of our local species (cabbies, some nearshore rockfish, calicos, etc.) like to settle out into the canopy of the kelp bed, where they hang out for a few weeks before heading down to the bottom. These are the species that I work with.

Disclaimer: The following is pure speculation, with no data to back it up.
I suspect the reason the little cabbies < ~2 inches long are silver with green or blue backs and black markings is to camouflage the fish in open water (think mackerel). It's very common among fishes to have clear or silvery/white larvae for this exact reason. Once the cabezon gets onto a reef it will darken up to hide against the darker background of the reef, and that's where you get the olives, browns, and reds starting to show. I don't know why some are blue or green. That was discussed on BD about a year ago, so you can search for it if you want.