Yelloweye?
- Thread starter ILHG
- Start date
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
One on right yellow eye on on left vermilion.
As for the picutre ILHQ posted it does look like a yellow eye. seems like its got the ridges on the head and the yellow eye all though the body looks like a vermilion. Hard to tell
wildmanyeah
Crew Member
lol i know its pretty tuff!
Newf
Crew Member
Yes. The black tips on the fins is a distinguishing feature so the top one is a yellow eye IMO.
Fishmyster
Well-Known Member
The one in the instagram pic is definitely a Yelloweye. The pictures below are left Vermillion and right Yelloweye. Yelloweye rockfish have an unmistakable yellow iris.
Newf
Crew Member
I wouldn’t “get into it” with someone at the dock either but if I knew for sure that they had something that they shouldn’t have I would certainly and politely discuss it as this is what I would want someone to do for me. Sometimes they just don’t know. Identification is not easy especially for newbies. When I started a few years ago I was scared to keep a salmon,,,so many freakin rules and so many types of salmon. They all looked like the same fish to me. Thank God for the experienced guys on this forum who are willing to share their knowledge.
Rain City
Crew Member
pescador
Well-Known Member
I wasn't going to bed till that number changed...tx
paguy
Well-Known Member
Looks like vermilion on the left and canary on the right. Top picture sure looks like a yelloweye to me.
CBsqrd
Well-Known Member
At first glance it looked like a yelloweye to me, but now I'm not so sure. Definitely has some mottled gray patches and while the one pectoral fin looks to have a black edge, the other fins don't look to have them. Tough to see if the anal fin is rounded and tail square with an indent (Vermillion). Also tough not being there and trying to pass judgement from a photo as lighting and filters can change perceptions. If it is a 21 lb Vermillion, it would suggest it is quite old and old rockfish can look quite different from young / "middle age" fish. I'm not quite ready to break to the pitchforks out yet.
I keep a copy of the Washington rockfish ID chart on my dash when we are bottom fishing (https://www.recfin.org/resources/fi...of-washington-oregon-and-northern-california/).
We just got back from a trip to the Central Coast. One day after bottom fishing I had just finish laying the fish on the deck for a photo with the gaff; we had a couple good size lingcod 25 lbs - 30 lbs and two vermillions, which there was no doubt what they were. There was group off a yacht walking by when one lady decides she's going to show off two her friends and pipes up "you know, those lingcod are breeding females and those are yelloweye rockfish, so you better not let the DFO catch you because they are illegal." First thought was "holy ****, she does realize I'm still holding this sharp, pointed implement in my hand right?!". After I took a breath, I calmly explained that they were actually vermillion rockfish and how they differed from yelloweye, and that we released all the yelloweye we caught using a Seaqualizer to minimize the risk of barotrauma. She turned her nose up in the air and huffed off before I could tell her that one lingcod had been hooked deep and wouldn't have made if we tried to release it and one was my friend's who joined us for a few days and was the first lingcod they ever caught and wanted to keep - and that we released some larger ones.
Left a very bad taste in my mouth and had me upset for a few days as I did not appreciate having to defend myself. We plan all year to go someplace new to explore and see new country. Yes we fished a lot, but we release far more than we keep. A couple days before my wife released a 35 - 37 lb spring (41" x 26") and she released an even bigger one (40" x 27") a couple days later (we kept coho and springs under 25 lbs).
Rant over, sorry for the derail...
I keep a copy of the Washington rockfish ID chart on my dash when we are bottom fishing (https://www.recfin.org/resources/fi...of-washington-oregon-and-northern-california/).
We just got back from a trip to the Central Coast. One day after bottom fishing I had just finish laying the fish on the deck for a photo with the gaff; we had a couple good size lingcod 25 lbs - 30 lbs and two vermillions, which there was no doubt what they were. There was group off a yacht walking by when one lady decides she's going to show off two her friends and pipes up "you know, those lingcod are breeding females and those are yelloweye rockfish, so you better not let the DFO catch you because they are illegal." First thought was "holy ****, she does realize I'm still holding this sharp, pointed implement in my hand right?!". After I took a breath, I calmly explained that they were actually vermillion rockfish and how they differed from yelloweye, and that we released all the yelloweye we caught using a Seaqualizer to minimize the risk of barotrauma. She turned her nose up in the air and huffed off before I could tell her that one lingcod had been hooked deep and wouldn't have made if we tried to release it and one was my friend's who joined us for a few days and was the first lingcod they ever caught and wanted to keep - and that we released some larger ones.
Left a very bad taste in my mouth and had me upset for a few days as I did not appreciate having to defend myself. We plan all year to go someplace new to explore and see new country. Yes we fished a lot, but we release far more than we keep. A couple days before my wife released a 35 - 37 lb spring (41" x 26") and she released an even bigger one (40" x 27") a couple days later (we kept coho and springs under 25 lbs).
Rant over, sorry for the derail...
Aces
Well-Known Member
Those are dandy Vermillions
