What is this fish

[tinboatrobb]

Got this off oak Bay on the weekend.. it was bright red. Looks like a lingcod or maybe a cabezon. Released it after a good ling like fight. Thanks.

 

[paulo]

Sculpin of one kind or another.

 

[Dogbreath]

Sculpin of one kind or another.

Yes Cottidae for sure but there's a couple dozen kinds in BC waters IIRC.

 

[littlechucky]

My guess is Rock Greenling. Caught one once. Scrappy little bugger. Much more so that a kelp greenling.

https://myodfw.com/fishing/species/rock-greenling

 

[tinboatrobb]

Not a green ling. It is bright red, pics do not do it justice. I have caught many green ling

 

[Addios]

Red Irish Lord Sculpin would be my best guess

 

[cby]

Its a Red Irish lord, Sculpin family.

 

[tinboatrobb]

That makes sense. I have caught many fish off oak Bay but never one like this. Are they good eating? I would think not...lol

 

[Dogbreath]

Looks too long for a Red Irish Lord-this is one I C&R'ed up at Langara one year

 

[ryanb]

That makes sense. I have caught many fish off oak Bay but never one like this. Are they good eating? I would think not...lol

Sculpin are not bad, but the amount of meat you'll get off one is shockingly small. They're all head and bone. I've caught a few Cabezon pushing over 15lbs, maybe get 1 or 2 lb of meat off them at the most. Not worth the effort...

 

[agentaqua]

red cabezon?

 

[Manolaki]

Definitely Cabezon

 

[chris73]

Yup, Cabezon. They can vary in colour from almost black to brown to copper depending on where they live.

 

[mqz]

To tell the difference between red irish lord and cabezon, look for a large nostril flap as this would indicate a cabezon. Also, look at the dorsal fin, if there is a notch at the 3rd of 4th spine and there are two distinct dorsal fins it is a cabezon, if otherwise it is probably a red irish lord. This looks like a cabezon.

 

[cby]

Its a Red Irish lord, Sculpin family.

After further examination of the pictures and zooming in. Seems to be a red Cabezon, Not a red Irish lord. I believe they are good eating but as someone mentioned not worth the effort as they are mostly Head and bones.

 

[halimark]

They fight like a fish 4x their size and they are supper "heavy". Many times had a bite, line going out for initial run, yippee a legal ling. Then the big ugly comes up. Good thing is no descender needed as they go straight back down. Good to see some non migratory fish in barren Vic waters.

HM

 

[tinboatrobb]

It did hit like a ton o bricks. I thought it was a 15lb ling for a while. Beautiful color on it. Thank for the replies.

 

[BC.microfisher]

It’s a cabezon!

Cabezon unlike Irish lords, great sculpin, Buffalo sculpin, and other larger sculpin species have smooth skin, eliminating all other sculpin species.

 

[ship happens]

That's not an Irish lord that's a Cabazon. They come I'm a variety of colors including that one

 

[Ophiodon99]

Hard to tell from the pictures and I've caught a lot of cabezon and never seen a red one. It could well be a vermillion rockfish, Sebastes miniatus. If it is, it's one of the best eating rockfish around.