Species: Desert Pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius) Location: Undisclosed Location, American Southwest Date: August 8, 2018 Since the inception of Lifelist Fishing, its early leaders shared one common rule: publicly pretend protected fish don’t exist. If the reasoning were “Avoid protected fishes at all costs,” I’d be totally fine with that. I’m all about conservation and doing…
Species: Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) Location: Undisclosed Creek, Southern California Date: August 8, 2018 When you think of the most naturally widespread freshwater fish on earth, you probably think of bass, carp, or trout. That’s a reasonable assumption, but it’s wrong. Those three fish have been introduced worldwide to become the most prevalent, but the fish…
Species: Yellowfin Croaker (Umbrina roncador) Location: Torrey Pines State Park, California Date: August 7, 2018 Even though the last post included the same link, I’m posting it here again. Read it here. Please consider subscribing to my weekly column and access my past columns for as low as $1 per month by clicking “Become a Patron”…
Species: Spotfin Croaker (Roncador stearnsii) Location: Torrey Pines State Park, California Date: August 7, 2018 I haven’t been published in many big, national magazines, but there was a brief stint where I wrote for Game & Fish before they consolidated their writer pool and fired the previous editor I’d worked for. Kinda disappointing, but I made…
Species: Diamond Turbot (Hypsopsetta guttulata) Location: Del Mar Lagoon, California Date: August 6, 2018 Do you ever read an unfamiliar word and sound it out in your head, ultimately arriving at a pronunciation you like? Well, with fish and fishing, it’s commonplace. Seeing strange fish names is the nature of the beast. As you read more…
Species: Rock Wrasse (Halichoeres semicinctus) Location: Mission Point Park, California Date: August 6, 2018 I was sent to Mission Point Park by a friend, fully expecting to add a few softball species to my list. We’d hit the water hard the day before, and the stingray had hit my foot harder. I figured that meant some…
Species: California Grunion (Leuresthes tenuis) Location: Mission Bay, California Date: August 5, 2018 There are very few opportunities to catch true micros that sit up in the water column in the salt, but when you find them, they’re typically quite easy. The silversides swarming in Mission Bay were the exception to this rule. For almost an…
Species: California Scorpionfish (Scorpaena guttata) Location: Mission Bay, California Date: August 5, 2018 After parting ways with Ben Cantrell, I decided to keep fishing. Sure, my maimed foot was still aching from the interaction with the stingray almost 12 hours earlier, but it didn’t stop me from trying Mission Bay at sunset. There were thousands of…
Species: Barred Sand Bass (Paralabrax nebulifer) Location: Del Mar Lagoon, Del Mar, California Date: August 5, 2018 The tidepools, lagoons, and other brackish ecosystems along the Pacific Coast are very unique places. Though the Atlantic Coast equivalents are home to hordes of anglers chasing Stripers, Redfish, Tarpon, Snook, and other game fish, that culture is not…
Species: Haller’s Round Ray (Urobatis halleri) Location: San Diego Bay, California Date: August 4, 2018 These little fish are supposed to be one of the most common fish in the San Diego Bay, a fish allegedly easy to catch. When Ben Cantrell and I shed some bait after it turned in the hot summer sun,…
