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: Bay Blenny (Hypsoblennius gentilis) Location: Del Mar Lagoon, Del Mar, California Date: August 5, 2018 The final species I landed while fishing with Ben Cantrell in San Diego was the Bay Blenny. These adorable little critters hide in nooks and crannies, looking grumpy AF while waiting for something unfortunate enough to float by. Get a…
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,…
Species: Spotted Sand Bass (Paralabrax maculatofasciatus) Location: San Diego Bay, California Date: August 4, 2018 Those bonefish weren’t the only catch of the day. The fish I caught most of that day (and on my whole trip to San Diego, for that matter) was the Spotted Sand Bass. These feisty fish also fight insanely hard for…
Species: Black Sea Bass (Centropristis striata) Location: Tampa, Florida Date: July 13, 2018 Perhaps the biggest surprise of my first “real” Florida trip was this Black Sea Bass. Note: my actual first trip to Florida was a single night fishing in Pensacola the summer before, but this was an extended stay. The Black Sea Bass took a…
Species: Scrawled Cowfish (Acanthostracion quadricornis) Location: Tampa, Florida Date: July 13, 2018 After adding a species early on shrimp, I got another one to take a bit of squid, and it was something out of science fiction. Something with “quadricorn” in its Latin name is bound to be strange, but the Scrawled Cowfish is probably the…
Species: Spottail Pinfish (Diplodus holbrookii) Location: Tampa, Florida Date: July 13, 2018 I first “met” Ryan Crutchfield on Instagram before I’d even started species hunting. Our social circles overlapped, and I found myself following a guy on Instagram who posted some out of the ordinary fish pictures. Sure, the tarpon, snook, redfish, and bass pics I…
