Species: Mangrove Snapper (Lutjanus griseus) Location: Graffiti Bridge, Pensacola, FL Date: August 1, 2017 When I finally caught a fish that wasn’t a Pinfish in Pensacola, I was stoked. I was fishing below the Graffiti Bridge and if the name doesn’t suggest this, it’s not the place you go to feel safe. In my time there, I…
Species: Pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides) Location: Graffiti Bridge, Pensacola, FL Date: August 1, 2017 Your first specimen of a common species is exciting. Your second and third are, too. Sometime shortly after that, though, it goes downhill. Anyone who’s fished the Gulf knows the world of annoyance Pinfish can induce. As I fished a lagoon in backwater Pensacola,…
Species: Kahawai (Arripis trutta) Location: Kuaotunu River, Kuaotunu, Coromandel, New Zealand Date: February 25, 2014 After going it alone for weeks, my friend David Clarke and I decided to get a charter. We’d planned to chase tuna and kingfish and marlin off the coast with one of this friends, but when that fell through, we…
Species: Leopard Shark (Triakis semifasciata) Location: San Pablo Bay, San Francisco, CA Date: March 25, 2012 This is the fourth story in succession and ties in with the other species I caught on the same day, and you’re best reading them in order: First and Second and Third. *** It was so long ago; the memory…
Species: Striped Seaperch (Embiotoca lateralis) Location: Chetco River North Jetty, Brookings-Harbor, OR Date: September 14, 2011 I first saw Striped Seaperch as a kid. The beautiful, coppery iridescence paired with stunning cerulean lines made the cooler full of these beautiful fish stand out in stark contrast to the muted colors of the rockfish, salmon, lingcod…
Species: Grass Rockfish (Sebastes rastrelliger) Location: Mill Beach, Brookings-Harbor, OR Date: July 14, 2012 Over the years, I’ve been admittedly quite blessed when it comes to fishing. I’ve captured rare species, rare color morphs, rare body types, and frankly, I can’t complain. One such catch was a Grass Rockfish, and I caught it on a trip…
Species: Deacon Rockfish (Sebastes diaconus) Location: Off the coast of Brookings-Harbor, OR Date: September 14, 2011 My last entry featured a Red Irish Lord. I noted this was the last “new species” I’d recorded in my paper fishing journals, and as of the time those journals were written, that was true. But as of August 27, 2015,…
Species: Calico Surfperch (Ampistichus koelzi) Location: Chetco River South Jetty, Brookings-Harbor, OR Date: September 12, 2011 Misidentification is to fishing what the New England Patriots are to football: an unfortunate everyday reality that can’t be ignored. Fortunately, just like tonight’s Patriots’ Super Bowl loss, good can get a foothold in the fight against evil and make that unfortunate…
Species: Speckled Sanddab (Citharichthys stigmaeus) Location: Myers Creek Mouth, Gold Beach, OR Date: September 9, 2009 After an eventful day, today paled in comparison. My friend Ben Blanchard and I tried fishing the Rogue River Jetty in Gold Beach, but the sea lion sirens were deafening, so we didn’t stay there long. *** On the drive back to…
Species: Redtail Surfperch (Amphistichus rhodoterus) Location: Winchuck River Mouth, Brookings-Harbor, OR Date: September 8, 2009 From a journal entry of a same date: “With careful planning, and about $220 apiece, Ben (Blanchard) and I got to go on an incredible trip. The drive was full of conversation and excitement. The worst part of the drive was the last…
