Strangely, only two other anglers were having similar success. The next cast yielded two more of these strange colored fish and I continued to catch fish, nearly every cast, for the next two hours. However, around 5:30 A.M., I had a strike and pulled in an ebony-colored fish-a type I had never caught before. I was using squid for bait and had experienced very little early success. I had arrived, as usual, at the crack of dawn, and was fishing just down from the northwest corner. Small sablefish from the Pismo Beach PierĬomments :Sablefish are one of my favorite fish simply because they are an uncommon treat! My first big day pier fishing took place at the Newport Pier in Septemand involved sablefish. The results will be an inferior piece of over oily meat. Do not, repeat, do not, pan-fry or deep-fry sablefish. Nevertheless they are still best smoked or broiled, methods that give the buttery flavor a chance to show itself. Unfortunately the young sablefish that occasionally visit piers are not quite as rich flavored. In addition, fresh sablefish is one of the staple items at the dory fleet at the foot of Newport Pier (although you need to get there early in the morning before the fish are sold out). They are rarely seen on restaurant menus although I have seen smoked sablefish for sale in Santa Cruz, Morro Bay and Fort Bragg. That one dish prompted several additional visits. For a period of time when I worked in the corporate world one of the areas I visited was Seattle and I soon found a fish restaurant on the waterfront, Ivar’s Acres of Clams, that served smoked sablefish. In fact, many people, including myself, like the rich buttery flavor of sablefish better than salmon. They are one of the best tasting smoked fish. On boats they are generally taken on typical rockcod tackle.įood Value: Adult sablefish an excellent quality fish with a moderate buttery flavor, firm texture, large flakes and high fat content. Shoreline: Rarely taken by shore anglers.īoats: Rarely taken by boaters in southern California although they’re commonly taken by rockcod anglers fishing in deep waters off Santa Cruz and Monterey.īait and Tackle :On piers a high/low rigging baited with strips of squid is the preferred method. Small sablefish from the Monterey Wharf #2 I have also seen small specimens taken from the Pismo Beach Pier, the Capitola Wharf, and Monterey Wharf #2, all in central California. In the far north, where sablefish become a more shallow-water fish, they will sometimes show up during the summer months in Humboldt Bay and a few will fall to anglers fishing from Eureka area piers. Best bets: Newport Pier, Balboa Pier, Redondo Beach Pier, and Monterey Wharf No. Piers: Sablefish are rarely seen at California piers although piers adjacent to deep-water canyons may see a few each year. There is also a difference in habitat north and south in southern California, sablefish are almost always found in deep-water areas, in northern California, Eureka north, sablefish will sometimes be found in shallower water. Young fish, to a foot long or so, are often found in fairly shallow areas, especially to the north. Habitat : Adult fish are caught in deep water, often over a thousand feet deep and they’ve been recorded to a depth of 8,989 feet. Common from Banco Ranger, central Baja California to the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, Kuril Islands, Russia, and the Sea of Okhotsk (between Russia and Japan). Range :Bahia San Bartolome, southern Baja California, Islas San Benito and Isla Cedros, central Baja, California, California north to Alaska, Aleutian Islands and Bowers Bank to Bering Sea south of Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska, Hatsu Shima Island, southern Japan usually in extremely deep water. Sablefish can live to about 55 years of age so the bigger fish are generally old fish. Size : To 46 inches and 56 pounds although most caught from piers are young fish under a foot in length. Young fish taken from piers are generally pale greenish-colored on top and sides fading to white. Adult coloring is variable, usually black, blackish-gray, or greenish-gray on the back and sides, gray to white below. Identification : Elongate (cod-shaped) tapering to the tail. Called t’thémekwe by the Salish in British Columbia, sqel or skil by the Haida, and hádání by the Heiltsuk. Other names include Alaska blackcod, coalfish, coal cod, candlefish, black candlefish, bluecod, deep sea trout, zipperfish, sable, skil-fish, skil, and skill. Species : Anoplopoma fimbria (Pallas, 1814) from the Greek words anoplis (unarmed) and poma (operculum or gill cover), and the Latin word fimbria (fringe).Īlternate Names : Commercially called blackcod in Washington and butterfish in California. Sablefishes and Skilfishes: Family Anoplopomatidae
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