What kind of fish is this? New to saltwater so I'm excited about everything I catch.
VideoAgreed, it’s a cabezon. Notice the blue on its stomach and in its mouth, that’s a dead giveaway. Nice work you’re the only one right on the thread.
“We eat ribs with this dude!”
NOT A CLUE!
Here you go, the auto tuned version of dead giveaway
Good sir, thank you for your service. Not sure how I managed to miss this
It is a banger!!! Lol
I hope you’ve been able to catch the auto tuned version of this interview. Lol if not give me a minute…
100% accurate. i would add, this fish accumulates toxins in the eggsack, so this is one of the few you dont want to eat the roe of.
Great addition! Totally forgot to mention that. Also they are often wormy (as most bottom feeders), I would not recommend for raw consumption.
Whoa! TIL. I didnt know some fish store toxins in gonads
Yep and it is short as hell. I sure hope it was thrown back.
I did. Wrapped it in a towel and was able to get the hook out
Good job knowing to stay safe out there
Nice work!
I was about to say cabezon since I saw the blue mouth. I believe the fins are poisonous
Definitely a cabezon, now that everyone else is saying that's the right answer.
Idt they are. People just think so because the spines are sharp and that's usually the case.
I fished for them specifically in san Nicolas island and that's what I was told like a decade ago
Cabezon is a species of sculpin. Sculpin is a type of fish and cabezon is the largest of the sculpins. Great catch. It’s my favorite of the sculpins. I’ve never seen one here before but know we have them.
There is a lot of confusion with the names as well as look of these species. Here is what I understand (based on Wikipedia and other sources):
California Scorpionfish, also known as the Sculpin belongs to the Scorpaenidae family.
They should not be confused with the Cabezones, of the genus Scorpaenichthys, which belong to a separate, though related, family, Cottidae... Which is a Sculpins family.
Looks like one (Cabezon) belongs to a Sculpion family, but the other one has a "Scuplin" nickname...
In the current topic (SoCal fishing), we are talking about two different species from two different families. It is important to remember that regulations are different for these two specimens.
correct can fish for these all day in newport
Cabezon are my favorite! Super cool fish. Short season but if you catch a keeper they’re great eating
What’s the right way to handle this fish? Dad would usually do this for me.
Cabezons have soft fins and are generally safe to handle as any other fish. You want to be extremely careful with Sculpins (Scorpionfish) though. The best way is to hold it by the lip and cut its fins and spines with sheers, ideally right away. Watch out for spikes on the gill plates.
Where I’m from we call that a Sea Robin
Yep. Im from NJ. We called them Sea Robins. Throw em back.
Somebody from the caribbbean told me if you know how to clean them they aint bad.
I caught one once and it was so freaking tasty
I couldn't figure out why it looked familiar to me. Damn beer label lol. Was never going to come up with that. (Even though it's wrong anyway)
Android's home button "circle to search" agrees with you. 😀
Looks like something you’d catch in animal crossing
Haha this was my first thought too.
WOOHOOOO
"I caught a zebra turkeyfish! Land, air, water--make up your mind!"
Looks like a Sculpin to me. Not a fisherman, just know the beer lol.
Rip ballast point
I didn't know what you meant at first since they are all over the place....
...but I know what you mean now. They moved to outsourced/contract brewing. Lame
Ever since they sold their downtown location in San Diego it’s been going downhill
The Little Italy location is still open, but if you mean outsourced then I get ya.
Yea I meant when they changed owners. I wasn’t really aware of the entire company being sold or whatever just that location had different owners out of nowhere
They’ve never had a downtown location? Things went downhill when they sold to Constellations
they sold whole company not just the location and the beers taste like ass now like every other brewery that gets bought out by a large distributor. I think it was constellation?
I miss their Victory at Sea Porter 😿
Such a let down from their c-suite prior to being bought out.
What did the c suite do?
They moved to the sea
Cooked books and sold out
Cabezon*
I watch too many fisherman YouTubers lol
*which is a sculpin
Here's the thing. You said a "Cabezon is a Sculpin." Is it in the same family? Yes. No one's arguing that. As someone who is a scientist who studies fish, I am telling you, specifically, in science, no one calls Cabezons Sculpins. If you want to be "specific" like you said, then you shouldn't either. They're not the same thing. If you're saying "sculpin family," you're referring to the taxonomic grouping of Cottidae, which includes things from the sea raven to the grunt sculpin to the Cabezon. So your reasoning for calling a Cabezon a Sculpin is because random people "call the ugly ones sculpins?" Let's get bullheads and slimy sculpins in there, then, too. Also, calling someone a fish or a vertebrate? It's not one or the other, that's not how taxonomy works. They're both. A Cabezon is a Cabezon and a member of the sculpin family. But that's not what you said. You said a Cabezon is a Sculpin, which is not true unless you're okay with calling all members of the sculpin family sculpins, which means you'd call grunt sculpins, sea ravens, and other fish sculpins, too. Which you said you don't. It's okay to just admit you're wrong, you know?
it's an older copypasta, sir, but it checks out.
And it is NOT the same family! The fish locals call Sculpin is actually a California Scorpionfish, which ironically is not a Sculpin family.
But you didn't say "It's a cabezon." You put the asterisk there, indicating you were correcting something - which it turns out, was also accurate.
It's okay to just admit you're wrong, you know?
they should make this into a commercial. Guy fishing: "I got one, what is it?" Dude drinking Sculpin looks at can: "i am no fisherman, but I do drink Ballast Point. That is a sculpin." Smiles at camera. Cut.
It’s a Cabezon. Looks similar to sculpin.
Cabezón not sculpin
Cabezon, and a fisherman’s meal. Delicious subtle white flakey meat.
Used to catch those off OB pier when I was a kid, we called them rockfish.
undersized Cabezon, congrats on getting one from shore. please release safely
*edit This was a few weeks ago but it's been bothering me that I couldn't find or figure out what it was. I didn't know what it was nor had a tape measure to see how big it was. I have always done catch and release since starting saltwater. I just wrapped the fish in my rag, got the hook out pretty easily and just set it back in the water. Took off with ease.
I find it funny that you took this picture awhile ago, posted this 7 hours ago (as I write this), and even still, people are telling you put it back in the water. I’m pretty sure you either did that hours ago, or it’s dead. And considering you’re asking what it is, tells me you’re not poaching or eating it, rather just admiring it.
It’s a fish taco plate. Super tasty.
It is not a sculpin, it’s a cabezon. There is a minimum length to take so make sure you look it up.
Looks like a cabezon. Sculpin are more orangey, brighter.
Cabezon
I too had to learn the saltwater ways…for me I found heavy duty gloves a must. Fun catch
Sculpin. Careful of their fins, it’ll give you a good sting.
Let it go
It’s been a while since I caught a sculpin but I remember the tips of the spines had a bit of “white” on them versus other groundlings. I am not seeing the white on this one. Also put this through the google image search and it came up with both cabezon and sculpin. But I’m leaning towards cabezon based on the lack of white at the tips of the spines.
At 1st I thought it was a LionFish
Not sure but be careful. Those fin tips probably are poisonous.
Rock Fish - small one :)
Be careful with that one ☝️
Sculpin, for sure. The spines are venomous.
This! They’re poisonous!
Not poisonous, venomous. Feels like a mild jellyfish sting
Oh yes venomous. My mistake.
No eat?
Where did you snag this one
Mission Bay. Was looking for Calico and this guy decided to come instead.
Do you eat fish from Mission Bay? I assume some do but most people I've talked to wouldn't dare.
No, id rather not. If I was more north maybe but I hear the water isn't all that great with the fish here.
There are a lot of them on Zuniga and Mission bay jetties
Not sure... but r/fishing may help.
Great catch!
They’re everything.
What bait you using bruv
Regular squid. Nothing crazy
Caught
Cabezon are normally found in New Mexico and are now added to salt water.
Great thing about salt water fishing is the surprise!
It's the IPA fish
zebra turkey fish
Where you catch him at
Whatever it is, put it back.
Cabezon! Fins not poisonous. Great fish - white to blue green colored meat depending on diet.
As fish cooks it turn white and becomes firmer like chicken. Don’t overcook. No more than 3-4 min per side, then let rest on plate. A lot of meat in the collars, so you should cut those out and cook them too. Use rest of carcass for stock or for planing vegetables in garden.
Easy recipe - fillet fish. Whisk mayo, shoyu and sesame oil in a bowl. Slather fillets in it. Toss on grill and cook as noted above. Mayo sauce boils off leaving a crust that keeps the moisture of the fish in. Serve with lemon slices.
SHEEEEEEESH!!!!!!!!
We called them bullheads in the pac nw
It’s a Spurlock camo spawn fish. Not one for eating. It tastes like hamster liver.
I seen this one on beer
Sculpin. Watch for their spines tho. Pretty venomous
Sculpin. They have spines in their fins that secrete a toxin. It wont kill you, but it hurts like hell. Its a bottom feeder, kind of converts dead fish and trash into fish. Its whole spine and venom thing makes it difficult for predators to bite em. Lots of bottom feeders are like this.
Very good eatin fish, although cleaning them is a bit of a chore and by the end of it, you only have a few good chunks of meat. Its very good though, makes great tacos. Lots of bottom feeders are like this, rock fish, lion fish. Ugly, spiney, sometimes venomy. Suck to clean, yeild small chunks of relative to the aparent size of the fish, make good tacos. You could catch like 6 of these these to make enough tacos to feed a family for dinner.
not at all a sculpin. body too long, doral fins not right. its a Cabezon.
Yea? Youre not gonna beleive this:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabezon_(fish)
Edit: no wait, downvoting people you dont have to read the whole article, just the first sentence.
Cabezon may technically be a subspecies of Sculpin, but colloquially in the fishing community it is referred to as a Cabezon and never a sculpin. A sculpin has an entirely different set of regulations than Cabezon per CA DFW, so good luck trying to get out of your fine arguing that your short Cabezon is in fact a sculpin with the DFW officer as he writes you a fat ticket.
So what youre saying is... its a sculpin?
according to CA Fish and game, its not a sculpin. so yes my pants are smart.
I was replying to @ChickenCherryCola 😝
I know this is reddit and all, but this is pretty pedantic
"You only have to read the first sentence"... that mentions true sculpins - later listing the applicable family for the cabezón. (Which is also stated on other sites.) Selective reading- and convenient referencing 🙄
Sculpin! I caught one once. Stung me like a son of a bitch.
Had a sculpin spine point stuck in my finger for 5+ years Careful
Sculpin
Rock fish I think
Magicarp
It’s a Ballerina Fish.
Sculpin that’s a big one
Sculpin have poisonous spines
I don't know how you people eat that ....
Lemon and Garlic usually
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I put it back in. I figured it was too small but also wasn't even sure what it was
Nice work OP for doing the right thing!!
I think the min for that fish (cabezon, sub-species of sculpin) is 15". The scorpionfish people are more familiar with, is 10".
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I’m pretty sure that is Cabezon, not sculpin. Cabezon’s fins are soft and the have funny “eyelashes”. Legal size is 15” (bigger than Sculpin 10”). Very similar fish. Be careful with sharp spikes anyway! Both fish are premium quality meat.