Weather conditions will be very mild this coming weekend after this week’s heat wave. Winds are forecast to extremely light, in the five knot range with swells only about one foot or so. If accurate this means smooth calm glassy seas, ideal for getting out and catching some fish on the Monterey Bay.

Rockfish are the most obvious prey. We are relegated to fishing deep water only this month. Waters inside of the 60-fathom line are closed until next month. this means a little bit of a ride to get to the fishing grounds, but the  time spent cruising will be well worth it. Fishing the deep reefs is extremely productive with some of the most tasty species available from the deep that do not live closer to shore. Chilipeppers are famed for their mild and flakey white meat. Some of them get pretty big as well! Larger models will bite when you hit the right reef and use the right bait or lure. Canary rockfish and vermilion rockfish can get huge, and both provide excellent eating as well. The deep reefs also host a good number of lingcod this time of year. For bigger fish, try bigger baits or lures. Remember, there is a sub-bag limit on vermilion this year. Anglers are allowed only two per day.

Vermilion and canaries are both orange/red in color. Be sure of your fish identification before filling your bag with red rockfish. Canaries usually have a more distinct pale-colored lateral line, and vermilion most often have a darker back with black speckles descending down the sides of the fish. A surefire way to distinguished one from the other is to “tickle the chin.” If the fish chin is rough and scaly it’s a vermilion. A smooth chin and you have a canary. Another red/orange fish to be wary of is the yelloweye. They’re pretty rare in Monterey Bay and are illegal to keep. Yelloweye get very big and can be distinguished by, yes, their yellow eyes as well as as the presence of two raspy ridges on the head. Further, the yelloweye has dark or black edges on their fins, where a vermilion does not.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife can provide helpful Fish ID charts in laminate form. Keeping this info on your boat can go a long way to prevent making a mistake and becoming subject to citations by the DFW. Moss Landing angler Alex Signal also reminds us, after fishing this week on the deep reefs, “We had a great day on the water Sunday for deep water rockfish.  It was a little annoying watching people throw fish overboard and not even attempt to descend them!” Sigala’s point is well taken. To be legal, all vessels targeting rockfish MUST have a descender device on board. When releasing a fish pulled up from 300 feet, the fish often suffers barotrauma, which is often fatal. In order to avoid that fish dying, a descender will sink the fish back to a depth where the increased water pressure revives them and they can swim away.