Northern California Fish

These are the fish one might expect to see in Northern California. I've excluded from this list any fish that doesn't get larger than 12"/30cm. The links under the Fish column go to the Fishbase website, where you can find information on fish worldwide (although the information there is not 100% correct).

Fish Name	DFG size limit	DFG bag limit	CA sport diving record	Fishbase max size
*Bass, Kelp (Calico)	12"	10	12 lb 1 oz	72.0 cm TL; 7,000.0 g
Cabezon	15"	10	18 lb 6 oz	99.0 cm TL; 14 kg
California Scorpionfish	10"	10	open	43.0 cm TL
Eel, Monkeyfaced			4 lb 1 oz	76.0 cm TL
Flounder, Starry			open	91.0 cm TL; 9,100.0 g
Greenling, Kelp	12"	10	open	61.0 cm TL; 2,100.0 g
Greenling, Rock	12"	10	open	61.0 cm TL; 830.0 g
Halibut, California	22"	3	72 lb 8 oz	152.0 cm TL; 33 kg;
Lingcod	26"	2	36 lb 0 oz	152.0 cm TL; 4,500.0 g
*Opaleye			6 lb 8 oz	66.0 cm TL
Perch, Pile (Split tail)			open	44.2 cm SL
Rockfish, Black	none	10**	6 lb 9 oz	63.0 cm TL; 4,800.0 g
Rockfish, Blue	none	10**	open	53.0 cm TL; 1,130.0 g
Rockfish, Black and Yellow	none	10**	open	39.0 cm TL
Rockfish, Brown	none	10**	open	56.0 cm
Rockfish, Canary	none	10**	open	76.0 cm FL; 4,530.0 g
Rockfish, China	none	10**	open	45.0 cm TL; 700.0 g
Rockfish, Copper	none	10**	9 lb 5 oz	58.0 cm TL; 2,600.0 g
Rockfish, Flag	none	10**	open	51.0 cm TL
Rockfish, Gopher	none	10**	open	39.0 cm TL
Rockfish, Grass	none	10**	5 lb 9 oz	56.0 cm TL
Rockfish, Kelp	none	10**	open	42.0 cm TL
Rockfish, Olive	none	10**	6 lb 0 oz	61.0 cm TL
Rockfish, Quillback	none	10**	open	61.0 cm TL; 2,580.0 g
Rockfish, Red Stripe	none	10**	open	61.0 cm TL
Rockfish, Rosy	none	10**	open	36.0 cm TL
Rockfish, Tiger	none	10**	open	61.0 cm TL
Rockfish, Vermilion	none	10**	10 lb 6 oz	91.0 cm TL; 6,800.0 g
Rockfish, Widow	none	10**	open	60.0 cm TL
Rockfish, Yelloweye	none	10**	open	91.0 cm TL; 9,630.0 g;
Rockfish, Yellowtail	none	10**	open	66.0 cm TL; 2,510.0 g;
Seaperch, Black	none		open	39.0 cm TL; 700.0 g
Seaperch, Rubberlip	none		2 lb 12 oz	47.0 cm TL
Seaperch, Striped	none		open	38.0 cm TL
Seaperch, Redtail	none		open	41.0 cm TL
*Sheephead	12"	5	40 lb 7 oz	91.0 cm TL; 16 kg
Wolf-eel			open	240.0 cm TL; 18 kg

* Fish that don't come north of SF. Typically these are stranded here after el Nino years.
** DFG bag limit for rockfish is 10 fish in combined species.

Setting Records

If you are interested in setting a CA Sport Diving record see the links below. Note that these records are for freediving or SCUBA (shame on you!).

Here is the procedure: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/divingprocedures.pdf
Here is the form: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/divingform.pdf

For information on setting an IUSA record, see the link below. Note that IUSA rules are for freediving only, and the minimum weight for any fish not listed is 10 pounds.

See http://www.freediver.net/iusa/

Competition Fish

These are the fish that were taken at the Spearfishing Nationals at Russian Gulch, 2000. It is interesting to note the number of fish taken from each specie.

Fish	Number
Blue Rockfish	207
Kelp Greenling	141
Black Rockfish	103
Striped Surfperch	75
Vermillion Rockfish	71
Lingcod	48
Cabezon	36
Olive Rockfish	33
Pile Surfperch	19
Gopher Rockfish	1
China Rockfish	1