Sergio Fainsztein was red hot last Saturday on the Westerly out of Long Beach Sportfishing when he hooked what he thought was another nice wintertime sand bass. As the fish neared the surface, he quickly realized that it was not a sand bass at all. “Triggerfish,” yelled Fishing with Phil pro-staffer and Captain Ricky Perez.
Crew member Todd Lee netted the big trigger and lifted it over the rail. After watching the Patch Fishing video, Rick Feeney from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County further identified this unusual catch.
“That's a nice finescale triggerfish, said Feeney. "They are fairly rare up here, I would assume because of the cooler water. We have two in our collection from So Cal.”
Feeney emphasized the importance of taking a photo or video when you catch something rare.
“That's two (triggerfish) out of about 50 lots on our shelf. Most of our specimens have been collected in the last 80 years," he said. "Then there are other Museums, Scripps, Cal Acad. of Sciences. that may have some. And many catches were probably not preserved in a museum, just like the video. It is important, if you not sure about a rare fish, to take at least a picture of it and send it to a museum, just to have a record of it."
Another strange catch that could only be described as a slimy glob came over the rail on board the Westerly on Monday and that too was caught on video by Philip Friedman Outdoors.
“I’ve been a Captain for 35-years and have never seen anything like that said Larry Moore. “I wouldn’t even want to touch that thing.”
Turns out that the gooey glob was not as diabolical as many thought -- it ended up being a sea anemone.
“The species is widely known as Metridium giganteus, but the correct name is M. farcimen,” said Gordon Hendler, Curator of Echinoderms at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Finally, novice angler Jacqueline Layson caught a 20-plus pound halibut for a real thrill. Capt. Perez was at her side coaching her all the way through the battle. You’ll also see some more great sand bass fishing in this week's Patch Fishing Video update.
