San Clemente 2/2/21

evanluck

Well-Known Member
#1
Fished San Clemente from 6:30AM-10:30AM. Got most of the action casting out to the reef at the end of the pier. I hooked a small yellow fin croaker in the area between the reef and the pier but all my other fish and bites were from the reef.
I caught:
3 black perch
1 sargo
1 rock wrasse
1 yellow fin croaker

All fish were on the smaller side. Always nice to hook a rock wrasse as they are such good bait stealers, hooking one always feels like sweet revenge.
I fished small hook hi lo rigs with blood worms and shrimp. Seems like the bite was still somewhat muted from the recent rain but the small fish were there and they were biting.
 

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#2
Fished San Clemente from 6:30AM-10:30AM. Got most of the action casting out to the reef at the end of the pier. I hooked a small yellow fin croaker in the area between the reef and the pier but all my other fish and bites were from the reef.
I caught:
3 black perch
1 sargo
1 rock wrasse
1 yellow fin croaker

All fish were on the smaller side. Always nice to hook a rock wrasse as they are such good bait stealers, hooking one always feels like sweet revenge.
I fished small hook hi lo rigs with blood worms and shrimp. Seems like the bite was still somewhat muted from the recent rain but the small fish were there and they were biting.
Good job - I've caught a few of those black perch at SC and Dana Point just never knew what they were called until now. Are the black perch edible if they are big enough? How would you describe their taste?

Thanks in advance.
 

EgoNonBaptizo

Well-Known Member
#3
They are edible, but I've found that sometimes they have an offputting iodine flavor, and, like most other surfperch, are rather mushy.
 

evanluck

Well-Known Member
#4
Good job - I've caught a few of those black perch at SC and Dana Point just never knew what they were called until now. Are the black perch edible if they are big enough? How would you describe their taste?

Thanks in advance.
I've only eaten one of them. Didn't notice the iodine taste. I would say that the texture was soft but firm enough that I would not use the word mushy. I threw them back until I met a woman at San Clemente who said that they were her favorite fish to eat. So we kept a larger one and pan fried it whole and it was tasty.

As far as fish like this with a softer texture, like all fish I want to keep, I spike them in the brain, bleed them, and use a sharped piano wire to destroy their spinal cord. Then I keep the fish cold with ice. A key thing especially for soft flesh fish is to keep them away from fresh water, so when I put them on ice I make sure that they are in a sealed bag so the water from the ice does not get soaked into the fish flesh. If the fish does come in contact with freshwater, you can always do a salt cure by covering it in a tablespoon of salt for 15 minutes. This will draw all water out of the flesh and firm the fish up. Then you can rinse off the salt and cook it like normal.
 
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Mahigeer

Senior Member
#6
It seems to me that the picture of Seal Beach pier should be of Crystal pier.

I don't recall any buildings except the restaurant at the end of Seal Beach pier.
 
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Ken Jones

Administrator
Staff member
#7
No, that picture is on the Seal Beach Pier, it was taken on March 6, 2004. Big Fish Sportfishing used to be located ON the Seal Breach Pier and that's what you see. That corner, right near the landing, was for some reason one of the best spots on the pier for fish including blackperch. SB_Sportfishing.2.jpg