Science Name: | Sebastes miniatus |
Other Names: | red snapper, red rock cod |
World Record: | 30 inches |
Environment: | Deep Rocky Environment |
Body color: Dark red, mottled w/ gray on back and sides; fins red.
Maximum length: 30 in (76 cm)
Peritoneum color: light
Maximum depth: 150 fm (274 m)
Shape between eyes: convex
Common depth: 100-150 fm (183-274 m)
Vermilion rockfish occur from San Benito Islands, Baja California, to Vancouver Island, Canada. They are generally caught over rocky bottoms at depths of 100 to 500 feet, although they have been taken from depths as great as 900 feet.
The free swimming young of the vermilion rockfish feed primarily upon shrimp-like organisms, while the larger, bottom-living adults feed almost exclusively upon fishes, squid and octopus. Most fishes that are eaten are other smaller kinds of rockfish. Vermilion rockfish appear to mature and spawn for the first time when they are 3 or 4 years old. As with all other rockfish, fertilization is internal and they give birth to living young. A vermilion rockfish that was 20 inches long was estimated to contain 282,000 eggs. By this measure a 30 incher might contain as many as 500,000 eggs. The principal reproductive period lasts from December through March.
Because a good rockfish "hole" often will yield a dozen or more kinds of rockfishes on any given day, it has been said that rockfish fishing is colorful, interesting, productive, and mysterious. Vermilion rockfish usually are found in the bag of "red" rockfish taken from one of these "holes." The same rig, bait, and technique used for bocaccio works for vermilion rockfish. Again a lot of rebaiting time can be saved by using a tough, difficult to steal bait such as a piece of squid or salted mackerel.