Red Hawk

I orginally posted this in the saltwater forum but that place is so slow and seems like hardly anyone goes in there so I am moving this to freshwater forum in hopes someone knows what kind of fish I am talking about.

Oh, and I was fishing off the California coast (Pacific just in case anyone forgot which ocean it was)



I was writing some of my outdoor stories the other day and I was writing down the story of the only time i've gone open ocean fishing, which I would love to do again someday. And I remember the fish that my dad and I kept catching but I don't know the name of it. I don't have any pictures so hopefully someone does in fact know what type of fish I was talking about.I'll post part of my story in which I am talking about.



"I remember we were using squid as bait. I think we were mainly going for Cod fish but my dad and I never caught any. We did keep catching these really orange looking fish that had air sacks in their mouth that would expand when they got closer to the surface; Not the Puff fish, I just don’t remember the name of it. That depth of where we were fishing wasn’t extremely deep, maybe 150-200 feet; "

grneyemonstr

Sounds to me like red snapper

grneyemonstr

Here are a couple of pictures i found on the net of red snapper

Red Hawk

Its very possible it was Red Snapper; Just I recall them being smaller but more then likely that is what we were catching. So it is common for the air sack in their mouth to puff up as they come to the surface? I did take some pictures, but sadly, those have been long lost

Oneshot7

It could have been any number of snapper or grouper, from the info you have given. That bottom picture in G's post is a grouper, not a snapper just for clarification.

Pygmy

I suspect you were catching rockfish...They are a pacific species and look similar to a big, red, largemouth bass... Google up "pacific rockfish" and you should find some pictures..

I suspect that is a rockfish in the lower photo...The background and the way the fisherman is dressed suggests he is fishing the northern pacific coast, rather than the warmer waters where groupers would be present..

yodeldog3

The bags you asked about are most likely from bringing them up from the deep, the sudden presure change makes them start to turn inside-out. It happens sometimes on lake Michigan in the fall. When you bring up those four year salmon they can send the whole stomach out.