After taking a nice one the other day I thought id share a little of what I think is an often overlooked very tasty fish! Quite often while looking for lingcod in the rocky outcroppings I will come a crossed a wolf eel. They are not shy of divers and will usually allow you to touch them which is why it always leaves me with a twinge of guilt harvesting one :weeping:. The big ones I typically shoot because they will go after you once you piss them off and the smaller ones I grab behind the head like you would a snake. After I manage to get one home with out getting bit I find them to be one of this areas better eating fish. its a firm flaky whitish meat and takes well to any recipe people use on other bottom fish like halibut or rockfish.

Wolf eels
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I don't think I have the balls to shoot one, I have only had the sushi bar ones. Beautiful cove there mate.
Cheers, Don
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Very cool. Does the entire length of the body have meat? If so looks like a good yielding fish.
Also I am cold just looking at this photo
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Wow. That is one ugly bastard! Thanks for the education.
How difficult are they to clean?
I love the look on your face in the second pic, both accomplished and proud, and still a little wary of your prey
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Great post. I always wondered about them scary looking buggers.
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You fillet them like any other fish just with a tail section that is 4' long. That one weighed 12lbs and only about the fist 10" of the fillets have the horizontal bones running threw it.
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Also I am cold just looking at this photoWaters nice right now been around 60. I dive year-round and have to say theirs just some thing calming (lack of a better word) about coming up for a breath with snow falling on the water. It's all about the gear that time of year!
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That's an awesome fish, I would love to dive in Alaska, can't beat the scenery. Congrats
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Billy, do you ever see king crab where you dive? and is a free diver allowed to take in season?
Thanks, Don -
Billy, do you ever see king crab where you dive? and is a free diver allowed to take in season?
Thanks, DonI have never seen adult kings while diving just juveniles. They're not a common catch this far south but we do have them, they are usually deep 200-400' for reds 600-1200'for browns. In January the reds migrate threw the shallows and divers get a few but it only last a week or two and I seam to miss them every year. Residents are aloud six a day in my area(diving or pots) and it's closed to nonresidents.
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Went out today after work to try my gopro setup for the first time and ended up getting another wolf eel. The water was really murky in the top 20' viz maybe 3' once below it the viability opened up to about 25' but that surface water made it so dark down at 55' wear I found this guy that the video came out black. At least now I know how much light it needs.
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Sorry..I've been saving this for a while.:D
Cheers, Don
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Yes! Dive reports! you are my current hero
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Interesting. Good pics Tree.
We are not allowed to harvest them here in the Puget Sound but I think the coast is open.
How do they taste? I run across them all the time. They look like old men to me.
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We have three similar species here in Arctic Norway, they're called wolffish. Only one lives shallow enough to catch while freediving. The head and mid body look almost exactly the same but with a much shorter tail section so they look slightly more like a normal fish. They're one of my top three favourite fish to eat and can sometimes have a very distinctive shellfish-like taste. Maybe because they eat a lot of sea urchins and mussels..
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Is there normally such a difference in coloration between individuals? I find his 2nd one's "camo" pleasing to the eye.
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That eel looks like something from one of my nightmares.
Went out today after work to try my gopro setup for the first time and ended up getting another wolf eel. The water was really murky in the top 20' viz maybe 3' once below it the viability opened up to about 25' but that surface water made it so dark down at 55' wear I found this guy that the video came out black. At least now I know how much light it needs.
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Is there normally such a difference in coloration between individuals? I find his 2nd one's "camo" pleasing to the eye.
It's the difference between male and female. That's the first brown one Iv taken which was female. All of the browns Iv seen in the past were small under 3' and I used to think color had to do with age and size because as baby's they are orange. As for camo of the males it is nice but you can see them a long ways off so I think it's more for flash and defense then for hiding
Id agree with Anders in that ours have a shellfish taste but its very slight the meat is firm and holds together well while cooking. If you like rock fish you will like wolf eel
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