Inshore Angelfish

[michael_cb_125]

Hello Everyone!

I just got back from a very WET fishing trip at the NC coast. While fishing around a metal seawall (fishing for Sheepshead) I saw the most amazing
Blue Angelfish (Holacanthus bermudensis). I was fishing around Snow's Cut. We were tied literally two feet from the wall and she was patrolling the oyster shells the entire time we were there.
I have never seen a blue angelfish with so much blue coloration, typically the ones I see are mostly tan with blue highlights. She was around 5 inches from nose to tail, and I would have sworn she was a Queen until I saw no crown.

I watched this fish with my brother for over an hour and a half. I was even able to lean over and almost touch her, she was not scared at all.

I wish I had pictures of this, but it was raining and the camera was at home.

How often do these "Blue" Blue Angels show up?

~Michael
Does anyon

 

[MrTuskfish]

Weird thing, most of the unusual things see while fishing seem to appear about the time the beer runs out.

 

[michael_cb_125]

HaHa.... This time no beer involved , just a lot of rain and two crazy fisherman.

~Michael

 

[AuroraDrvr]

It's not all that uncommon for pure-bred Blues to get very blue. That pale tan ones usually have a bit of Queen in them.

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

I've dived in several spots throughout the Caribbean and have seen the really blue ones nearly everywhere I've been to but the tan ones are much more common IME.

 

[Sheol]

I just cannot remember seeing that many "blue" blues, but then again, most of my dives were pretty far ofshore ( my friend/instructor/Divemaster's preference). So I saw mostly hybrids and Queens in the Keys. If I had done more shore diving near Clearwater beach, or Bradeton I probably have seen a lot of Blue Angels..

Matthew

 

[philter4]

Blue angels are found much further north then queens and because of that they are also more likely to be purebred rather then a hybrid. Also it is very common for them to be in shallow water, I know places where we can regularly collect and see blue angels and the occasional queen or french in as shallow as 3 feet of water.

The bright blue color you see is mostly genetic so certain groups or areas will have fish that are better or worse colored then another area, and as mentioned above for the most part blue/queen hybrids are duller then either parent. With that said, once a hybrid breeds back with a pure partner the resulting fish can be spectacularly colored especially if the pure parent is a queen.

It is actually quite interesting but the hybrids are fairly common wherever the two species are found together but 3/4 hybrids are actually even more common in some areas than purebred fish of either species. This is because the F1 hybrid is more successful at breeding than either adult. For the most part, queens want to breed with a queen, and a blue with a blue but the hybrid will breed with a queen, blue or another hybrid with equal frequency so they have far more choices to breed with then either a pure queen or blue.

 

[michael_cb_125]

Very interesting. Thanks for all the replies.

I am making another trip in the next week or so, hopefully I can get a few photos.

~Michael

 

[D5HP]

Michael,

I must have just missed you I just got back from my fishing trip this evening. I was in Holden but went up close to Kure for a few hours on a flounder hunt. No luck.

I caught more than 20 shark pups. I believe they were sharpnose but I am not certain. All went back in the water. Not a real enjoyable trip but at least I got to stay through the weather. Caught a sheepshead using sand fiddlers / fleas...in case that's what you're after again.

No knowledge on the angelfish but good luck on the next trip.

 

[michael_cb_125]

Hey Dustin.
We fished for flounder all Monday with no luck, but managed to catch a crap load of pigfish. Tuesday the sheepshead were not biting but we caught over 30 black bass, weird inshore trip, that's for sure.

 

[snorvich]

Michael, don't you sleep? 3:26 AM????

 

[D5HP]

Hey Dustin.
We fished for flounder all Monday with no luck, but managed to catch a crap load of pigfish. Tuesday the sheepshead were not biting but we caught over 30 black bass, weird inshore trip, that's for sure.

I know that NCSU has a flounder hatcheries program and they talked a lot about over fishing of flounder in NC...it sure has seemed to be the case the past few years.

I bet those black bass were fun for a while though. I caught some blues back over the 4th at Cape Lookout.

You going in October for red drum? I go to Hatteras every year for that.

I have never seen an angelfish up here but I did see a nice sized trigger a few years ago get caught on a boat.

Michael, don't you sleep? 3:26 AM????

4:26AM here! Man...didn't even notice that. Must have been a fun Friday night!

 

[Vili_Shark]

Any pic of that real Blue H.bermudensis?

 

[michael_cb_125]

Steve- I love to sleep, but there are other things I like better

Dustin- Yeah, I used to catch at least a dozen flounder every year over 6lbs., that's not the case now. My personal record is 11lb. 8oz. flounder pulled out of the Carolina beach inlet (right where I see the majority of the angelfish I find). But fish like that are'nt as abundant as they used to be.

Vili Shark- No pictures of the one that I saw, but I will be back in the next few days and I will do my best to get a picture.

~Michael