Half Moon Bay Haul: China Cod, Sea Trout and Rockfish

For Frank Vaz, a Half Moon Bay resident who has lived in town for all of his 44 years, fishing is a way of life. He's been throwing out his lines in the Pacific Ocean for 35 years.

With a boat docked at , Voz goes out to fish frequently.

It's just for fun. But Vaz and his friends don't just head out in the boat for anything that bites. 

They went out Saturday with an ideal catch in mind: halibut.

"We didn't find any, so decided to bring in rockfish instead," he said.

Vaz said that everyone caught a personal limit of 10 rockfish each, along with three other species — bringing their total catch of the day to 43 fish.

At the harbor's fish cleaning station overlooking the docks, Vaz set out an unlikely pair on his cutting board. First, an elegant sea trout with a petite build, colored with delicate orange spots and fins to match. Next, a chubby black china cod with mustard yellow markings and protruding lips.

The head of the vermillion rockfish that Vaz had just filleted lay next to the cutting board. Seagulls hovered overhead, waiting to pounce.

"These fish are strong," he said as he cut up the cod. "They can survive for six hours after being caught — I'll go to fillet them and they're still kicking," he said.

While he enjoys fishing today, he says it's not like it was in the past, with more pollution in the water and less fish overall nowdays.

After processing the trout and cod, Vaz had a freezer-size ziplock bag filled three-quarters to the top, white fillets stacked one atop another.

Vaz says that his favorite way to prepare the fish at home is to grill, fry, or barbeque them.

Raw fish enthusiasts they are, the seagulls dove right in.

To receive news feeds about Half Moon Bay and the unincorporated Coastside between Montara and Pescadero, visit Half Moon Bay Patch on Facebook and "like" us here. Follow us on Twitter here.