Canary, Copper, or Gopher

This one confused me....unlike any copper or gopher I've ever seen. But it doesn't look like a canary either. Can anyone ID it?

copper

element 29

tis a copper

Thanks guys! Did not know coppers could get so washed out, almost pinkish. I am more used to the traditional copper colors...

Glad to know the ID. I caught one of those up in shelter cove and couldn't figure out what it was. Based on the light color, it looked like a hybrid of a canary and cowcod when I was trying to ID it based on the cdfw illustrations. The cowcod is a no possession fish and I'm not familiar with their coastal range. It was a nice size fish and I spent a few minutes flipping threw fish id's trying to figure it out. I got a little loose on my net angle and the fish flopped out... It ended up making my decision for me and I carried on. Wished I had gotten a picture to ask the NCKA group, but this thread have me the answer. Good to know for the future.

Copper all day long bro!

Looks a lot like a Yelloweye;

Uh oh....you mean I ate a protected species for last night's dinner?

For what it's worth, I caught it in 40ft of water, off of the kelp beds by Cannery Row....and yes, I was not in the MPA!

I believe Yelloweye are found in much deeper water, and juvenile Yelloweye are pretty distinct. No way was my fish an adult Yelloweye (size too small).

Am pretty confident it isn't a Yelloweye.

not a yelloweye. would think the fins would have more dark around the edges, can't really tell how round they eye.

There's a tell tale two bands behind the eye of a copper. 
no visible ridges above or below the eye hard to tell though.

I'de say it's a copper.

gonna go out on a limb here and say that picture of the yellow eye doesn't even look much like a yellow eye.

+1 for Copper

I didn't say it was a Yelloweye, just that it looked like one to me.  I got the photo from the NOAA Fisheries website.
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/yelloweye-rockfish

Definitely not Yelloweye.

+2 for a copper

Black rockfish.  Looks to be close to a world record.

Black rockfish.  Looks to be close to a world record.

  Good one. You might have to explain the context.

Black rockfish.  Looks to be close to a world record.

  Good one. You might have to explain the context.

It’s pandemic time. We want to go back to normal jokes, but for now we will have to make do with inside jokes.

For what it's worth, I caught it in 40ft of water, off of the kelp beds by Cannery Row....and yes, I was not in the MPA!

I believe Yelloweye are found in much deeper water, and juvenile Yelloweye are pretty distinct. No way was my fish an adult Yelloweye (size too small).

I caught 2 yelloweyes in that same vicinity and depth a few weeks ago. Just because they are usually deeper doesn't mean they can't be in shallower water. Also, I'm not sure when they lose their juvenile coloration, but mine were typical adult colors at about 12-14 inches long (I didn't measure them).