Shawn Steward of Oxnard had a “once in a lifetime catch” aboard the Aloha Spirit at Anacapa Island last week. While sight fishing for white sea bass, Steward caught a caught a 90-pound opah, a brightly-colored sunfish-shaped fish rare to this area.”Catching an opah anywhere is a prize but to catch one here at the Channel Islands is a once in a lifetime catch,” said Mike Thompson of Channel Islands Sportsfishing. Thompson called it an “extremely rare” and “highly desired” catch that
is “a true rarity here at the Channel Islands.” “This fish is rare anywhere and as far as we know the first one ever brought to the docks at Cisco’s,” Thompson said. “An Opah is a very unique and vibrantly colored fish usually caught far south of here. “They are an extremely good eating fish that yields several grades of meat ranging from dark red, almost tuna like coloring, to flaky white meat like you would find in a halibut. READ MORE
