Ryan Izquierdo is a prominent figure in the fishing community with millions of followers social media. His most recent catch, a yelloweye rockfish, is not only the most orange fish you have ever seen, it is (probably) older than your grandmother.
He pulled the dinosaur-sized aquatic creature from the depths of the Pacific Ocean in Alaska.
For someone who has done a lot of fishing in remote locations all over the world to get this excited about a new catch should tell you everything you need to know. It is extremely difficult to catch this specific fish at this size!
Who is Ryan Izquierdo?
If you are a member of the angler community, you might already be familiar with ‘Ryan Iz.’ I compare him to a modern-day Jeremy Wade because he also catches prehistoric-looking fish on a rod and reel and documents his adventures on video.
Instead of a TV show that airs on Animal Planet or Discover Channel, Izquierdo posts on social media. He has more than three million followers on TikTok, 350,000 followers on Instagram and one million subscribers on YouTube.
Ryan Izquierdo travels all over the world to hunt monsters. He spent seven days hunting the world’s fiercest fish in the Amazonian jungle.
He caught some of the biggest golden dorado you will ever see in Argentina.
His recent trip to Texas with Field and Stream saw him catch a literal dinosaur.
However, most of Izquierdo’s time is spent in South Florida. The Sunshine State is home base.
Wherever he goes, big fish follow. Or maybe it’s the other way around?
A yelloweye rockfish caught in Alaska is older than your grandma.
Ryan Izquierdo’s latest fishing trip brought him out to Sitka, Alaska with ‘Cast Alaska’ Charters and Lodge. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“Fishing in the most scenic places I’ve ever seen that hold true sea monsters. Every drop feels like it could connect you to a true giant hiding on the bottom. It could take hours, minutes, or not come at all. But when you do connect.. it’s epic!”
Sitka is located in the southernmost region of the state on the Pacific Ocean next to British Columbia near Juneau. The fish were biting!
Izquierdo caught his first Alaskan halibut.
He also reeled in a few different kinds of rockfish. The quillback rockfish absolutely crushed his jig.
The highlight was a yelloweye rockfish— also known as the Pacific red snapper, red rock cod or the Alaskan goldfish. It was over 90 years old and covered in spines. It was the most orange fish Ryan Izquierdo had ever seen.
He mentioned at the end of the video that the yelloweye rockfish was throwing up her stomach. That is because of a phenomenon known as “barotrauma,” which happens because of rapid decompression. These fish live in such deep water where the pressure keeps its organs in place. The air inside its swim bladder rapidly expands as it nears the surface, which pushes other organs like the stomach out of the mouth.
I don’t know whether or not Izquierdo kept this specific fish for his own consumption, because yelloweye rockfish is a highly sought-after table fare, but there is a way to release deep-sea fish back into the water safely. A device called a ‘SeaQualizer’ is used to compress the fish’s air bladder upon release, which allows them to regain neutral buoyancy and swim away.