Quote from: KogaHead on December 19, 2022, 08:16:03 AM
You could stock an aquarium with those!!!

Agreed! I really like the weird little ones.

Quote from: xjchad on December 19, 2022, 09:35:12 AM
There are some really cool fish there Ben!
Did you post a report on the HI and Egypt trips?  I must have missed those.

I didn't, just added the fish one-by-one on Instagram. Whenever I get a shark or ray I make sure to put a report here though!

Quote from: Latimeria on December 19, 2022, 05:28:02 PM
hahaha, holy smokes!  What a hell of a year for you!

One thing I wish is I had digital cameras from the 70's, 80's and 90's.  I didn't take a bunch of pictures because film and developing cost a ton of money and technology basically didn't exist. 

Great stuff Ben!

Yeah this hobby wouldn't have widespread appeal without digital photography. There are a bunch of kids out there now taking professional level photos. It's pretty cool, but I feel for the older generation that didn't get to have that.

Awesome Tom that you got to take your parents out. And congrats Verne! Stoked for you.

Hey guys, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Years! Here's a quick recap of my year adding new species to my lifelist. I came close to beating my record of 127 new species in 2013 with 124 new ones in 2022. Florida continues to produce new ones, and Ally and I traveled to Hawaii and the Red Sea in Egypt. Those two trips really ran up the scoreboard. We also added a few from NH, TX, and NJ.

1   code goby
2   spotted moray
3   rosy blenny
4   dusky jawfish
5   cuban dogfish
6   belted sandfish
7   bluehead wrasse
8   redear herring
9   red devil cichlid
10   whitespotted frillgoby
11   brighteye damselfish
12   hawaiian sergeant major
13   bullethead blenny
14   reticulate flagfin
15   indo-pacific sergeant major
16   christmas wrasse
17   speckled squirrelfish
18   guppy
19   hawaiian flagtail
20   sandwhich island sleeper
21   saddle wrasse
22   paletail unicornfish
23   zebra blenny
24   hawaiian gregory
25   sharpnose mullet
26   stocky hawkfish
27   spotted boxfish
28   african cichlid hybrid
29   lagoon triggerfish
30   wedgetail triggerfish
31   island goatfish
32   bird wrasse
33   bandfin cardinalfish
34   redbarred hawkfish
35   pinktail triggerfish
36   manybar goatfish
37   tattler
38   clown knifefish
39   striped grunt
40   mahi mahi
41   queen triggerfish
42   inshore lizardfish
43   largescale spinycheek sleeper
44   dusky shark
45   plains longear sunfish
46   texas logperch
47   mexican tetra
48   ninespine stickleback
49   atlantic mackerel
50   bull shark
51   doubleline mackerel (Grammatorcynus bilineatus)
52   yellowedge lyretail (Variola louti)
53   yellowfin hind (Cephalopholis hemistiktos)
54   cheeklined wrasse (Oxycheilinus digramma)
55   orangestripe triggerfish (Balistapus undulatus)
56   peac*ck hind (Cephalopholis argus)
57   titan triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens)
58   snubnose emperor (Lethrinus borbonicus)
59   redbreast wrasse (Cheilinus quinquecinctus)
60   yellowmargin triggerfish (Pseudobalistes flavimarginatus)
61   blacktip grouper (Epinephelus fasciatus)
62   redtooth triggerfish (Odonus niger)
63   coral hind (Cephalopholis miniata)
64   sky emperor (Lethrinus mahsena)
65   bluespotted cornetfish (Fistularia commersonii)
66   scissortail sergeant (Abudefduf sexfasciatus)
67   picasso triggerfish (Rhinecanthus assasi)
68   red sea goatfish (Parupeneus forsskali)
69   bluethroat triggerfish (Sufflamen albicaudatum)
70   spotted sandperch (Parapercis hexophtalma)
71   freckled hawkfish (Paracirrhites forsteri)
72   checkerboard wrasse (Halichoeres hortulanus)
73   greasy grouper (Epinephelus tauvina)
74   dory snapper (Lutjanus fulviflamma)
75   silverspot squirrelfish (Sargocentron caudimaculatum)
76   pinecone soldierfish (Myripristis murdjan)
77   twospot red snapper (Lutjanus bohar)
78   bluestripe snapper (Lutjanus kasmira)
79   yellowlip emperor (Lethrinus xanthochilus)
80   bigeye scad (Selar crumenophthalmus)
81   klunzinger wrasse (Thalassoma rueppellii)
82   orangespotted trevally (Flavocaranx bajad)
83   lunar fusilier (Caesio lunaris)
84   red sea soldierbream (Argyrops megalommatus)
85   crimson jobfish (Pristipomoides filamentosus)
86   dirty ordure snapper (Paracaesio sordida)
87   longbarbel goatfish (Parupeneus macronemus)
88   red sea houndfish (Tylosurus choram)
89   red sea keeltail needlefish (Platybelone platura)
90   red sea halfbeak (Hyporhamphus gamberur)
91   blackspot snapper (Lutjanus ehrenbergii)
92   indian bird wrasse (Gomphosus caeruleus)
93   bigeye emperor (Monotaxis grandoculis)
94   rusty jobfish (Aphareus rutilans)
95   sulphur damsel (Pomacentrus sulfureus)
96   dogtooth tuna (Gymnosarda unicolor)
97   goldsaddle goatfish (Parupeneus cyclostomus)
98   goldbanded jobfish (Pristipomoides multidens)
99   sammara squirrelfish (Neoniphon sammara)
100   paletail damsel (Pomacentrus trichrourus)
101   blue triggerfish (Pseudobalistes fuscus)
102   tautog
103   summer flounder
104   bridle shiner
105   knobbed porgy
106   unicorn filefish
107   atlantic agujon
108   metallic shiner
109   dixie chub
110   apalachee shiner
111   bandfin shiner
112   redeye chub
113   sailfin shiner
114   flagfin shiner
115   blackbanded darter
116   choctaw bass
117   longnose shiner
118   russetfin topminnow
119   clown goby
120   darter goby
121   bluefin killifish
122   pygmy sea bass
123   flounder sp.
124   blackwing searobin

I took screenshots of the new additions to my photo album. A few are photo upgrades for species I already had, but most are new.















The total count is up to 933, so next year might be the year I reach 1000!

Take care everyone. Let's have a great 2023, fishing and otherwise. Let me know if any of you are passing through the Sebastian area if you're in FL.

Great, now I'm craving some delicious sweet corn.

That's too many cats. And I like cats.

Wow Chris, congrats!!

Are you willing to say how deep the bottom was and how far down you sent your bait?

Nice haul Tom! I get super hungry every time I see one of those small bonito. That's probably the CA fish I miss the most.

Quote from: jrodda on November 02, 2022, 11:24:29 AM
I use an excel sheet to keep track.

I would move it to a Google spreadsheet so it's backed up, and you can access it from your phone or share it with other people.

Or come visit me in Sebastian and we'll catch a bunch of sharks. We have blacktip, blacknose, spinner, lemon, bull, nurse, bonnethead, and Atlantic sharpnose.

It's pretty easy to rack up the new ones in FL. There are a few famous spots among species anglers that would be worth checking out. Anglins Pier in Ft Lauderdale comes to mind, but check if it's still closed due to damage. Other piers north or south of there should be good. The Keys is really easy fishing. The Channel 5 fishing bridge has tons of species.

Super cool on the painted greenling! I saw one once snorkeling in La Jolla, and it always bugged me that I couldn't catch one. There's a lot of photos of them perched on the wrecks outside Mission Bay (Ruby E, Yukon, etc).

Quote from: jrodda on October 06, 2022, 06:46:14 PM
Ben makes it sound easy. He'd paddle out a couple miles then spend the day fishing 1000'+. I couldn't do 2 drifts. Gotta up my game!

LOL! I liked calm days when I could use 16 oz and it would hold bottom in 1000 ft. I'd actually paddle slowly to drag my bait along the canyon bottom.

Nice report! I could really go for a plate of bonito sashimi. Love that stuff.

Dude! What an adventure. Nice job delivering on the mahi!

Nice job on the mahi!

Thanks for posting this Tom.