The Rockfish family contains many different species widely distributed throughout the North Pacific. A dozen species are commonly caught in our area with the most popular being the Yelloweye Rockfish. Yelloweyes are often called red snapper due to their large size and bright orange coloration. They average ten pounds but can exceed thirty pounds. All rockfish are slow growing long lived denizens of reefs and pinnacles. They are all very aggressive predators, attacking jigs on the bottom or slamming lures cast to surface feeding schools. All rockfish are excellent eating though the larger size of Yelloweyes makes them preferable. Current Alaska Fish and Game regulations allow anglers to keep one Yelloweye per day and two annually. A combination of six other species of rockfish may be kept per day.