James RickardThe California Grunion
December 20th 2009 00:19
You sometimes hear about someone watching "the grunion run" but, have you ever wondered what it means?
Grunion are unique little fish. You can take that literally because you can hold an adult grunion in your hand. You might as well figure 5-6 inches long--just a little bigger than sardines.
Are these things little or what??????
What really makes them unique is the way they spawn. The female wiggles and squirms up the beach at high tide and then buries herself about half way into the sand where she deposits anywhere from 1,600 to 3,600 eggs. A good sized female may deposit even more eggs but, you can pretty well depend on those numbers.
After being deposited in the sand, the eggs incubate for about 10 days until the baby fish are taken out to sea by high tide action.
Despite the ease of their observation, not a lot is known about the eating habits of grunion. Since they have no teeth, it's assumed they feed on small organisms. It is known that grunion eggs make excellent dining for shore birds and sang beetles. Grunion themselves make good eating for larger fish and even humans.
Like most fish, a license is required to go after grunion. However, unlike other fish, tackle is a NO-NO. Grunion may be taken only by using your hands! Smart thinking would be to simply dig a hole during during their spawning spectacle. However, this, too, is illegal. In fact the taking of ALL grunion is prohibited during certain periods as is the case with many other fish. None the less, you can watch the "run" in all of Southern California and into Baja California, Mexico.
After being deposited in the sand, the eggs incubate for about 10 days until the baby fish are taken out to sea by high tide action.
Despite the ease of their observation, not a lot is known about the eating habits of grunion. Since they have no teeth, it's assumed they feed on small organisms. It is known that grunion eggs make excellent dining for shore birds and sang beetles. Grunion themselves make good eating for larger fish and even humans.
Like most fish, a license is required to go after grunion. However, unlike other fish, tackle is a NO-NO. Grunion may be taken only by using your hands! Smart thinking would be to simply dig a hole during during their spawning spectacle. However, this, too, is illegal. In fact the taking of ALL grunion is prohibited during certain periods as is the case with many other fish. None the less, you can watch the "run" in all of Southern California and into Baja California, Mexico.
Remember to take the hooks outta yer pocket before ya sit down!
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