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Bocaccio

Rocote bocaccio

Sebastes paucispinis · Sebastidae

Category: Rockfish & Bottomfish
Found in: Pacific Baja
IUCN status: Critically Endangered
Mexico fish counts: 10,517 counted, 294 so far in 2026

About Bocaccio in Mexico

How to recognize it

Bocaccio are long, slender rockfish with a big mouth and a lower jaw that juts well past the upper, reaching back beyond the eye. Color ranges from olive-brown on the back to pinkish or reddish on the sides, often with darker blotches on younger fish. Head spines are weak compared with most rockfish, and the body feels softer and less armored in the hand.

Where and when in Mexico

Called rocote bocaccio in Mexico, this species is a mainstay of the deep-water rockfish grounds off northern Baja California. Ensenada's sportfishing fleet works offshore banks and the edges around the Islas de Todos Santos, plus grounds farther south toward Santo Tomás and San Quintín, where bocaccio hold over rocky structure in roughly 200 to 600 feet of water. It is available year-round and becomes the main event in winter and early spring, when surface fish such as yellowtail are scarce. Ensenada boats have logged more than 10,000 bocaccio in Mexico Fish Reports' counts since 2006.

How it's fished

Rockfish trips use dropper-loop rigs with two or three shrimp flies or circle hooks baited with squid strips or mackerel chunks, sent down on heavy sinkers. Metal jigs and swimbaits also draw strikes, particularly from bigger fish suspended above the reef. Electric reels are common on the deeper drops but not required.

Good to know

Like other deep rockfish, bocaccio usually suffer barotrauma when brought up, so release rarely works without a descending device. The fillets are white and mild, a favorite for fish tacos back at the dock.