The triggerfish is an under-rated fish. They are a pleasure on the flyrod and light conventional taclke alike. They are small enough to entertain the kids and they pull hard enough to reward the fly fisherman. We have two kinds of triggerfish off Loreto, the standard light blue kind and the fileskin triggerfish which is orange and brown. They live in and near reefs and will take flies that sink. They hit hard and their strong teeth can snap hooks in half. Watch your fingers!

The standard light blue/grey triggerfish are eating fish but the more colorful fileskin triggerfish are NOT good to eat. The locals use the standard grey/blue triggerfish for ceviche and the texture of the meat can taste a lot like shrimp. We also sautee this fish in garlic and butter. Our favorite way is truly for the “lazy man” we call it “en la parilla” or on the grill. All you have to do is put the entire fish on the grill and cook, turn over to cook the other side and that’s it. The skin will puff up when its cooking and it will taste like lobster. When done the skin peels off easily. You don’t even have to gut it. The locals call this fish pez cochi or pigfish because it grunts when out of the water.

Triggerfish can be caught throughout the year.

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