Caught a fish about 5 miles outside of the Merrimack River on Thursday. Fish was completely red, about 14 inches long and about 1.5 to 2 lbs. Caught on a clam in 230 feet of water. A notable characteristic is that it had huge eyes.

Any guesses as to what it was? I should have taken a picture.

probably rockfish?

red fish

or maybe small cod, they turn pretty red sometimes when they live in a rocky areas for extended periods of time. eating lobsters and crabs.

did it have a black spot on its tail?

Ocean Perch, AKA Redfish.
(Sebastes marinus)

Takend from the net:

Fact Sheets
Redfish or Ocean Perch

Denmark: rodfisk
France: sébaste; rascasse du nord, chèvre, perche rose
Germany: rotbarsch
Greek: sebastos-kokkinopsara
Iceland: karfi
Italy: scorfano di norvegia
Japan: menuke
Netherlands: roodbaars
Norway: rodfisk
Poland: karmazyn
Portugal: cantariho
Spain: gallineta nordica
Sweden: rodfisk
Russia: zolotiskiy morskoy okun', okun' klyuvach

William Shakespeare is famous for saying "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." So surely, a fish should taste as good whether it's called bergylt, Norway haddock, rosefish, redfish, sea perch, redbream or ocean perch. The story behind the name "ocean perch" is yet another example of both the ingenuity and pragmatism of fish marketers, who responded to a shortage in the 1930s of freshwater yellow perch by substituting redfish fillets which were similar in colour and less than half the price. And ocean perch it's stayed (at least in the U.S.) Even though it isn't a perch at all.

Ocean perch is a close cousin to the 68-odd Pacific rockfish species. The Atlantic Sebastes family has three primary members: S. marinus, the largest of the three, is more orange than red, has a blunt beak and small eyes, and is found in water less than 120 fathoms; S. mentella (the majority of Canadian landings) is a brighter red and smaller, with large eyes indicative of deep-water fish; S. fasciatus is also a smaller, deep-water species, predominating on Georges Bank and in the Bay of Fundy. All species are extremely slow-growing, slow-moving, intensely schooling and easily caught. All three are considered a single unit by governments, marketers and consumers.

Ocean perch is a small fish yielding small fillets. The majority of the Canadian catch is processed into frozen, skin-on fillets for retail markets in the United States, although there is a steady market in Japan for whole fish. Ocean perch has a high oil content and shelf life is shortened by the skin-on format. Frozen, it can be kept four to six months; fresh about ten days from time of processing.

With the skin on, redfish fillets have a firm flake, white flesh and a taste just slightly more assertive than cod.

It looked very much like that picture Zacs. I can't really tell how big the eyes are in the picture but the eyes on this fish were huge. I'd say close to an inch in diameter. Other than that I'd say it looked exactly like the picture.

Thanks!

eyes pop out when brought up from that depth, just like a cusk will.

Those are real good eating, hope you kept it.

could be a vermillion snaper...i like snappers :devil: