Yellowfin Tuna at El Banco, Marlin Move into Corbeteña, Summer Fishing Improves!

Yellowfin Tuna at El Banco, Marlin Move into Corbeteña, Summer Fishing Improves!

Written by Stan Gabruk

I find myself in my office overlooking Marina Vallarta as the boardwalk is empty, the restaurants are getting one run a night and the dollar is strong so International visitors from around the world are finding the added discount to purchases are not hard to swallow. Summer has hit Puerto Vallarta as shops, restaurants and a myriad of tourism supported businesses try once more to hang on until November. For those interested in visiting an exotic location and hooking into a five hundred pound Marlin Puerto Vallarta is where you´ll find your dream. This week we´ve seen Blue and Black Marlin move into our Deep water locations of El Banco and Corbeteña. With favorable water temperatures, available bait, and crystal clear Sapphire blue water, fishing conditions are about as good as they can get. It´s still a little early in the season to find Monster Yellowfin Tuna hanging around the rock, but their smaller cousins are running anywhere from 60 to 150 lbs and that´s not bad!

The bay is the bay for now. Smaller Dorado, Skip Jack Tuna, Bonita, Needle fish are picking up in numbers, Roballo in front of the river mouths, and up the river near Nuevo Vallarta. Four hours can be a challenge for fish right now and you´re better off with six hour trips in the bay if looking for smaller fish. The good news is the conditions are improving daily. Last week with this strange northern current in the bay pushed the red tide and the fish in front of it out of the bay leaving it a little sparse for fish. But those who made it to the points our just around the corners found abundant fish. So don´t lock yourself into a four hour trip when six hours or fifty dollars more on a super panga is the difference between catching or crying…. The trash line is a daily thing now with some pretty heavy rains in the evenings. Remember as a side note to keep your wits about you in the bay, logs, stumps, you name it can  be found floating just a few inches below the surface which of course is bad news for props, shafts, supports and rudders. In this case speed kills, and there is no excuse if you go flying across the bay and you hit something, so be careful.

The Marietta islands are still seeing Sailfish, Conaco Snappers to 25 lbs, Bonito, Skip Jack Tuna, and Needle fish, Pompano to 30 lbs and the list goes on. The fishing has been good, but there are times when the points are better. Keep an open ear for what people are catching before heading out. But the good news is you will catch smaller gamefish with the outside chance of Sailfish.

Punta Mita is still there and doing well. We had clients with small children about seven years old who caught several smaller Dorado and Bonito which was just what the doctor ordered for smaller anglers. Heading out on a heading of 300 to 320 you will run into Sailfish and Marlin another ten miles out from the point. Dorado in this area could be bigger, but they are there and with a little luck you´ll run into some Rooster Fish around the reef. 

Some days El Banco is the place to be, others it´s Corbeteña. We all know these two locations are about twenty five miles apart so they´re close enough for the available Gamefish to travel between easily. The area between these two world famous locations is also fertile with Sailfish, Marlin and Yellowfin. So don´t think that if you are not at one of these locations, that there are no fish. There are peaks, valleys, channels, peaks, you name it when it comes to bottom conditions. Many a tournament winning fish has been boated in this stretch, so pay attention to what is happening out there and if you see birds diving, break out the gear!

Back to the fish, Yellowfin Tuna in the 60 to 150 lb range are all over these locations. A few miles of El Banco you´ll find bigger Yellowfin Tuna. Plenty of Chorras for bait (20 lb Skip Jacks, Bonito) and plenty of fish. I had a client get a free trip on another company’s boat and came in empty handed for some reason. But what we´re seeing is an increase in the numbers of Marlin in the 500 to650 kb range as well and have seen  several boated by the few boats heading out this way. Right now a twelve hour day to El Banco is producing well. The only thing is that you don´t know what size you´ll get. But getting fish here is a no brainer.  Sailfish, Cubera Snappers and larger Dorado are possible at any given moment with several other species like Rainbow Runners. So if you are thinking of heading out to these deep water locations now would be a good time to head out!

We all have been hearing the news make comments about how Dangerous Mexico is, but it seems that the news is falling on 22 million deaf ears as Mexico has a record year for tourism even with the newshttp://theintelhub.com/2012/06/29/tourism-booms-in-mexico- as-crime-rises/. So cooler heads are once again showing that if you stay out of the equivalent of Detroit in Mexico, and who wouldn´t, you are safe on any level. Enjoy your time in Mexico and in particular Puerto Vallarta. The Dollar is strong which means you get great exchange rates. Hotels are empty and the fishing grounds are full of fish. The price is right if you have the time and inclination. In the mean time give a view to the following video and hopefully we´ll see you here soon with a finned fantasy on the end of your line…

Until next time, don´t forget to kiss your fish….

Master Baiter´s has changed its location to a larger shop located directly in front of Dock D in the shops behind the grassy area in the Puesta Del Sol complex half way between the Oxxo and Las Palomas Restaurant. Map of location in Marina Vallarta: http://masterbaiters.com.mx/location/   Come in and get your PV Mirror there and say hello to Stan. Please tell your friends where they can find the Mirror and of course Master Baiter´s.

You can come be a ¨Fan¨ on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Master-Baiters-Sportfishing-Tackle/88817121325  looking forward to meeting you online.  Reports, Fish Pic of The Day, Local information, Tournament information  and all that good stuff that keeps you informed and not wasting your time or money on B.S., if  you know what I mean. Also Facebook Fans get special perks you won´t find in my reports.

Master Baiter´s Sportfishing & Tackle is located in Marina Vallarta on the Boardwalk in front of Dock D. Facing the water turn to your right and we´re down four doors or so from Las Palomas the Restaurant. Come by and say hello!  Remember, at Master Baiter´s Sportfishing and Tackle, We Won´t Jerk You Around! If you have any questions on any subject regarding fishing or Puerto Vallarta, feel free to ask at my email: CatchFish@MasterBaiters.com.mx Web page:  www.MasterBaiters.com.mx

The trade name Master Baiter’s ® Sportfishing and Tackle is protected under trade mark law and is the sole property of Stan Gabruk.

Photo

United States Army Soldier battles enormous fish by Hand.

Yellowfin Tuna, What Do You Really Know of These Spectacular Fish?

Yellowfin Tuna, What Do You Really Know of These Spectacular Fish?

Written by Stan Gabruk

 Owning Master Baiter´s Sportfishing and Tackle in Puerto Vallarta it seems come summer time everyone walking in my door wants to hook into a Yellowfin Tuna, I don´t blame them. Most people will tell me how they have always wanted the chance to challenge a Monster Yellowfin Tuna on their ¨Bucket List¨.  But other than that, what do you personally know about Yellowfin Tuna? For most of you out there you`re going to say ¨not much ¨.  Well amigos, we´re going to change that, at least a little, right now!   

Yellowfin tuna are pretty much everywhere in the world except the Mediterranean Seas and will migrate between latitudes of approximately 40°N to 35°S, is a highly migratory species but in the Pacific Ocean there is very little evidence of east / west or north / south long range migrations. This means there is little opportunity to intermix species forming sub species. To me this means they follow the bait and water temperatures wit h no specific migration patterns.                 

Yellowfin Tuna have gone by many English language ¨common¨ names which include:  Yellowfin Tuna, Yellow fin tuna, Allison tuna, Long Fin Tunny, Longfin, Pacific Long-Tailed Tuna, and Tuna. Other common names include,  Ahi (Hawaiian), Albacora (Portuguese), Rabil (Spanish), and the list goes on…

Habitat

Yellowfin Tuna prefer it between 65 to 88°F (18-31°C).  I know we have seen YF Tuna sound to 150 feet or deeper to adjust body temperatures to surrounding water temperate as the surface water temps were over 90°F which of course is uncomfortable for them. Yellowfin will stay in an area if there is plenty of bait and clean water. But when Areas like Puerto Vallarta has warm water temperatures YF Tuna will migrate north in to the Cabo San Lucas area where historically water temperatures are slightly cooler than PV. So like we saw in El Nino a few years back, Tuna sounded or moved north to cooler water as an example of this. Normally YF Tuna will go as deep as 330 feet if they have a reason to do so.  Yellowfin tuna's circulatory system acts to retain metabolic heat. This warms their bodies above ambient temperature and allows them to process food and transport oxygen more efficiently. Their ability to stay warm does not match the near warm-blooded bluefin tuna, and as a result, their migration range is more limited by water temperature as I just mentioned. Their sensitivity to cooler temperatures also limits vertical movements to the relatively thin layer between the thermocline and surface.

                                 

Yellowfin Tuna are more likely to ¨School¨ with other species of the same size than their own. Here in the Eastern Pacific off Puerto Vallarta you will find them running with several Dolphin species including Spinner Dolphin. When we see this we know we`ll be catching Football sized Yellowfin at the smallest. Spinners are always our friend here in PV! This example of YF Tuna ¨schooling¨ with other species is not seen anywhere except in this area. The rest of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans do not see this which makes this behavior unique.

It  also seems that Yellowfin Tuna tend to school only on the surface, the deeper they are the less likely they are to ¨school¨ and will fragment or scatter.  

                                                           

                                               200 pound Yellowfin Tuna caught in Puerto Vallarta, Felipe Bravo of Gueroazteca

 Distinctive Features

The Yellowfin is a large tuna. Its body deepest under its first dorsal fin, while tapering considerably towards the caudal peduncle. Two dorsal fins are present. In adults, the second dorsal fin is very long, as is the anal fin, which is directly below the second dorsal. These fins become relatively longer in larger individuals. The pectoral fin is also long, reaching beyond the space between the dorsal fins. The caudal peduncle is very slender and includes three sets of keels.  With seven to ten dorsal and ventral finlets are present. A swim bladder is present. The eyes are small; teeth are small and conical.

Below are some descriptions of Tuna species running in the Eastern Pacific.

Coloration

The body is metallic dark blue or greenish above, while the belly and lower sides are silvery white and crossed by many vertical, interrupted lines. Perhaps most distinctly, a golden stripe runs along the side. The second dorsal and anal fins and finlets are bright yellow, and the finlets are bordered by a narrow band of black.

Size, Age, and Growth

The maximum length reported for Yellowfin is 110 inches ( 9ft or280 cm) total length and the maximum weight is 880 lbs. (400 kg). The all-tackle record recognized by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) is 388 lbs. 8 oz. (176.4 kg). This latter example is more indicative of the common maximum size for the species. But that doesn´t mean there are not larger YF Tuna out there. We have had Yellowfin Tuna larger than 400 lbs boated with our certified scale in Cabo waiting for calibration so nothing official for us. And he 388lb record is suspect since this information is from a few years back.

Food Habits

Primary prey include fish, cephalopods (ceph·a·lo·pod [sef-uh-luh-pod], noun, 1. any mollusk of the class Cephalopoda, having tentacles attached to the head, including the cuttlefish, squid, and octopus.), and crustaceans (crus·ta·cean  [kruh-stey-shuh n] noun, 1.  any chiefly aquatic arthropod of the class Crustacea, typically having the body covered with a hard shell or crust, including the lobsters, shrimps, crabs, barnacles, and wood lice.). A study by Watanabe (1958) found 37 families of fish and 8 orders of invertebrates in Yellowfin stomachs. Fish species consumed by the yellowfin tuna include dolphinfish, pilchard, anchovy, flyingfish, mackerel, lancetfish, and other tunas. Other prey are cuttlefish, squid, octopus, shrimp, lobster, and crabs. Yellowfin are sight-oriented predators, as their feeding tends to occur in surface waters during daylight.

Reproduction

Reproduction occurs year-round, but is most frequent during the summer months in each hemisphere. It is believed that 79°F (26°C) is the lower temperature limit for spawning. In the tropical waters of Mexico and Central America, it has been determined that Yellowfin spawn at least twice a year. Each female spawns several million eggs per year. The juveniles grow quickly, weighing approximately 7.5 pounds (3.4 kg) at 18 months and 140 pounds (63.5 kg) at 4 years.

                                                   

                                                                  Yellowfin tuna larvae:
                                   A. 5.1 mm NL, B. 6.0 mm SL, C. 8.5 mm SL, D. 46.0 mm SL
                                                   (NOAA Tech Memo NMFS-SEFC-240)

Parasites

Yellowfin tuna can host up to 40 parasites including protozoans, digenea (flukes), didymozoidea (tissue flukes), monogenea (gillworms), cestoda (tapeworms), nematoda (roundworms), acanthocephala (spiny-headed worms), and copepods.

Well there are, the basics when it comes to Yellowfin Tuna and how it relates to us as fisherman. Useful information if you are an angler looking for the challenge of boating a Monster Yellowfin Tuna or if you are a lure manufacturer looking to understand what the species prefers when it comes to feeding habits.

Hopefully you know a little more now about Yellowfin Tuna and their habits than you did a few minutes ago….

Written by Stan Gabruk, owner of Master Baiter´s Sportfishing and Tackle

Common carp

 

Common carp
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Cypriniformes
Family:	Cyprinidae
Genus:	Cyprinus
Species:	C. carpio
Binomial name
Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus, 1758

The common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.^[2][3] The wild populations are considered vulnerable to extinction, but the species has also been domesticated and introduced into environments worldwide, and is often considered an invasive species.^[2] It gives its name to the carp family: Cyprinidae. It is on the List of the world's 100 worst invasive species.

 Taxonomy

Cyprinus carpio carpio on the dry lake bed of Lake Albert in New South Wales, Australia

The three subspecies are:

• Cyprinus carpio carpio (European carp) is found in Eastern Europe (notably the Danube and Volga Rivers).^[2][4]
• Cyprinus carpio haematopterus (Amur carp) is native to eastern Asia.^[4][5]
• Cyprinus carpio rubrofuscus, from Southeast Asia,^[4] is treated as a separate species Cyprinus rubrofuscus by many authorities.^[6]

It is related to the common goldfish (Carassius auratus), with which it is capable of interbreeding.^[7][8]

 History

The common carp is native to Asia which has been introduced to every part of the world with the exception of the Middle East and the poles. The original common carp was found in the inland delta of the Danube River about 2000 years ago, and was torpedo-shaped and golden-yellow in colour. It had two pairs of barbels and a mesh-like scale pattern. Although this fish was initially kept as an exploited captive, it was later maintained in large, specially built ponds by the Romans in south-central Europe (verified by the discovery of common carp remains in excavated settlements in the Danube delta area). As aquaculture became a profitable branch of agriculture, efforts were made to farm the animals, and the culture systems soon included spawning and growing ponds.^[9] The common carp's native range also extends to the Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Aral Sea.
Both European and Asian subspecies have been domesticated.^[4] In Europe, domestication of carp as food fish was spread by monks between the 13th and 16th centuries. The wild forms of carp had reached the delta of the Rhine in the 12th century already, probably also with some human help.^[10] Variants that have arisen with domestication include the mirror carp, with large, mirror-like scales (linear mirror – scaleless except for a row of large scales that run along the lateral line; originating in Germany), the leather carp (virtually unscaled except near dorsal fin), and the fully scaled carp. Koi carp (錦鯉 (nishikigoi) in Japanese, 鯉魚 (pinyin: lĭ yú) in Chinese) is a domesticated ornamental variety that originated in the Niigata region of Japan in the 1820s.^[11] They also invaded the Great Lakes in 1896 when the area near Newmarket, Ontario, flooded and allowed them to escape into the Holland River.

 Physiology

Dutch wild carp

Wild common carp are typically slimmer than domesticated forms, with body length about four times body height, red flesh, and a forward-protruding mouth. Their average growth rate by weight is about half the growth rate of domesticated carp ^[12][13] They do not reach the lengths and weights of domesticated carp, which (range, 3.2–4.8 times)^[2] can grow to a maximum length of 120 centimetres (47 in), a maximum weight of over 40 kilograms (88 lb),^[2] and an oldest recorded age of at least 65 years, but reliable information seems to exist about nishikigoi of over 100 years.^[13][14] The largest recorded carp, caught by an angler in January 2010 at Lac de curtons (Rainbow Lake) near Bordeaux, France, weighed 42.6 kilograms (94 lb).^[15] The largest recorded weight of a domesticated carp was of a nishikigoi especially bred for size, with a length of 125 cm and a weight of 45 kg.^[13][16]

 Habitat

Carp from Vltava river, Czech Republic

Although tolerant of most conditions, common carp prefer large bodies of slow or standing water and soft, vegetative sediments. As schooling fish, they prefer to be in groups of five or more. They naturally live in temperate climates in fresh or slightly brackish water with a pH of 6.5–9.0 and salinity up to about 0.5%,^[17] and temperatures of 3 to 35°C.^[2] The ideal temperature is 23 to 30°C, with spawning beginning at 17–18°C; they easily survive winter in a frozen-over pond, as long as some free water remains below the ice.^[17] Carp are able to tolerate water with very low oxygen levels, by gulping air at the surface.^[3]

 Diet

Common carp are omnivorous. They can eat a vegetarian diet of water plants, but prefer to scavenge the bottom for insects, crustaceans (including zooplankton), crawfish, and benthic worms.

 Reproduction

An egg-layer, a typical adult female can lay 300,000 eggs in a single spawn.^[18] Although carp typically spawn in the spring, in response to rising water temperatures and rainfall, carp can spawn multiple times in a season. In commercial operations, spawning is often stimulated using a process called hypophysation, where lyophilized pituitary extract is injected into the fish. The pituitary extract contains gonadotropic hormones which stimulate gonad maturation and sex steroid production, ultimately promoting reproduction.

 Predation

A single carp can lay over a million eggs in a year,^[3] yet their population remains the same, so the eggs and young perish in similarly vast numbers. Eggs and fry often fall victim to bacteria, fungi, and the vast array of tiny predators in the pond environment. Carp which survive to juvenile are preyed upon by other fish such as the northern pike and largemouth bass, and a number of birds (including cormorants, herons, goosanders, and ospreys)^[19] and mammals (including otter and mink).

 Introduction into other habitats

Carp gather near a dock in Lake Powell

Carp in Maribyrnong River, Australia

Carp in the duck pond in Herbert Park, Dublin, Ireland

Koi in Chinese Garden Zürich, Switzerland

Common carp have been introduced, sometimes illegally, to most continents and some 59 countries. Due to their fecundity and their feeding habit of grubbing through bottom sediments for food, they are notorious for altering their environments. In feeding, they may destroy, uproot, disturb and eat submerged vegetation, causing serious damage to native duck, such as canvasbacks, and fish populations.^[20] Similar to the grass carp, the vegetation they consume is not completely digested, and rots after excretion, raising the nutritional level of the water and causing exsessive algae growth. They destroy nests of other fish and eat their eggs, reducing their numbers significantly.
Efforts to eradicate a small colony from Tasmania's Lake Crescent without using chemicals have been successful, but the long-term, expensive and intensive undertaking is an example of both the possibility and difficulty of safely removing the species once it is established.^[21] One proposal, regarded as environmentally questionable, is to control common carp by deliberate exposing them to carp-specific Koi herpes virus with its high mortality rate. In Utah Lake, the common carp's population is expected to be reduced by 75% by using nets to catch millions of them and either give them to people who will eat them or processing them into fertilizer. This, in turn, will give the native June sucker a chance to recover its declining population. Another method is by trapping them in tributaries they use to spawn with seine nets and exposing them to rotenone. This method has shown to reduce their impact within 24 hours and greatly increase the native vegetation and desirable fish species. This also leaves the baby carp easily preyed upon by native fish.
In Australia, enormous anecdotal and mounting scientific evidence indicates introduced carp are the cause of permanent turbidity and loss of submergent vegetation in the Murray-Darling river system, with severe consequences for river ecosystems, water quality and native fish species.^[22] In Victoria, Australia, common carp has been declared as noxious fish species, the quantity a fisher can take is unlimited.^[23] In South Australia, it is an offence for this species to be released back to the wild.^[24] An Australian company converts common carp into plant fertilizer.^[25]
Common carp were brought to the United States in 1831.^[26] In the late 19th century, they were distributed widely throughout the country by the government as a food-fish, but they are no longer prized as a food-fish. As in Australia, their introduction has been shown to have negative environmental consequences,^[27] and they are usually considered to be invasive species. Millions of dollars are spent annually by natural resource agencies to control common carp populations in the United States.^[22]
Common carp are believed to have been introduced into the Canadian province of British Columbia from Washington. They were first noted in the Okanagan Valley in 1912, as was their rapid growth in population. Carp are currently distributed in the lower Columbia (Arrow Lakes), lower Kootenay, Kettle (Christina Lake), and throughout the Okanagan system.^[28]

 As food and sport

See also: Carp fishing

Cyprinus carpio is the number one fish of aquaculture. The annual tonnage of common carp, not to mention the other cyprinids, produced in China alone exceeds the weight of all other fish, such as trout and salmon, produced by aquaculture worldwide. Roughly three million tonnes are produced annually, accounting for 14% of all farmed freshwater fish in 2002. China is by far the largest commercial producer, accounting for about 70% of carp production.^[17] Carp is eaten in many parts of the world both when caught from the wild and raised in aquaculture. In Central Europe, it is a traditional part of a Christmas Eve dinner. Many people in Poland and Czech Republic buy a live carp and bring it home three or two days before Christmas Eve. It is kept one or two days in a bathtub, and then killed. Traditional Czech Christmas Eve dinner is thick soup of carp's head and offal, fried carp meat with potato salad or boiled carp in black sauce. In some Czech families, the carp is not killed, but after Christmas returned to a river or pond. In Western Europe, the carp is cultured more commonly as a sport fish, although there is a small market as food fish.^[29][30] Carp are mixed with other common fish to make gefilte fish, popular in Jewish cuisine.
Common carp are extremely popular with anglers in many parts of Europe, and their popularity as quarry is slowly increasing among anglers in the United States (though destroyed as pests in many areas), and southern Canada. Carp are also popular with spear, bow, and fly fishermen.
The Romans farmed carp and this pond culture continued through the monasteries of Europe and to this day. In China, Korea and Japan, carp farming took place as early as the Yayoi Period (c. 300 BC – 300 AD).^[31]
Carp eggs used for caviar is an increasing popularity in the United States.^{[citation needed]}

 

Piranha attacks man in China - Channel NewsAsia

Piranha attacks man in China - Channel NewsAsia

Photo

Extraordinary Behavior in Green Humphead Parrotfish

Extraordinary Behavior in Green Humphead Parrotfish

Fishery biologists led by Dr Roldan Muñoz of NOAA’s Beaufort Laboratory have for the first time observed headbutting contests between males of the world’s largest parrotfish.

Female, lower, and male Green Humphead Parrotfish (Roldan Muñoz et al)

While observing large schools of the Green Humphead Parrotfish at Wake Atoll, the researchers heard loud jarring sounds. Surprisingly, they found that the sounds arose from violent impacts between males engaged in repeated, ritualized headbutting behavior.
“During headbutting bouts, males utilized their caudal fins to rapidly collide with their cephalic humps, immediately followed by fast swimming in a semicircle where each fish tried to bite the back and flank of its opponent,” the scientists explain in a paper in the open-access journal PLoS-ONE.
The Green Humphead Parrotfish, Bolbometopon muricatum, also known as Bumphead Parrotfish, Buffalo Parrotfish and Giant Parrotfish, is the largest species of parrotfish growing to lengths of 1.5 m and weighing up to 70 kg.
“How could this dramatic aspect of its social and reproductive behavior have gone unnoticed,” the researchers emphasize in the paper.
They propose two reasons: “i) low population densities resulting from overfishing dampen competition for resources (females or spawning territories) and/or disrupt the social system so that headbutting contests are uncommon and no longer advantageous; ii) headbutting contests are common, but negative responses to humans in exploited populations preclude observations of natural behavior.”
The team was also able to capture an entire headbutting bout on high definition video, consisting of four, successive charges between two males of B. muricatum.

The biologists note that the unusual aggressive headbutting behavior by the Green Humphead Parrotfish is the first of this type observed in marine fishes.
_______
Bibliographic information: Muñoz RC, Zgliczynski BJ, Laughlin JL, Teer BZ. 2012. Extraordinary Aggressive Behavior from the Giant Coral Reef Fish, Bolbometopon muricatum, in a Remote Marine Reserve. PLoS-ONE 7(6): e38120. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0038120



Credit:  http://www.underwatertimes.com/

Creature from the Haunted Sea

 

Creature Haunted Sea
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Roger Corman
Produced by	Roger Corman Charles Hannawalt
Written by	Charles B. Griffith
Narrated by	Robert Towne
Starring	Antony Carbone Betsy Jones-Moreland Edward Wain
Music by	Fred Katz
Cinematography	Jacques R. Marquette
Editing by	Angela Scellars
Distributed by	Filmgroup
Release date(s)	June, 1961
Running time	75 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Creature from the Haunted Sea is a 1961 comedy horror film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a parody of spy, gangster, and monster movies (mostly "The Creature from the Black Lagoon"), concerning a secret agent, XK150 (played by Robert Towne under the pseudonym "Edward Wain"), who goes under the code name "Sparks Moran" in order to infiltrate a criminal gang led by Renzo Capetto (Antony Carbone), who is trying to transport a colonel, a group of exiled Cuban nationals, and a large portion of the Cuban treasury out of the country.
When Capetto tries to kill the Cubans guarding the money and blame their deaths on a legendary sea monster, he soon finds out that the monster is real. The film was shot in Puerto Rico back-to-back with two other Corman productions, The Last Woman on Earth and Battle of Blood Island, from a script that had previously been filmed as Naked Paradise and Beast from Haunted Cave.^[1][2] Griffith rewrote the script to accompany both the locations Corman was shooting on and a comedic storytelling approach, as opposed to the previous versions of the script, which had been straightforward.

 Plot

After smuggling a strong box of the Cuban treasury and a group of exiled Cubans out of the now communist Cuba, a group of criminal and exiled Americans plot how to rid themselves of the Cubans guarding the money and come up with the plan to imitate a sea monster and blame the deaths on it. An American spy smuggles himself on board and acts as a narrator and all around good guy, ending up as the only original character to survive until the end. The sea monster turns out to be real and quite deadly. The movie concludes with the sea monster killing everyone and getting the money for itself, while Sparks Moran, the spy, ends up with the girl.

 Cast

• Antony Carbone as Renzo Capetto
• Betsy Jones-Moreland as Mary-Belle Monahan
• Robert Towne as Sparks Moran / Agent XK150 / Narrator
• Beach Dickerson as Pete Peterson Jr.
• Robert Bean as Happy Jack Monahan
• Esther Sandoval as Rosina Perez
• Sonia Noemí González as Mango Perez
• Edmundo Rivera Álvarez as Gen. Tostada

 Production

In 1959, following the completion of The Little Shop of Horrors, Roger Corman assembled a small cast and crew and arrived in Puerto Rico to direct The Last Woman on Earth and produce a World War II film titled Battle of Blood Island. According to Corman, "I had discovered that tax incentives were available if you 'manufactured' in Puerto Rico. That included making movies."^[1] When Corman still had unused footage left over from The Last Woman on Earth, he decided to make another film.^[1][3]
Screenwriter Charles B. Griffith was asked to rewrite a screenplay that had previously been filmed as Naked Paradise and Beast from Haunted Cave for the new locations, to complete the screenplay in three days, and that Corman would be playing one of the characters, Happy Jack Monahan. Angered with the situation, Griffith wrote Corman the most difficult role he could think of, requiring the character to be laughing hysterically in one scene and crying like a baby in the next.^[2][4] Corman states that when he read the script, he "realized Happy Jack practically became the lead. I know Chuck did this to drive me crazy. It was too big a role, and required an actor."^[1] Corman gave the role to the film's boom operator, Robert Bean,^[2] who also played the role of the Creature.^[5]
Creature from the Haunted Sea was shot in five days.^[3] Locals appeared in the film as extras, reportedly being paid $1 an hour.^[5] According to Corman, "I was trying to get more movement into long dialogue scenes. Chuck had one scene in the script that especially bothered me because I couldn't figure out how to give it some action. We were shooting in a palm grove and I had these Americans playing touch football with a coconut. [...] If nothing else, there was a lot of movement in that scene."^[1] During a scene in which the character Renzo Capetto is shown loading a gun, actor Antony Carbone was given a real gun which fell apart unexpectedly. After shooting a take that "worked perfectly," Corman decided that the first take was funnier, and used it in the film with added narration to achieve humorous effect.^[1]

Renzo Capetto and Mary-Belle Monahan kiss as the Creature sneaks up behind them.

According to Beach Dickerson, the Creature was made from "a wetsuit, some moss, lots of Brillo pads. [...] Tennis balls for the eyes, Ping-Pong balls for the pupils, and pipecleaners for the claws. Then we cover him with black oilcloth to make him slimy."^[1] According to Carbone, the cast "really had to do some deep concentration in order not to laugh when we saw it."^[5] Carbone felt that Corman should have shot the scenes featuring the Creature from its point-of-view, so that the audience would never see the Creature. "That would at least keep a semblance of some fear. Because when you see this Creature, you gotta laugh! Not that the laughter isn't good, but the laughter should not be about the Creature, it should be about the actions of the Creature. For example, when the Creature kills, you should take the action from the actor to make it funny—his eyes pop out, or he puts his finger in his mouth like a child, or some humorous little bit that the person being killed could do. Therefore you sustain both the secrecy of this thing and bring out the comedy. Then I think it would have been at least plausible, in a way." Despite Carbone's feelings about Corman's filmmaking aesthetics, he stated that the film was "very funny" and he "had a lot of fun doing it."^[5]
When the cast and crew had difficulty getting out of the country, the cinematographer hid the film from Corman until the cast and crew got paid for the production.^[3] Actress Betsy Jones-Moreland stated of the production that "the only problem with that movie is that it started out to be a takeoff on everything Roger had ever done before. It was to be a comedy, a laugh a minute. Then all of a sudden, somewhere in the middle of it, that got lost and it got to be serious!" Moreland continued to state that she "just assumed that nobody would ever see it. In the beginning, because it was going to be a "sophisticated" spoof and it was going to be an inside joke, I was not ashamed of it. Later, when it didn't turn out to be that way, when it got off the track and got dumb, then I wished that I'd never heard of it."^[3]
The film's musical score, written by Fred Katz, was originally written for A Bucket of Blood. According to Mark Thomas McGee, author of Roger Corman: The Best of the Cheap Acts, each time Katz was called upon to write music for Corman, Katz sold the same score as if it were new music.^[2] The score was used in a total of seven films, including The Wasp Woman and The Little Shop of Horrors.^[6]

 Release history

Creature from the Haunted Sea was not released until 1961.^[2] The film's marketing campaign did not make the film out to be a comedy, and instead promoted the film as a straight thriller.^[7] The film's poster asks "What was the unspeakable secret of the sea of lost ships?" and requests that audiences "do not give away the answer to the secret."^[2] Many audiences found the advertising to be misleading, which hurt the film's box office.^[7]
In March 1963, Corman reassembled the cast in Santa Monica to appear in new scenes directed by Monte Hellman for television airings of the film, expanding the length to 74 minutes.^[8][9] A title song, sung by Betsy Jones-Moreland, was added by Hellman on the assumption that a film called Creature from the Haunted Sea should have a title song.^[8] Hellman also shot footage for television versions of Beast from Haunted Cave, Ski-Troop Attack, and The Last Woman on Earth. According to Hellman, "That was probably the most fun I've ever had, because I was the producer, writer, and director, and I had absolute control over the crew and how the money was spent and everything. It was really fantastic, plus the fact that it was totally off the wall stuff—it was like Saturday Night Fever."^[9]
In 2008, a colorized version was released by Legend Films.^[10] This version is also available from Amazon Video on Demand.^[11]