pacific saury
Cololabis saira · Scomberesocidae · forage fish
Pelagic, elongated fish of the North Pacific, appearing in Mexico and Nicaragua, in schools near the surface. It is heavily fished commercially.
Also called: peixe-agulha-do-pacifico, paparda, sauri, pacific saury
- maximum
- 40 cm
- record/max.
- 0.2 kg
- depth
- 0–230 m
the right time
to be on the water
Choose the place and the species. The index, from 0 to 100, combines weather, sun, moon and tide with each fish's habits. Up to 28 days, with each day's confidence.
Reading the weather across 3 global models and 31 simulations…
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hour by hour
slide your finger or mouse over the chart to see each hoursee hour-by-hour table
why this index at —?
choose the day
Each card shows the day's index (0 to 100) and, below it, a strip with the index for each hour, from 0h to 23h. from poor to excellent.
the fishing month at a glance
what's the best window for the crew?
Choose how many fishing days. We compare each stretch by its average index, discount days with a warning or closed season, and show the 3 best.
trend for the coming weeks
Line: the middle value of 31 simulations of the American GEFS model. Band: where 8 out of 10 fall. Narrow, firm trend; wide, high uncertainty.
everything about the pacific saury
who is the pacific saury
The Pacific saury belongs to the family Scomberesocidae, a pelagic open-sea fish that lives near the surface in schools. It has an elongated body and reaches 40 cm and 180 g. Its range runs from the North Pacific, from Korea and Japan to the Gulf of Alaska, and reaches down to Mexico and Nicaragua in Latin America. Juveniles stay among floating algae. It feeds on small crustaceans and fish eggs and larvae. When fleeing predators, it can glide over the water. It is heavily fished commercially.
Essential profile. Identification, where it occurs and rules, with data from FishBase and the cited regulations. Season, time of day, technique and bait are added once we have a good source for the pacific saury.
fun facts
- When fleeing predators, it can glide above the water surface.
- It is prey for albacore and other scombrids.
identification
Elongated body, with a dark bluish-green back and silvery belly. It has small bright blue spots scattered along the flanks, and the fins on the lower part of the body are pale. The caudal fin is deeply forked, and the pectorals are small. It lives in schools near the surface, in open sea.
where found
In the North Pacific, the species reaches Mexico and Nicaragua, in open sea near the surface.
Habitat: Open sea, near the surface, from 0 to 230 m deep.
rules for the pacific saury
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
We found no species-specific rule beyond the region's general rules.
catch and release
catch and release Releasing the fish alive, quickly and with a wet hand. During a closed season it isn't always allowed: what the regulation says applies.
It poses no danger to anglers. It is a small, fragile fish: handle it with care.
in the kitchen
It can be fried or grilled, and is sold dried, salted, canned and frozen.
how much it weighs without taking it out of the water
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.00245, b = 3.15; FishBase (relação peso-comprimento bayesiana, estimativa da própria espécie)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
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sources and references
Essential profile: size, length-weight, depth, countries and conservation come from FishBase and the cited regulations, and the texts were written from those sources. Season, time of day, sensitivities, technique and baits and lures are not included yet, because we did not find a good source for this species.
- scientific FishBase: Cololabis saira (ficha da espécie)Size, length-weight, depth, habitat, distribution, biology, and IUCN status. Page checked on Oct 13, 2026.
- scientific FishBase: nomes populares de Cololabis sairaNames by country and language.
where each number comes from
The weather comes from three independent global models, cross-checked hour by hour: when they agree, confidence goes up; when they diverge, the band between them shows on the chart. Beyond 16 days, we use the GEFS ensemble of 31 simulations: if 20 of the 31 predict rain, the chance of rain is 65%. Sun and moon are calculated astronomically, with no uncertainty.
The index adds up, weighted for each species: time of day (species curve anchored to real sunrise and sunset), moon (transits, rise and set, phase), pressure (3 h trend and 24 h swing), water temperature (in rivers, estimated from air temperature; at sea, estimated by an ocean model), wind, rain, clouds, tide and the month in the species' cycle.
sources for this lookup
how accurate the forecast is
Accuracy measured in the reference project (4 regions, 93 days, forecast vs. observed): maximum temperature is off by 0.6 °C on average the next day and 1.7 °C at 7 days; rain of 5 mm or more is detected 76% of the time the next day and 57% at 7 days. Detection isn't everything: the false alarm rate isn't published here yet, and 93 days in 4 regions is still a small sample. We now also measure every day, at the app's destinations: