Yelloweye rockfish are found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. Their range begins in the Aleutian Islands and extends southward down the coast of Alaska and British Columbia to Baja California. Their preferred habitat is boulder fields and other rocky high-relief areas of the ocean, such as caves or crevices. Yelloweye rockfish usually live at depths of around 150 metres, but are occasionally found as deep as 550 metres.

Yelloweye rockfish are shaped like a typical rockfish, but their colouration is distinctive. They are a robust fish with spiny fins common in rockfish. Overall, their body is red or reddish-orange; often with a white stripe running down their flanks (juveniles will have two). As their name suggests, their eyes are yellow. Yelloweye rockfish are one of the largest species of rockfish off the Pacific coast, growing to as much as 91 centimetres and weighing 11 kilograms.