I have been a offshore charter captain( retired) for a long time and have a way to process any kind of fish, fresh or saltwater. First we add lots of ice, then add enough water to make a slush. Then add enough salt to make it very salty. This will drop the water temp around 32 deg. Chunk the fish in alive as you catch them. This will set up hyperthermia in the fish causing the blood in the fish to go into the organs and out of the flesh,death is quick and after awhile when you clean them all the blood will be in the innards not the meat, causing better tasting fish, this method is used by commercial folks on tuna that will be sushi grade.... Try it and good eating


Pat

Dang Pat, thanks. That is a great tip. I used to do the same with Crappy to keep the flesh firm.

Bob, I'm 62 years old and dangit why sit on something that makes all the Dif in the world how Fisk will taste... Never been one to keep stuff to myself . I've been doin it for years and it really works

Pat, I'm 63 and winter in Fl. If ya ever get to the good side of the gulf, let me know. Bet we could exchange lots of good secrets and probably some good lies.

Bob
I know that is for sure and probably would have a time doin it, I know we have seen a lot of cool things in the gulf that people prolly wouldn't believe . Good fissen

Pat

Im a fan of this cooler method. Firms the meat for easier filleting too.

Thanks for the tip. Might have to try that.

Proper handling after the catch, storing until cleaning, cleaning, and storing after the cleaning are so very important for good tasting fish. There are few fish that are not delicious when properly cared for.

We had a church pastor who brought some autistic/ADD/ADHD kids, and some of their parents and grandparents to our ponds this past Saturday and Sunday evenings.

One of the grandparents asked how long I'd been fishing and how often we eat fish. I told her that it goes back to before I was born - looking out my mother's belly button at a bobber! We joked about it, but I told her I could never remember a time in my life when I wasn't fishing or eating fish. I'm 66, quickly heading 67. My wife and I eat fish about twice a week. We have many recipes. Our recipes range from the equivalent of steak or pork chops (fillets or steaks), to McNuggets (beer-battered fish chunks), to hamburgers (fish patties using crab cake recipes), to soups/stews (our favorite is fish poached for 8-minutes in homemade tomato/jalapeno/onion salsa), and smoked fish (think jerky).

As one of the kids caught a 3 lb. channel cat we had our first lesson in preparing a fish for dinner. We threw it in a cooler of ice and water in the back of my UTV. I explained why I was doing what I did, starting with it being humane way for the fish to die in peace. We got several other catfish, a few eating size LMB, and some nice HBG and BG from the two ponds.

When it got too dark to fish anymore, we took the iced cooler of fish to my cleaning station. It is a sink at the edge of the woods, down hill from the house. By then, the fish were all dead, or at least comatose. All watched as I filleted and skinned them. We went through anatomy and identification lessons. We examined the skeletons, gills, and heads of each type of fish. We looked at the air bladder, intestines, stomach, liver, and heart. One of the catfish hearts was still pumping. We found good sized pariah sunfish (offspring of my HBG) in some of the catfish stomachs. We mostly found fish food pellets in the stomachs and intestines.

The rinsed, skinned, and boneless fillets went back in the cooler of refreshed ice water. We took the cooler into my "game kitchen" where we half filled the large stainless sink with at least five gallons of water, and then added about a cup of kosher salt (non-iodined is OK too), and a bunch of ice cubes. Wew stirred it up and let it sit for a while as they played pin ball.

The bluegill and LMB fillets went straight into the sink. The channel catfish fillets were cut down the lateral line, and the dark red meat was carefully sliced out from the top and bottom halves. It can be very strong tasting due to the heavy concentration of blood. Soaking in saltwater helps take out the remainder of the blood.

The catfish bellys were skinned inside and outside. They are like lobster.

The fish were divided up and put into zip lock bags filled with water and about a teaspoon of kosher salt. All the air and bubbles were squeezed out of each bag.

Everyone went home with sealed bags of fish in water. All were told they could keep the fish for a day or two in the bags before preparing them for dinner. If not, they should be frozen. They will retain their freshness for several months. Freezing them in a water bath without any air prevents freezer burn and drying. When thawed, they are hard to distinguish from fresh fish.

All species are a little different. There are only a few kinds of fish that aren't good, either because of bones, or very strange tastes. Saltwater fish, like puffers, need special attention because there are parts of them that can cause poisoning. But, most everything else can make a pretty tasty meal.

Last week my wife and I enjoyed a number of different kinds of ocean fish we caught when we were at the beach. Bluefish, speckled trout, flounder, croaker, etc. By themselves they are good. Mixed with fresh caught shrimp (head still on), clams, etc., they sure are hard to beat in a low country boil.

Ken

We have friends that live in Slovakia on the river between Slovakia and Hungary (Danube). Right on the river in a floating house. When talk got around to fishing and eating fish I ask if they ate a lot of fish and what kind. There were mostly catfish and carp caught. I ask them if they ate the carp. "Oh yes, very delicious". A lot of Asians also eat carp. Yet around here they are considered a trash fish, mostly left on the bank by anglers.

Wife pressure cooked carp once, and the results were very similar to canned white Tuna. Carp Salad sandwiches were hard to tell apart from Tuna Fish Salad sandwiches.

Not going anywhere particular with this post, other than to say that it is interesting to see the different cultures that eat foods that others wouldn't touch.

Personally, I'll go for the Hogfish (Bocaneti in Mexico) when it comes to ocean fish.

Ken:

Remember the waxed paper milk cartons? My grandmother ALWAYS froze her fish in water, in those cartons.

Esshup they laugh but it still works today! Sometimes the old ways ain't so bad at all


Pat

Neat posts guys. Pat, thanks for getting it started.

Yes. When I was a kid we also froze our fish that way.

I guess the next time I get some larger catfish and some 2-4lb range I will video my cleaning method. Quick, no blood, no guts.

40 years on the gulf and you're bound to pick up a few things that work... I also have a way to filet the fish where you get all the meat and no bones and never cut into the guts or ribs or skin... Even works on catfish...

Pat

Pat, is it similar to how a Tuna is filleted into 4 fillets?

Now, getting on to taste, My #1 and #2 preferred fish is Wahoo followed by Bluefin Tuna. Both cooked fresh, not after they are frozen. I think freezing changes the taste/texture.

Bluefin is almost like steak.

Could someone please start a new thread on best ways to fillet fish? This would be SO helpful.

I've heard some have worked out new ways to filet bluegill with little waste and no bones. I'm sure everyone has their techniques, probably a description is good but a video is better.

Then Bass, LMB, SMB, is this different than stripers, wipers, or HSB or are they the same?

Then we would need one for catfish, one for walleye

I hear pike are a different beast to filet but not sure how many people eat pike.

I think I would enjoy KEEPING fish much more if i felt like I could do justice to fileting them and not butcher everything into a mess. because I tend to feel like i'm wasting the fish, I tend to throw them back more. If I had a good filet technique and a good batter/prep my wife might even warm up to serving fish more.

Thanks in advance!

Canyon

It has taken me many years to perfect fileting of fish . I have a method that leaves just a boneless ,skinless peace of fish it is a little slower than just hacking away but gets the max fish. I will try to write it down where it can be understood. In the meantime a sharp thin blade is a starting place. My fishing buds now filet the way I do


Pat

Are there any good You Tube videos of fileting fish?

Esshup

There is only one fish that even in the same room with fresh tuna... Crappie... Even then it is distant... Fileting is basically fine surgery you have to have a sharp knife

I found a couple of good films of filleting Stringrays on Utube. Have'nt been able ta get one yet tho. Rumored to taste like Scallops (YUMMY) Any experience with em Pat?

Bob
I've heard that same thing before, I tried one once and it close to...... Shoe leather...
So I haven't tried another. Maybe mine was having a bad hair day . Te he

Tuna...
Mahi
Yellow Perch

Tuna
Wahoo
Mahi
The rest we can argue about

Fresh winter bluegill
Fresh summer bluegill
Bluegill that's been refrigerated
Everything else is good, just not great like bluegill.

Sprkplug
By Jove I think you are right lol

esshup, you forgot the can of bacon grease in the fridge But anyway, I'm going with "gills"!

I have to try Wahoo apparently...next time I'm near any coast!

Dang it's good TJ.

It all goes back to the start of this thread.. If you take care of the fish properly it will taste good. Most fish is tasty just some better than others.

Pat

I've always done bluegills in the same fashion shown here by BBG member Bill "Musky" Modica. Works for me.

Originally Posted By: esshup

K.en:

Remember the waxed paper milk cartons? My grandmother ALWAYS froze her fish in water, in those cartons.


esshup, you forgot the can of bacon grease in the fridge"
My brother-in-laws grandparents were immigrants from Poland and I remember as a kid going to their house and being served lard sandwiches. Heck. I thought they were pretty good. Went down easy and no filleting necessary.

Bob-O
I'll bet that pig fat sammich was good for the arteries!

What condiments does one add to a lard sandwich? Mayonnaise? Tartar Sauce? Pickle Relish?

When I was a kid we always froze water in those cardboard milk cartons. When it came time for homemade ice cream, it was my job to introduce those blocks of ice to a big hammer. People would look at you like you had a screw loose if you purchased ice....of course, the same thing would've happened if anyone would've suggested back then that water would be offered through vending machines one day. And that people would actually pay for it.

The condiments were the two slices of bread. Buy ice? Who would have dreamed (besides, Jules Verne) that folks would be having conversations that the WHOLE world could participate with by typing. Or how about a phone that don't need a cord or dial, takes pictures, rings when yer in yer deer stand and reminds ya of when yer anniversary is? Not sayin ya needed reminded of yours of course.

These videos are great! Do all/most of you use this technique for doing bluegill?

Pat W, is your technique similar to this or can you describe or show how it is different?

How about for bass and others?

I use that technique for pretty much every fish I clean, and have for 20 plus years. The only time I break out the electric filet knife is if I'm cleaning 30 or more...the electric knife is a time saver but you also lose some meat in the process, especially on the smaller fish.

Catfish is similar with the exception of starting...I actually start catfish sitting up with the dorsal spine pointing upwards. Otherwise very similar.

Canyon
My way is different than the videos. I start the same, use just the tip to start with, making shallow cuts along backbone . I raise the meat flap as he does in the vid except that I don't push knife through to anal fin . I cut along the back and then across cutting as I go ,(I noticed how much meat was left on lower back near tail by him just shoving knife across on top of bone.. As much as 1/8" thickness left . On bigger fish this can be more.)if I'm gonna filet it I want it all. Actually I start at the top of the head not at gills. Once I have the meat cut away from the back up to the ribs( don't cut through them at all) and down to the tail and across to anal fin you should have a flap of filet held by the ribcage.. Now don't go any farther on this side... Go to other side and do the same thing... You have noticed one side is harder to do if you remove the filet before (flapping both sides). Now to the fun part. Pull up flap where you can get to rib area . Take knife tip and follow ribs upward to skin side, now flip fish to skin side down on cutting board take knife and filet skin away, do this in multi cuts so you can see as you go. Filet will come off with NO BONES just rinse and bag, now do the remaining side. The fish carcass will have the skin, head, ribs, guts on it . This will keep your knife sharp longer

I think I followed it till the 'fun part' then i wasn't sure where the knife started, which way you went to the ribs (top down, bottom up etc) or how you did it with both sides of the fish having loose flaps.

When you cut across to anal fin, how do you seperate the filet from the rest of the belly without cutting along the belly area?

I wasn't sure where the bones that the youtube video guy cut out stayed in your technique or how they got removed?

I wonder if separation of meat from rib cage could be done with blunt dissection rather than sharp?

Canyon
On the belly question:
Once the cut has been made across to anal fin and through skin then on the top filet run knife tip up along ribs to skin, stop, then flip fish over skin Skin side down, reach in with fingers and raise fish up to where you can see where you parted filet away from rib, then work knife tip in and gently filet skin off filet. Skin will stay on carcass along with rib bones.proceed and do the same to the remaining side and you are done . Take your time and you will get the system down and adapt it to your skill level. This is easy to do but hard to write it down. Hope this helps

Pat W

I hope my description of this method of cleaning fish is helpful to yall

It is helpful. If you are filleting sometime see if someone can't whip out their cell phone and take a video and post it. That would help me as well. Thanks

CC
Will try to do that

Ken, this caught my curiosity. Are you talking about the actually underside, or the side near bottom. Seems like I have always heard the bellys were bad to consume because that's were contaminants go? Also, you skin the inside(stomach lining?), is there some way you can describe that method more?

It's like any filet , lay it flat on cutting board and hold edge and filet skin off one side then flip it over and filet the other side(inside skin) all that is left is pure belly meat. Down south here only time we eat the belly is in late fall or early spring cause it can be a little muddy tasting at times.

Pat W

One more thing that just occurred to me that I hadn't mentioned before, after the filet is removed and litely rinsed. Put filets into a clean ziplock bag THEN PUT BAG down into ice to keep cold. I have been told by pros. That soaking filet in ice water dimishes the flavor of the fish .


Pat W

As a beginner most of that was greek to me. I would really appreciate a video! Thanks.

Captwho
Which part was Greek? Maybe watch the video that was sent and then read where I changed some of what he did to save more meat and remove ribs without cutting them off the fish. Hope I can splain it a little Dif if u can tell me where u got lost. Fileting is an acquired skill

Thanks
Pat

perch and crappie are some of my favorite but havent been able to catch many fresh ocean fish. we caught some halabit but have ate them side by side with perch and the perch was better.

Super fresh trout, over an open fire when your starving is pretty good too!!

Crappie are one the better fish for eating as are many salt water fish. That's why I started this thread hoping to help folks to take great care of their fish to get the max quality filets.
Good eats!

Pat W

Walleye hands down best tasting fish in my humble opinion.

We don't have any of those critters down here in the south, but I've heard they were good, so I can't say

PatW

Had another thought on freezing the fish: this takes a little more time but it saves space in the freezer ,actually two ways
1 take fish filets and put on cookie sheet and freeze, while they are freezing get a large bowl with ice an water ready lots of ice
2 when filets are frozen dip in ice water and put back on sheet and freeze again when frozen dip once more and back in the freezer the filets are now coated with ice and won't freezer burn. Place as many as you need in freezer bag and you're done .
Take out only what you want for a meal
3 the last way is use a vacuum sealer but I have found that sometimes these bags get holes punched in them from moving frozen stuff around and then that filet or filets gets ruined


Pat W

Wife is big fan of vacum sealers. I've seen her even seal clothes to reduce space. I think she has heavier bags specific for freezing.

Snrub
Yeah they work good except when you get a hole in them and the rolls are kinda pricey if you got a lot of fish or game to put up.

-----------
Pat W

Well it's about that time of year again . All the fish are trying to fatten up for the winter season ., fish will fatten up soon as the water cools down this fall. Soon will be the time to catch and eat some of the best eating fish of the year. It amazes me how a few weeks can make all the difference in the world.

Pat W

Freshwater-Panfish(Crappie, Bluegill, Pumpkinseed etc.)
Saltwater - Grouper

Fw walleye

Sw wahoo


Game over, pencils down.

I would have to say Walleye is pretty darn good! Up till this year believe or not I have never had BG. I have had them twice now out of my pond and man they are pretty darn good also! Then nice thing about a WE is you get a lot more meat but still them BG are good!

I like Cod, and Sea Bass isn't bad,


RC

In 1984, when the World's Fair was in New Orleans, I ordered fish at the Filipino restaurant.

I have no idea as to the species of fish but do remember that it was served prepared with a sweet glaze.

I have never before or since had fish prepared in any manner that could even begin to approach that which was served at that amazing meal. Having had many meals during my relatively long life, I would name that meal as the most wonderful food that I have ever had.

Nothing beats hooking a big angus fish in a stock tank, then grilling up a thick ribeye, medium rare!

I'm not a fan of eating fish, but Bill Cody will fry me up some YP and WE fillet's that are mouth watering good!

Wow!!!
I bet that "Angus" fish take a big reel baited with hay or corn. How big is your bait well to hold such a critter? I am impressed.

I wish we could have some walleye down here... I've heard they are good.

Tuna, wahoo and mahi mahi, and of course the "rare" red snapper are hard to beat

Pat W

My list is short. Fresh water: Crappie, Bream. Salt Water: Alaskan Halibut (best is Crab stuffed at Simon and Seafords, Anchorage AK), Sea Bass grilled to perfection!! ( Mouth Watering NOW!!!) MUST thorw in King Crab leggs(steamed) plus drawn butter!!!!!!!!!

Now now...only a ruffian would use organic bait when casting to a herd of Angus fish. A true sportsman fishes with artificial lures only. Myself, I prefer to "tie my own", with my most productive combination involving a 6/0 treble hook, and a ping pong ball airbrushed to look like a ripe persimmon. Deadly.

Great fighters, but you better be on your game...even a small one will take you into the backing before you have time to blink.

That's cheating!!! No fair we said fish
I bet most of yall haven't had Pompano.... Now that is good!!! You guys from Florida know how good they taste

Pat W

Anything close in taste to compare to Pompano? I had PACA in Ixtapa Mexico, it was very good, not as good as the other on the list.

Sprkplug

You know us TEXANS, ruffians we are I guess the only artificial I would use on one of them critters would be a 25-06 at close range

Pat W

Rex,
You've picked an interesting profession for a guy that doesn't like to eat fish! hehe

At this time of year I will take any fish that I can come up with and like it!


Pat W

Best eating fish thread and nobody mentioned Whitefish?
Alot of people north of the border will pass on walleye for whitefish. Caught a bunch this summer while fishing for Atlantic Salmon. The Salmon went back in the river, the Whitefish go in the cooler.

Crappie!

FW- Walleye
SW- Trigger Fish

Hey Pat or any other salts, have ya ever eaten stingray? The locals around here tell me it's similar to scallops. Scallops are $16 a lb and ya can spear the stingrays.

Ate a stingray once and it was tough as shoe leather... Must've done something wrong... Haven't tried it since....as far as spearing them remember they spear back ....

Bobby triggerfish is really good.. Just don't keep them in with other fish cause of the funky slime really smells and makes other fish taste.... Well not so good


Pat W

Pat, I'm very aware of their stinger. Remember Steve Erwin? Weird thing about that is about a week after Erwin got it a stingray jumped into a boat and killed some 72 yr old fisherman here in Fl.

Bob I know you are .... I was funnin ya
Those things can put a hurt on ya

Pat W

I ate a lot of stingray when I was in Asia. They wrapped it in foil with some kind of barbecue sauce and barbecued it. Fantastic!! They did not fillet it. Just cut the wings into big chunks. There are no bones except for a boney plate right down the middle so easy to avoid while eating. The meat has a grain to it kind of like beef.

Can somebody send me the filleting videos to my e-mail? Would really like to see them but for some reason my web browser will not let me view them from the post here.

Thanks!

By the way, I am a big fan of yellow perch for a good fish fry!

Flounder is good if eaten fresh not frozen, shame there aren't many in fresh water


Pat W

There are a few lakes that have stocked red fish

Pat,

Man, carefully cut the backbone out of that thing and stuff it with crabmeat and shrimp in a garlic sauce....its like a spiritual experience.

AMEN to that

I have some in fresh water....

They will do just fine if you could lobby to get "them" to stock some for you in your local lakes.

Bobby

I have heard that a few Texas lakes have them. Talk about fun.... Those guys can hammer a bait. Can just see ole bass cruising along and get eaten by a flounder. Lol


Pat W

I posted a video of a blue gill getting eaten by a flounder on here someplace. It is cool how they just jump up off the bottom.

And Yes fresh flounder is hard to beat as table fare.

Bobby, I remember that video and IIRC your wife shot it. It was remarkable as to how well the Flounder was camouflaged and how fast it was. Hope someone who is good at resurrecting old posts (Ewest) will post the link for it. Anyone who hasn't seen it should. Keep your wife recording and you keep posting such interesting events.
Are you braced for the terrible cold front headed our way? he guessers are predicting lows in the 40s. Brrrr !! Good thing is tho that the 40 are the present highs in In. Nice deer huntin weather tho.

Guys how do these tilapia stack up for eating? Store bought ain't bad but bad for you the way they are raised and WHERE. Anybody eat them from their ponds?


Pat W

PW - I think that if you clean, cook, and eat one of the pond raised tilapia you will be very surprised at how well they taste regardless of how they are prepared.

Interesting. I have always thought of tilapia tasting along the same line as RKB. Ok, if nothing else is biting. I will have to give them another try.

Bill
Thanks will throw some in next spring for fish forage and people forage. You hear so many things not so good about tilapia that one doesn't know if they are edible or not

Pat W

If you go back in culinary history, there isn't much that hasn't been a delicacy.

Some of my friends from the forum have given me a reputation for my off-beat tastes. Yet, if I put a pound or two of these off-beat samples on a platter, nothing lasts more than a few seconds.

As far as I can tell, I still have at least a few personal Pond Boss friends who have enjoyed some of my delicacies. All are still alive.

We've eaten many of these delicacies together, whether formerly furry, scaly, or feathered. They know that I will work with most anything from roadkill frogs to fresh porcupine.

One evening, some of the most squeamish devoured over a pound of gelatinized pickled pig's knuckles in seconds. Then they filled up on venison pastrami.

In my many years of fishing, hunting, and cooking, the only thing I've not found a good way to fix, is fresh water clams.

Other than that, it is all good -- except maybe for an old boar bear.

There is nothing like suckerhead soup. Creek chubs, gutted cleaned and soaked in Italian dressing for about an hour, dipped in a little flour with paprika and crushed garlic, and deep fried at 375F till crispy brown, sure make a great appetizer with some fresh horse radish mixed with a little ketchup.

Ken

The few times I have had tilapia out of the pond they were good. I found the meat to be not nearly as dry as the store bought fish. Any body else find it this way?

With tilapia you have to be able to catch them. After trying for hours to get one on a hook, you'll be ready to eat, so of course it will taste good.

Why are they so hard to catch? I have been messing with the tilapia in an aquarium for a while now. You watch them at feeding time and they go into a frenzy, as they will in a pond when pellets are thrown out. But they have this scary sense of what goes in their mouth: is it good, bad, different. I imagine a lot of fish are this way, but I come to really appreciate how the tilapia do it. They seems to suck everything in, but then let it roll around in their mouth and analyze it. I've witness them pick up the smallest things floating around in the water and spit it out at the slightest notion. They suck up mouths full of stones, carry them over to another area and spit them out(nest building). Then when they have a mouth full of eggs, they roll them around inside to keep them healthy. I have read that if any of the eggs are not fertilized, they can sense this and will swallow those and not the good ones. Then those little fry start swimming around in their mouth, not being swallowed either. Seems like extreme dexterity and control to me.

So....., with trying to get one on a hook, it will be a challenge. I have found that when I do, they are pretty feisty and fun, and yes, good to eat.

If it is any consolation, IMO practically all 'farm' pond raised tilapia will be from much better water quality than commercially available tilapia. Some of the tilapia from the 'store' have had an off flavor but never any from local ponds including those that Rainman has hauled.

That is probably why I have the perception that tilapia is just "OK" table fare. I have only had the "store" bought kind.

Same with me. Tilapia is the most common fish on restaurant menus around here now and I don't care for it. I even tried it at Red Lobster once. It seems to have an okay flavor but some sort of weird after taste to me but my wife likes it. If they weren't illegal here I would try a few in the pond and I imagine they would be better fresh from good water.

I was thinking about trying a few in my pond also. Anybody know if they will survice in a Northern Illinois pond, if they are legal in Illinois and, if legal, where I can get some?

Bill, In my pond and would assume yours to be in the same temp range, they survive from May till September. Of course every year the weather is different so you will get some varying to those times.

In that short period, they can easily get to be a pound or so.

For starters, contact Rainman for tilapia stocking and to find out if the are legal in your state.

Very True. Stay away from the imported tilpia as you have no idea the conditions they were raised in. No standards like we have here. A fish farmer I know said he visited Thailand and will never eat another tilapia from that country again. Said he was appalled by the condition of the ponds.

The tilapia I have raised in my aquaponics system are some of the best fish I have ever eaten. Not sure if the plants consuming the nitrates has anything to do with it.

OTOH I doubt you'll get aftertaste issues in RAS raised tilapia raised here in the states. They typically purge them for a few days before slaughter.

Hope PW or Bobby Rice can answer this for me. Up home and many other places folks eat and enjoy CC BH BC and Flathead catfish. Most everywhere I've been around saltwater, everyone makes nasty faces or asks if I'm just dim when I ask about cookin catfish. I mean they look almost exactly like CC. As Catman stated, suckers and even Carp that come from clean water and are prepared/cooked correctly can be delicious.
Also I was at a seafood festival. They had Rock Crabs at $20 a plate but Mullet for $8 a plate. When the Mullet are runnin, there's almost a guy smoking and sellin em on every corner. Had several folks tell me that they're great and several say they should be avoided. Any thoughts from any of the salties that are here?

Well, Bob-O,

The last Time I got a haircut, and it was fairly long at the time. The gal with the snips actually gave me a Mullet

Didn't ask for that, but she thought I would look cute with her hair styling wizardry, and she is a transplant from someplace where Mullets are cool.

Glad I had enough hair left after that to get it fixed! Sheesh!!!

Tilapia, good or bad?

Consider shrimp. Imported they are mediocre to downright nasty. Fresh gulf shrimp are wonderful.

Great fish in bad water yields bad fish. Bad fish in good water yields great fish that are even better when cooked well.!

Sid,

Well said! I catch Golden Red Horse suckers out of the Kishwaukee River. I have a recipe to pickle them that puts any store bought pickled herring to shame. (Pickling dissolves all those little bones).

Bob-O

In Texas mullet are not eaten. Fla. they are. I think due to the stuff they eat. Saltwater catfish AKA hardhead on the other hand are not eaten. Gaftop are tasty, just have to remove the bloodline like most saltwater fish.


Pat W

JKB, if there ain't a picture it didn't happen. Perhaps yer getting a smoked gal confused with a smoked mullet.

Bill, they are illegal here in Illinois for some strange reason. Makes no sense because they cannot survive winter anywhere in the state. But, as you know, a lot of laws here make no sense.

Invasive species laws make no sense when poorly informed lawmakers make law based on fear, 6 second sound bites, and no science.

It's hard enough to overwinter them in a barn in Texas. I can't imagine trying that in open water farther North.

Sure, I don't want them to crowd out native species but, these aren't pet Pythons & Boa constrictors in Florida, snails, feral hogs, snakeheads, Asian carp, etc.

Welcome to Pond Boss, Sid....good to have another East Texan on board...where bout E. Texas do you reside?

Hey its not all bad here in Illinois. To be fair, at least we have high taxes and high unemployment to compensate for the bad decisions from our lawmakers!

Bill D.,
I'd be interested in that pickling recipe if you were willing to part with it...

The recipe is a word document so I can't attach it here. If you send me a PM with your e-mail address I will be happy to send it to you though.

Done...

Midway between Sulphur Springs, Mount Pleasant, and Lindale in Wood County.

I've eaten hardhead catfish and gafftops also. The gafftops are really good... I don't find the hardheads as good but I like them. You've got to catch a two pound hardhead catfish to get a decent amount of meat from because their heads are huge.

I'll stick to crappie and catfish and leave all that good saltwater fish behind me... There more expensive anyway.



Pat

Just had a two fresh yellow perch fillets. OH. MY. GOD!

My mother retired from nursing in California and moved here to Shreveport to be with her grandkids (my kids) And she asked me to catch her some crappie out of Cross lake where she had her retirement home. Shreveport's local water supply lake. So I provided the fish as she requested. I told her I preferred the LMB fillets and so the next fish I caught for her was the LMB out of Cross lake. After eating the lmb fillets she asked for more and never requested the crappie again. A 2.5lb bass fillet is hard to beat when fried up and served. Cross lake is said to be the best channel cat fishing lake in Louisiana. Lake is stocked regularly with the cats and with FLMB.

On the adjenda at the Pond Boss Convention they should serve several species of fish including swai and tilapia all cooked the same way. That would be a very educational presentation.

Bill
Do you know where the swai and tilapia are raised?


Pat W

Swai mostly in Vietnam and tilapia various places.

How does HSB flavor compare to crappie and RES? I've heard they are good but would like to hear from y'all before I add any



Pat W

Pat,
I've eaten HSB and RES...IMPO, although they are tasty, they do not compare to the white flaky flesh of a crappie. Of the southern freshwater species, I think crappie is king. HSB have a bloodline laterally beneath the skin that must be removed prior to cooking...especially if you are going to freeze it. If not, when defrosted, the bloodline will be discolored (brown) and give off an odor. There is absolutely nothing wrong with fried RES as well.
Charlie

Hey Pat,

IMO I think the reasons everybody are high for HSB is for the fight and that they are a predator that doesn't reproduce.

If you want eatin fish then you need to move up with us northern boys and eat YP, WE and crappie for top table fare. BG go down real good too!

Bill I'm growing crappie and CNBG but might need more predators to work on keeping both in check


Pat

Edit : how much is land selling for in y'all's part of the country

Pat,

Prices are all over the map. I just saw 100 acres listed at 2.5M. There are several links for Illinois farm land listings if you are curious give it a Google.

Bill, 2.5 mil for 100 aces? Does it have a gold mine on the land ? I know if it had oil and gas minerals to be sold along with the surface, the price would now have dropped by 50%
Tracy

Just my opinion but it seems lots of folks here with land for sale feel they have the perfect location for that next big development project. I am guessing most don't really want to sell but, hey, if they put an outrageous price on it and somebody wants to pay it, cash out and retire. There are also tracts of land for sale at much lower prices. I saw a listing of around 45 acres for about 200K but then another for 2+ acres for 185k! All depends on location, location, location!

So I dropped my son at basketball practice tonight and had an hour to kill. The wife asked me to pick up some cumin so I hit the nearby grocery store. Grabbed the cumin and still had 50 minutes to kill so I wandered back to the fish section of the store. This store actually has a pretty impressive selection of fish. Looked around to see what their most expensive fish was just for the heck of it. YP fillets won hands down. They were actually on sale..... for the bargain price of $18.69/lb!!

My opinion. Easy explanation for the high price. YP are the best tasting fish!

I think many pond owners would be surprised at what our fish actually cost per pound! Think about feed, pond maintenance, fishing equipment, property taxes, drowned cell phones, etc. And the list goes on and on. I don't even want to think about what my fish cost per pound.

Similarly, think about your dogs and/or cats. Look at their annual food and veterinary costs. In comparison, expensive fish are really cheap.

Freshwater: Cold water BG.

Saltwater: Cobia, wild salmon, swordfish (couldn't choose)

Being Louisianan, I prefer salmon blackened style. Boiled crawfish would make the list but isn't actually classified as a fish.

If I ever get to raise some freshwater prawns, the bass won't get all of them...

Spoonbill. No contest. Chicken of the lake. This is me, uncle and cousin on TableRock in my region.
http://youtu.be/7mUgqaVEW6s

Freshwater: A good old Crappie fry anytime. Salt & Pepper them. Yum!
Saltwater: I like a lot of different saltwater fish, Tuna, Grouper, Mahi-mahi, too many to pick from, but that's the top of the list.

You left out the cost of building the puddle! You can buy a whole lot of fish for what it costs for you to have the ability to walk out your back door and catch dinner!

Other than it has always been my dream to own my own puddle, the biggest incentive I had to build my own was I was tired of fishing local public BOWs that were over fished and rarely caught anything worth talking about. One of our local lakes actually has a 5 fish bag limit on BG it is so over fished.

What I found interesting at the store was WE was half the price of YP!

http://youtu.be/seete9sJKlI

You guys are so easy to bait!

Lots of great tasting fish out there. Hope I get a chance to try them all. Monk fish and Scrod ain't bad!

Oh my! Some are masters at it!

(I hope I don't have to moderate this post.)

Some bait is good to eat,right Bill

Bad comparison in my mind, I don't want to eat my dog and cat!!!!

I've tried snagging. If logs and rocks count, I'm pretty dang good at it.

You Yankee's do have some really good eating fish for sure. The We caught and cooked on the shoreline can't be beat, NP caught and cooked on the shoreline is really good also. I have never had YP and if it is $20.00 per pound @ the store I may still have to give it a try. I did not know they sold it at the store.
Here in the south I really like Goggle eye (warmouth, rockbass). I think it is a very sweet meat and I love the evening meal after targeting these fish for the day. And Spec Trout has not been mentioned here and I think it is also a sweet tasting meat. Just my 2 cents
Tracy

anthropic,
I live in Metairie (just west on N.O) but my pond is in south Mississippi. What part of La. you reside?
Dan

I always thought walleye was the best eating fish. But I never had BG until last year believe it or not and it was pretty darn good too!

RC

From reading these posts one could surmise that almost any fish at that time is the best fish. Most fish is good just a little different from one another but good


Pat

I would agree. Spoonbill cooked right is amazing! Wild Salmon is delicious as is walleye.

What is a spoonbill?

Pat,

Another name for them is paddlefish. If you click on one of the youtube links the guys posted you can see what they look like.

Hey, Dan. I live in Shreveport, about as far from N.O. as is possible and remain in Louisiana. We got 3 inches of snow today, a rare event.

I spent six years looking for the right land for a pond (started looking in 2008 in the middle of the fracking boom up here, which really didn't help), finally ended up buying some land on a pine plantation just west of Marshall, TX. After endless delays, FINALLY hope to move dirt in a week!

What kind of fish do you have in your pond? Has PB been helpful to you?

Frank

You know, people used to turn their noses up at redfish -- they were considered pretty much a trash fish. But after Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme came out with blackened redfish, demand skyrocketed to the point where redfish had to be protected.

Blackened wild salmon is incredible, as the fish stays together despite the heat. Also I really like redfish on the half shell, where the filet is cut with the skin left on one side. Place the skin on the grills, put some melted butter, garlic salt (or cajun seasoning) on the flesh side, and the meat is protected from overcooking. Delicious with a spritz of lemon juice!!!

I love cooking the fillets with the skin on , skin side down on the grill. You get so much more fat and moister from it.

I think you nailed it Pat. Hot August evening at my place, surrounded by friends and family, is a great time for... nice young 16 to 18 inch CC in the deep fryer (bone in of course), good hush puppies, corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes and cold watermelon. At that moment, CC is the best tasting fish!

BINGO!

Bill their is a pic of me holding one at top of this page. They live off plankton. They are boneless. You just cut around tail and cartilage is pulled out. Here is a video from our MDC.
http://youtu.be/fysqA0tr4qo

lol that post would make new page. It's at top of page 6.

Pat, the TP&W has just stocked some more paddlefish (spoonbill) to Caddo lake and they may be doing it in some of the other Texas lakes.
Tracy

anthropic,
About pond boss... to summarize... I wish I had known about it before I build, stocked, and began attempts to maintain my pond. I could have learned from mistakes I hadn't done myself yet.

I have BG, RES, LMB, and about 20 HSBs.

I think redfish is a good fish except not fried. Baked, grilled, blackened, or, my favorite, smoked.

Good luck on your pond!

Tracy
That's interesting that they are stocking those critters around Tex. Wonder if they are suitable for a smaller BOW?


Pat

I think they prefer moving water but don't hold me to that. The TP&W just added 50 more to big cypress area that feeds Caddo lake. It is not a strong moving body of water but will have a current ever so slightly some of the yr. I think they are trying to get them to come back to several lake areas in Texas.
Tracy

Hey, Pat. I've been on some Louisiana offshore and marsh charters, usually had a great time (seasick once).

The best technique I've found for keeping the fileted/steaked/gutted fish fresh for the longest time is somewhat similar to what you did out on the Gulf.

1) Pat the fish dry as possible. Bacteria like moisture!
2) Place dry fish in plastic sealable bags. Empty air out as much as possible.
3) Put layer of ice in chest. Sprinkle with large salt, ice cream maker or ice melter. This causes the temp of the melting water below 32F. Yes, salty water stays liquid below normal freezing point!
4) Place bags on top of layer. Put another layer of ice, sprinkle with salt, repeat.

When home I leave fish in cooler, periodically adding more ice and salt. Keeps it colder than fridge, but doesn't freeze.

I've had fish remain fresh & delicious without freezing for ten days using this technique. Probably won't be as effective for fatty fish, never tried it.

That's a great way to care for them AFTER the slushing process. Bleeding them is not quite as effective as hypothermia is in removing blood from meat- not as messy either

Thanks! I've proven that it is possible to make mistakes even before building a pond, unfortunately. In one case I spent $1,000 having someone drilling holes to check on soil & clay conditions in a location that was, well, kinda sketchy. Told my wife we could always bring guns, just in case.

She wasn't pleased. Neither was I when I found out that two women had been murdered in that neighborhood in the past five years. Good bye $1,000!

Exactly right. Your technique is great for on the water, mine for off the water.

It is important that they be sealed really well to keep the water out and the fishy stuff in. One time I neglected to do that -- we were exhausted from a fantastic offshore amberjack expedition, best catching in my life -- so I just dumped all the filets into icy slush water.

Well, about 15 minutes into the 5 hour trip back home, I took a curve a little too sharply and several ice chests fell over...

We kept driving. Never did get the smell completely out of the van, as my wife still enjoys reminding me!

Boy those AJs are tough fish. Not to keen on eating them but I'm spoiled to other fish. Caught my first one and it almost pulled me over the side... 55#s of pure fight.

Pat, we blundered into a school of big AJ's -- every one between 40 and 60 lb -- and they flat wore us out. Back then the limits were a lot looser, we could take (I think) four per person, including the captain, so for two fisherman that was six each.

Six times 25 to 35 minutes of absolute strain in every muscle of the body. And there was little time to rest, the school was hungry.

After one, I was panting but thrilled. What a fight!

After two, I was hot, sweaty, and tired. After three, I was utterly whipped and ready to call it a day. After four, I faked a need to visit the head so I could get a break. Hard to lift my arms. After five, I said No Mas to a big fish on the line for the first and only time in my life.

We finally went in, but the captain spotted a shrimp boat cleaning its nets and thought it would be fun to stop there and tangle with jack crevalle...just for the sport of it. It really was exciting to see a 50lb fish rocket up to take the bait, but by that time I would have preferred to go in and drink a few gallons of GatorAid.

Best fishing trip I've ever had or ever will have. But we were totally beat puppies when we got to shore with a 5 hour drive ahead of us!

anthropic

Jacks can wear you out also but not edible. Sow red snapper up to 20#s will rip you a new one also. If you catch them on live bait right below the surface they can outfight AJs # for#. Shame they don't get to 50#s, don't think you could land one

Them were the days


Pat W

I've never caught a red snapper bigger than about 8lbs, Pat. A 20lb fish would be awesome. Love to eat them, but limits are so low now it seems hardly worth going for them.

I have caught tons of them up to twenty pounds and believe me they can fight. Bad thing is that when they get that big you can't stop them from running into structure and cutting you off even with 100# test line and 8/0 hook

Jack crevelle makes pretty good smoked fish dip...

I am hoping the Jack crevelle I put in my pond lets me catch it one day.

You can eat them? No one eats them over here Bobby, guess it's like mullet .



Pat

people make smoked mullet dip.
I tried Crevelle and it was good, Blue fish too.

I would not gill it and eat it though...

Bluefish not bad if you remove all the bloodline and microwave it with butter and garlic


Pat

Microwave fish.............Now thats just wrong!

That's what I thought..... Till I tried it.... Cover with Saran and nuke for a couple mins and done.... Give it a shot