FAVORITE FISH

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Sheepshead

Hogfish

Holwachagot

[Tenacious]

Originally Posted by HOLWACHAGOT

Sheepshead

Hogfish

Holwachagot

Can you ever be serious?
I need some details on this favorite fish, tell us why Wussiwachagot

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Originally Posted by Tenacious

Can you ever be serious?
I need some details on this favorite fish, tell us why Wussiwachagot

That wussa serious answer. My original reply was gonna be Toadfish and Lionfish. On second thought...can I change my answer?.

Because Sheepshead are challenging and once you've caught a few big ones...you'll be hooked. Come see why?

Gag Grouper- I think a 60 pound Gag hand cranking would be a true accomplishment. I am not talking electric or trolling with 80 wides...but hand crank a Gag over 60 pounds and you will truly impress those that know anything about these fish(which I do not). I'd rather catch a 60 pound Gag than a Grander Blue Marlin....Seriously.

HOLWACHAGOT

[Tenacious]

Heck, maybe I can accept the gag to be a true accomplishment and I could only hope to catch one myself but one day you will have to convince me that the prisoner fish with a bad set of dentures is on your favorite fish to catch. Sine you can throw up multiple answers I will follow suit.

1st would prob not be a surprise but: Speckletrout on topwater!!!!
2nd would be a sword, b/c it's like pulling up a alien from the deep!!!!

Tenacious
If you can read this PM me for details

[Big Fish Bobby]

offshore - Tuna

[Captain Fred Archer]

Inshore...all flatfish (yum!)

Offshore...I loves my blue, black & white marlins, Atlantic sails, all of the tunas (especially bigeye - wrote a book about that one), of course dorado, makos and threshers - trolling is the best way to catch that last one- and Elvis, the purple people eater, but my fave?? If you know me, you know that it's w-w-w-w-wah-wah-wah...ah, you know!

Some asides:

I learned long ago that sea robins are actually quite good eating - kinda like blowfish (nobody mentioned blowfish as danged good chow????) or kingfish (surf and inshore whiting kinda kingfish, not the toothy things - yuck!). Permit are also very cool fish. They are also members of the pompano family and they are very good eating...don't tell the bug chuckers (fly fishermen with long-billed, funky hats and nice, designer fishing attire!) that I said that. They're mad enough at me for using bonefish as blue marlin bait and I don't need them getting any madder - or one of them might try to slap me with his purse...I mean, shoulder wallet.

[Green Machine]

Originally Posted by Captain Fred Archer

...don't tell the bug chuckers (fly fishermen with long-billed, funky hats and nice, designer fishing attire!) that I said that. They're mad enough at me for using bonefish as blue marlin bait and I don't need them getting any madder - or one of them might try to slap me with his purse...I mean, shoulder wallet.

Hysterical Fred! Some of my best fishing memories are fishing with rooster tails or small rapalas (or - god forbid - floating worms downriver!) around the fly guys in various rivers in the southeast US and having them sneer at me when I caught something. I wish I had the $5K back then to go to Orvis and properly deck myself out. Instead I just caught stuff and had fun.

I agree that sea robins aren't bad at all, you just need big ones to get some decent yield.

[treyfry]

inshore- redfish
offshore- king mac,cobia

[RABBITFISH]

Inside - Speckled Trout
Offshore - Dolphin

I thought that puffer fish were poisonous?

[Captain Fred Archer]

Rabbitfish,

Yes, the blowfish called fugu that is consumed as both sashimi and in many different cooked forms in Japan has a toxic liver that can and does kill more than a few diners in Japan every year. Eta-sans, or sushi masters, have to be specially trained and licensed to prepare them, but still, some don't get it right and the toxin is extremely powerful, fast acting, and I am told, incurable. I have eaten it many times in Japan and even when it's done right, you can usually feel your lips and tongue tingling and getting somewhat numb. My guys used to laugh there asses off when I always said "Dozo (please take it) to whatever Eta-san prepared mine. I told them, "you try it first, and if you don't die, then I'll eat it." I was half joking and half serious. Like all blowfish that I have ever eaten though, it is delicious.

Is the taste worth the risk? Hell no! But it's worth the adventure and if you don't want them little fellers from "The Planet Japan" thinking you're some kind of Nancy-boy, closet Geisha Guy, you damned well better eat it, so I did.

That particular blowfish is a big-azzed model that got well over ten pounds. There were many of them in Cabo and during the spawning season my crew and many others fished for and caught big numbers of them that were sold to buyers who shipped them to Japan and various other Asian points. The boys thought that they were getting great money for them, which they were on a relative basis, but naturally the buyers screwed the hell out of them...each fugu is worth many hundreds of dollars in Japan. No, there was no way in hell that I was going to try to eat those, nor did anyone else!

I was a big game hound and a commercial rod and reeler even back when I was a kid, but I had no problem losing my pride and fishing the bays and surf for blowfish in New Jersey. I don't believe, nor have I ever heard that that species was toxic and people called them "sea squab" back then, as did the many shops that sold them. They truly are wonderful eating.

Cut 'em right behind the head, pull the head and tail down and pull the meat out by hand or with some kind of grippers. Rinse 'em off, then dry and dip them in your favorite batter and deep fry them. You get a solid piece of white meat on the spine, much like a chicken leg, but with only the leg bone in it, the only bone left. You may never eat chicken again!

Just be careful and don't let the little boogers bite ya! Long shank hooks here.