# What fish do you consider edible and which aren't?



## skullworks (Oct 2, 2007)

I was just curious as to what you all consider good table fare vs not fit for the cat. My son has some saltwater fish books and we fish a couple of times a summer. His book lists almost all the fish as being good to eat. Just wanted some other opinions since we are pretty new at it. thanks!


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## Fish Happens (Oct 21, 2007)

I'm always a sucker for Scamp, Wahoo, Cobia, Flounder. Those are prob my favorites.



I'm not really a big fan of King (love to catch, just not eat). I dont really care for Blue fish either. A buddy of mine loves them but I still dont see the appeal.


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## jaughtman (Apr 15, 2008)

I will forgoe the "normally accepted" fish such as snapper, cobia, specks, reds, etc. and give you a couple that a lot of people consider "on the border" but are pretty good actually: Croaker (I am not joking!), whiting (perhaps the most underated fish in the surf), and triggerfish (more and more people are keeping/eating them however since snapper limits are so low) - althoug the triggerfish you are not likely to catch just casually fishing a couple of times per year (mostly offshore).


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## Sharkbait410 (Dec 4, 2007)

Pompano is at the top of my list.Grouper, Cobia Followed by Speckled Trout, Flounder, Redfish, Mullet just about all the deeper species, more of the popular ones anyway.Triggerfish, Amberjack, Snapper and so on.The List is probably shorter with what isn't considered good table fair. No catfish if I can help it. However Gaffstop sail cat isn't really all that bad. I don't care for the hard head catfish as some call them, But you might want to check With Todd in the Bay on that. He has swallowed many a hard head catfish and has somewhat developed a taste for them. Or so he say he has. There's a lot to pick from out there But here's a few of my favorites anyway.


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## RiverGulfFshr (Oct 2, 2007)

Not gonna go with the norm salt water species b/c it's all pretty good. As a regularhappening, we like getting the ole grease hot and frying flathead or channel cats, crappie and/or mullet(freshwater). Call me a bottom feeder eater or maybe just the county in me but I will deff be loving every minute of picken bones and drinking beer:letsdrink


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## JoeZ (Sep 30, 2007)

Bluefish does not suck that bad despite most people's opinions of them.


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## Turbow (Mar 7, 2008)

> *jaughtman (4/15/2008)*I will forgoe the "normally accepted" fish such as snapper, cobia, specks, reds, etc. and give you a couple that a lot of people consider "on the border" but are pretty good actually: Croaker (I am not joking!), whiting (perhaps the most underated fish in the surf), and triggerfish (more and more people are keeping/eating them however since snapper limits are so low) - althoug the triggerfish you are not likely to catch just casually fishing a couple of times per year (mostly offshore).


I second the croaker and whiting.


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## Brad King (Sep 30, 2007)

Sheepshead and Black Drum are good eatin' as well. Also Spanish Mackerel.

Capt. Buz on the GAMBLER once told me if you season up old shoe leather right it taste good. I guess that means it's all good to eat, depending on your taste and how you prepare it.

Well, except maybe for ladyfish:doh

:letsdrink


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## Death From Above (Sep 28, 2007)

> *JoeZ (4/15/2008)*Bluefish does not suck that bad despite most people's opinions of them.


Give us a good recipe. I've tried every method and they taste like crap.


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## onoahi (Oct 5, 2007)

BLUEFISH-Put it in ice cold(almost slush) water the second you filet it. Leave it in the ice bath for about 20 min, should remove a good amount of blood. Marinate it in scampi sauce(i.e. lemon butter) and grill. Not restaurnat worthy, but better than King. 

Lots of people(most?) hate BFT. I've had frozen and I'd rather drink a gallon of horse piss. However, I've had it very fresh and bled properly and I liked it. I was expecting to hate it and went in w/ a bad attitude, but is very good imo.


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## Brad King (Sep 30, 2007)

Thats awesome, a guy with wahoo and tuna as a screen name has a great recipe for bluefish.oke

I am going to give it a try. I have never even thought about eating a blue. Doesn't sound to bad!!


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## Shiznik (Feb 24, 2008)

I was born in Pensacola and grew up on the GOM. When I lived in Cape Hatteras and Virginia Bch, Va. people there didn't eat Mullet, but they all ate Bluefish. Mind you, they have some "big" Bluefish in the Atlantic. After living in that area, I learned to eat it also. I now live back down here in the Panhandle and I have to say that I can eat just about everything in the GOM. As far as the Bluefish, I fillet it, skin it, bone it out, split the fillet down the center and remove "all" of the bloodlinecompletely, don't even leave a spec of it. After rinsing the fillets, I take milk, fresh garlic and fresh lemon juice, black pepper ans salt. I mix all of that together, keeping in mind to make sure your seasonings and garlic are pretty heavy in it. I soak the fillets overnight, making sure they are completely submerged. I then make my breading with a 70% AP flour and 30% yellow corn meal, garlic powder, onion powder, Lawry's seasoning salt, Old Bay, salt and pepper. I put my breading into a double lined plastic bag and mix it all together, keeping in mind to have my seasonings pretty generous. I drain the milk mixture from the fillets that were soaking overnight. I take a few rew eggs and whisk them together. I pour this over the fillets and make sure they are all covered with the eggs. Then I heat up my grease and hope that the homemade potato salad, baked beans and huspuppies are ready to go! These fillets will go very quickly when they come out of the grease so I hope you catch a lot of them. They will be a big hit! Oh, don't forget to have fresh lomon wedges, cocktail and tarter sauce to go with them!


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## kahala boy (Oct 1, 2007)

Lot of people are gonna jump on me for this but you did ask what was edible. Besides all the "normal" fish, I like hardtails. clean the gills and guts out and sprinkle a little flour on it and deep fry till the tail is extra crispy (ready to snap in half). Meat is white and dip in soy sauce and lemon juice. I think it's pretty good...I always say, don't knock it if you haven't tried it. Just because "grandpa" didn't like it..........When I was growing up in Hawaii, we threw the flounder back!!!!:banghead not now though....:letsdrink


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## JoeZ (Sep 30, 2007)

The two blue recipes are above are good.

I like fried bluefish, it's good but not great.

I also love making ceviche.

Take a pile of limes (10 or so) and a few lemons (2 or 3, strong flavor) and juice them really good. Put the fish in the juice and add green onion, finely diced red and green peppers, a little jalepeno, lots of garlic and anything else you think you might like. I also have added avacado, kiwi, corn and black beans at times too.

Let it soak for 45 minutes or so and make fish tacos or just dip it with corn chips. The citric acid will cook it for you so no, it's not raw. it's a good cover up recipe for fish that doesn't generally taste that great.


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## Brad King (Sep 30, 2007)

Been looking for a good Ceviche' recipe...Thanks Joe Z


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## Wharf Rat (Sep 27, 2007)

> *JoeZ (4/15/2008)*The two blue recipes are above are good.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Do you chop the fish up before you mix in the other ingredients or what?


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## JoeZ (Sep 30, 2007)

Yeah, sorry.

If you're going to dip it, chop it to bite-sizepieces, for tacos you can go bigger. Most def get all the bloodline out. You don't get a ton of meat off most blues but there's so much other stuff in the ceviche recipe that is just as filling.


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## pappastratos (Oct 9, 2007)

Well, I hate catching stuff I can not eat, like catfish & those wierd sucker-head fish you see attached to sharks ! my favorite are snapper, mackerel, reds,


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## Play'N Hooky Too (Sep 29, 2007)

I have fished on the gulf coast nearly all of my life and have never heard of anyone who admitted to eating a hard-head catfish. Never tried one myself. I have known many people of various ethnic persuasions and economic dispositions who were inclined toeat just about anything they caught andeven theydidn't consider them edible.So I have always considered them to be well established in the non-edible category. If this is not the case please advise.


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## Fishman420 (Apr 11, 2008)

Ima hafta let Todd in the bay get that one.


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## bonita dan (Oct 3, 2007)

Bottom bumping,mingo,scamp,gag,basically any grouperand trigger are some of the best down there. On the troll,dolphin and wahoo. In and around the bay and pass and along the beach,sheepshead,flounder,spaniards and cobia. Oh weedlines,tripletail is a tasty critter. Personally I'm not that big a fan of the trouts but they do put up a nice fight on light tackle but thats just my taste buds talkin. Bad eatin fish,well that depends on your taste buds and prep method. People will just about eat anything,eels,gar,croaker,etc,etc,etc, heck maybe even a toadfish but I ain't goin there:sick Notice I haven't included tuna in this catagory cause everyone knows tuna is a great fish to munch on except of course the ever elusive BoBo:boo They are however an excellant choice for bait. Sure I missed a bunch but now I'm hungry,thanks!


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## Boatjob1 (Oct 2, 2007)

<TABLE borderColor=#000066 height=100 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=625 align=center bgColor=#ffffff border=1><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=625 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>







</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><MAP name=Map><AREA shape=RECT target=_blank alt="LSU AgCenter" coords=13,18,96,69 href="http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/"><AREA shape=RECT target=_blank alt="Louisiana Sea Grant" coords=114,9,202,69 href="http://www.laseagrant.org"></MAP><MAP name=Map2><AREA shape=RECT alt="Louisiana Fisheries" coords=43,18,159,65 href="../../index.html"></MAP><MAP name=Map2Map><AREA shape=RECT alt="Louisiana Fisheries" coords=0,18,210,65 href="../../index.html"></MAP><TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=625 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><BLOCKQUOTE>

Home *>* Biological Info* >** Sea Catfish*<P align=left>*







*</BLOCKQUOTE><TABLE cellSpacing=5 cellPadding=5 width="90%" align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2><DIV align=center>

*







*</DIV></TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width="28%"><DIV align=right>*Scientific Name: *</DIV></TD><TD vAlign=top width="72%">_Arius felis _</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><DIV align=right>*Common Names:<SPAN class=speciallink> *</DIV></TD><TD vAlign=top>Sea Cat, Tourist Trout </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><DIV align=right>*Range & Habitat:*</DIV></TD><TD vAlign=top>Gulfwide, in all nearshore waters and saline and brackish estuarine waters. It is also occasionally found in fresh water. It tends to move from shallower to deeper waters in the winter months. </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><DIV align=right>*Identification & Biology:*</DIV></TD><TD vAlign=top>The hardhead catfish is colored dirty gray with a white underside. No scales are present on the skin. Four barbels are found under the chin and two more at the corners of the mouth. It does not have the elongated extensions on the dorsal and pectoral fins that the gafftopsail catfish has. The hardhead catfish has hard, sharp, venomous spines in its dorsal and pectoral fins and should be handled with care. 

Hardhead catfish eat virtually anything, including algae, pieces of plants, worms, snails, clams, microscopic zooplankton, marine shrimp, grass shrimp, blue crabs, mud crabs, insects, spiders, small fish, smaller hardhead catfish, hermit crabs, fish bones, mud, sand, and even scales actively taken from living fish. Because they are so common, it is often assumed that they produce a lot of eggs. Actually, each female produces only 14 to 64 mature eggs each season. After the male fertilizes the eggs, he holds them in his mouth until they hatch, and for a time thereafter. Spawning takes place from May to September in shallow marine bays and lakes.</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><DIV align=right>*Size:*</DIV></TD><TD vAlign=top>Usually 1 pound or less, but may reach 3 pounds. </TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top><DIV align=right>*Food Value:*</DIV></TD><TD vAlign=top>Seldom eaten, but it is very good table fare, better than the gafftopsail catfish.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


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## Boatjob1 (Oct 2, 2007)

I found the above, had to post it, and still find it extreemly hard to believe, but, u no dem cooonazz yea.............


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## dailysaw (Jan 22, 2008)

Would you or do you eat gulf salt watercat fish? Anyone! I love freshwater cats. always ben told salt water ones are not edible.


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## yucarenow (Oct 3, 2007)

too many other great fish in the gulf to mess with hardhead catfish.....go to joe patti's if you are THAT hungry for fish!


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## Death From Above (Sep 28, 2007)

Anybody ever tried deep fried cigar minnows?


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## Wharf Rat (Sep 27, 2007)

> *Death From Above (4/15/2008)*Anybody ever tried deep fried cigar minnows?




I like to shove a popsicle stick down their throat, dip em in batter and fry em...kinda a like a corn dog.


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## Castaway (Oct 26, 2007)

How about this!!










oke


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## Death From Above (Sep 28, 2007)

That's what I'm talking about.Fried cigs are the bomb!!


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## Play'N Hooky Too (Sep 29, 2007)

Hell, just because the redfish ain't biting why let all that good bait go to waste. After you're done you can use the toothpick to get the little scales out from between your teeth.:letsdrink


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## seafox (Mar 25, 2008)

Just curious,

but has anyone on here ever tried a remora, you know the fish on the underside of a shark?


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

we once had a fish fry on the end of the pier one time... cooking kings, spanish, and any thing else that came over the rail...

i filleted about 3 hardtails, fried 'em up, and passed them out to a few unknowing fishermen... they liked it... until i told them what it was...

so the way i figure it.... mind over matter, if you don't mind, it don't matter.


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

I cant believe this thread has gotten to 2 pages and no one praised the almighty redfish. I'm not a big fan myself. I had a comparison a few weeks ago with reds and trout and MUCH preferred the trout.

As for the croaker, anyone that catches them... Pass em to me. UM UMMY!:letsparty


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## Deeplines (Sep 28, 2007)

Well, once you are looking for edible I will post my FAVORITE. 

THE RUBY RED LIPS. BETTER THEN CRAPPIE IN MY OPINION. :hungry

Of course I like the MAIN ones: snapper, all the grouper, flounder, mingo and such. 

The off the wall fish I do like though are the White Trout, Ground mullet (Southern Kingfish), SPAINISH (Fresh ONLY), and speck trout ( not over 3 days old)

A TRIGGER samich is my favorite samich though, even over grouper. 

Some of my LEAST favorites that folks talk so much about are:

LOVE the KING MACK BALLS and make poor man lobster out of it.


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## Tuna Man (Oct 2, 2007)

There are so many fish/seafood choices out there that are great butI cull through them. I only eat what I would order at a restaurant.

My list in order of choices.....

Clams/Bay Scallops (the real thing)

Crappie, Bream if filleted

Cold water white, firm, flaky fish such as Cod.

Crabs

Crawfish (as in mud puppies)

Smoked fish.

Escargot

After those, the traditional table fare seafood. Tuna, Snapper, Grouper, Sheephead, Redfish,etc. I haven't mentioned Murph's favorite because I've never had any....Triggerfish.

After those...anything I keep I'll eat, otherwise in they go back or given away.

Things I DON'T eat...Catfish, Gar, Buffalo, bait fish of any sort...Why bother with so many GOOD fish. But thats my taste in seafood. Notice that no mention of Shrimp or Lobster...Living in Miami I got burned out on them, although I will eat them I won't and never order them.

Eat what you like and like what you eat!!!!!

By the way....ANYTHING fed to a cat, is just a waste.


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## Hangout (Sep 28, 2007)

I've eaten fried ribbonfish. It was the lunch special at the Point on day back in the early 70's. Trust me, it was dreadful. 

Also, I overheard 2 charter captains on the radio discussing eating Jack Crevalle. One said to cut the shoulder out and maranade it in Thousand Island dressing then grill it. Said it tasted like steak. The other guy replied and asked if he meant Italian dressing but thecaptain replied no, Thousand Island. I alway figured they knew people were listening in and were pulling our legs, but who knows.


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## PaleRed (Oct 2, 2007)

This is incredible! I can't believe some of the fish that have been eaten on a regular basis. Especially any type of saltwater cat....

I have wondered about some fish, pinfish, croaker, and maybe that is what has driven some of the taste tests. There are way to many good fish out there to catchinstead of eating bluefish, black drum(don't forget to cut out the worms:sick), catfish. You guys eat what you want, I'll try itonce(and have, except the saltwater catfish), but thatsit. 

Its allin how you prepare it,for instance, you could make alizard fishtaste good if you rapped it in bacon and marinated it in some special sauce for 48hrs. "Get the greese hot! I got a stringer full of big fat toad fish!"


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## reelthrill (Oct 3, 2007)

Believe it or not, you can cut the black meat out of a bonita and boil the remaining meat. It will turn a whitish color and can be used for any of your canned tuna recipes. In the 1970's, Navarre pier restaurant served a bonita burger with all the trimmings for .75 cents. I lived off of them!


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## maxcyr65 (Apr 5, 2008)

ill eat damn near any saltwater fish i catch


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## NoMoSurf (Oct 2, 2007)

So many talk bad about croaker and why eat them when there are so many other "good" fish. There have been many times that I have been down to the coast for a week and only caught croakers and cats. I like the croaks, but wont try the cats for one reason. One night I killed about 50 of them and threw them back. Thge next day, they had washed up on the beach and even the crabs hadn't touched em. If a crab wont eat it, then....DAMN! It MUST be bad!


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## MR.STAAL (Oct 22, 2007)

i love swordfish, cobia, red, pompano, trout, dorado, grouper, amberjack





kings, spanish, ladyfish,bonita,white trout, lizardfish and catfish are trash:hotsun


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

> *MR.STAAL (4/16/2008)*i love swordfish, cobia, red, pompano, trout, dorado, grouper, amberjack
> 
> 
> kings, spanish, ladyfish,bonita,white trout, lizardfish and catfish are trash:hotsun


you know you've eaten kings before and liked it.

and white trout aren't bad either.


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## eddy2419 (Oct 28, 2007)

Fried barracuda is really good. Fried up one we caught of a rig a few years ago. Since there are no corral reefs around there is no danger of poisoning from them. It is very mild and white. Reminds me of trigger fish. It would probably be good anyway it was cooked. See quite a bit of it served in the Carribbean.


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## skullworks (Oct 2, 2007)

We've had redfish, spanish, king and blue fish. Red on the grill. The others cut into nuggets and fried. They were all pretty good. Thanks for all the input so far!


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