# Can you eat Bonita



## njmad (Sep 26, 2008)

Are bonita a good eating fish ????


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

"you can live off it, but it tastes like shit!"

-_Crocodile Dundee_


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## davdoc0011 (Nov 13, 2008)

If your a Shark


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Actually I have eaten them twice before and if bled and soaked in ice cold saltwater for a couple hours they taste pretty similar to blackfin. Some don't like blackfin but they aren't much different than a yellowfin IMHO as long as you bleed them just like you would a yellowfin.


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## 26pursuit (Oct 3, 2007)

I've also tried it and if you prepare it correctly (I didn't do it so I'm not sure what exactly to do) then it tastes like tuna


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## one big one (Oct 4, 2007)

There's too many other Great Fish to eat....


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## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

i like em' just fine but it's more of a joke as to why i eat them


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

I believe you'll have to explain yourself a little bit Woods


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## Chris Hood (Mar 13, 2008)

> *The Blue Hoo (12/9/2008)*i like em' just fine but it's more of a joke as to why i eat them


Everything you do is a joke


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## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

> *tunapopper (12/9/2008)*I believe you'll have to explain yourself a little bit Woods


i have a blood fetish








> *Chris Hood (12/9/2008)*
> 
> 
> > *The Blue Hoo (12/9/2008)*i like em' just fine but it's more of a joke as to why i eat them
> ...


your mom is no joke; just ask vecsey


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## truklodyte (Oct 18, 2008)

Bonita and jacks are good so long as you take the time to bleed them out and cut away the blood meat. Like you would on a Tuna fish.

Bleeding them is the easy part as soon as you catch them cut the gills out.But it will attract some other fish ((Sharks))! Also a good fish to eat. So long as prepared correctly.:doh


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## tailfisher (Oct 7, 2007)

I guess they would be pretty good if you didnt have anything else to eat.


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## nextstep (Jun 27, 2008)

> *John B. (10/27/2008)*step #1, fillet fish, skin, cut out blood line
> 
> step #2, get a cast-iron skillet with some vegetable oil real hot,
> 
> ...


truer words were never spoken, from a post a couple of months ago


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## tideline_two (Oct 8, 2007)

i've never eaten a bonita but a guy went fishing with me a couple of years ago and he loved em.(his wife wifekorean maybe she knew something i don"t)on a side note i live in south carolina and you couldn't give a amberjack away here.


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## hjorgan (Sep 30, 2007)

> *i live in south carolina and you couldn't give a amberjack away here.*


*

Wow, AJ is one of my favorites.*


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## Baitcaster (Oct 4, 2007)

I've been meaning to try some bonita salad .


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## P-cola_Native (Feb 5, 2008)

I've never tried it, but I bet I could make sashimi out of it and no one would know the difference. Just use a lot of wasabi.


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## Magic236 (Oct 1, 2007)

NO! and why ask, can't you catch something else? I tried out of curiousity many years back to find a suitable way to prepare bonita and found it is terrible, no mater what you do. I don't even think the Vietnamese like to eat them. Try Remora and let me know, I bet they are pretty good!


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## Fishermon (Oct 19, 2007)

> *njmad (12/9/2008)*Are bonita a good eating fish ????




You have to try it and decide for yourself. I am pretty sure eating habits have changed during the years , even around here. People would tell you "they taste terrible" without even trying some....just beacuse others says so... most locals will not eat them, but some do and won't admit it..why? I'm not sure. Give it a try...its red meat, strong flavor. I have oriental friends and they cook it differet ways (fresh). some of them better than others...its food, it won't kill ya. give it a try en let us know.....now I don't know anything about eating remoras....that thing looks freaky anyways...but a bonita...come on!!!!


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## badazzchef (Oct 1, 2007)

I tried it as sashimi and it tasted like eating something very metallic...say a penny in your mouth...In the end I thought it was terrible...now

Get some highly seasoned water and boil it...flake it and make a tuna salad and I bet it is good. The Japanese dry it and flake it and use it like the Asians that use fish sauce...I believe Kahala eats them and likes them...anyway part of our trashcan buffet we did once and the end result was awful!


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## kahala boy (Oct 1, 2007)

Yes I do Chris..... I make jerky out it also. I only use the Lighter meat. What I do is get my favorite seasonings and mix with olive oil and coat the meat then fry/grill all sides till medium and cut in slices... Like people have said..."it won't kill you" People eat liver don't they?


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## ElJay (Oct 1, 2007)

I eat it and i eat Aj's too. I would make this prediction: if you think catfish or crappie is good eating you most likely will not like Bonita or even an AJ. 

It has a lot of blood rich in iron and copper, bleed it or that taste will come through.I LIKE that taste, but that is me.I eatbonia as sushi, cervicheor oak smoked and a lot of other ways. My family called them bombs as that is what they looked like, we would smoke them and make a caserole with them. Like a canned tuna caserole.

Most of whatfolks eat is 'in the head'. I have served deboned filleted carp without telling folks what they are as freshwater fish and chips and most folks have loved it. Treat that bonita like a blackfin and give it a try.


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## rauber (Oct 10, 2007)

> *ElJay (12/10/2008)* I have served deboned filleted carp without telling folks what they are as freshwater fish and chips and most folks have loved it. Treat that bonita like a blackfin and give it a try.




carp and eel is really high priced here in europe. carp is even a popular christmas dinner...So lets call remoras "lesser cobias" and maybe people will start eating them :letsparty:letsparty


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## ElJay (Oct 1, 2007)

> *rauber
> carp and eel is really high priced here in europe. carp is even a popular christmas dinner...*


*

That is my point, we eat what others tell us is good. Seldom make up our own mind about it. If you grew up being told carp or Bonita is not good, it wont be. At one time lobster was trash fed to prisoners as nobody else thought it was fit to eat: I still think of it as good bait, or bad rubbery big shrimp. Others like to eat it.*


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## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

i dont even know how AJs got pulled into this one. 2 completely different types of fish. different color meats, complete polar opposites when it comes to taste as well.


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## LCMad (Dec 9, 2008)

Camping/fishing on the Kings River outside of Fresno, CA. A buddy caught a nice sized carp and was trying to get it off of his hook to throw back. A little old Vietnamese lady ran up to him just about begging him for the fish. He gladly gave it to her. About an hour - two hours later, she brought us a large platter of fried rice, with the carp in it. It was absolutely delicious, I was very suprised.


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## Hydro Therapy 2 (Sep 11, 2008)

Not me.


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

> *The Blue Hoo (12/10/2008)*i dont even know how AJs got pulled into this one. 2 completely different types of fish. different color meats, complete polar opposites when it comes to taste as well.


I understand that in the Atlantic they (Amberjack) have some type of parasitic worm that makes them very unappetizing and are therfore considered trash fish. Kind of like spaghetti worms in speckled trout except much worse. But thats just what I've heard.


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## Captain Woody Woods (Oct 2, 2007)

> *alanbarck (12/10/2008)*
> 
> 
> > *The Blue Hoo (12/10/2008)*i dont even know how AJs got pulled into this one. 2 completely different types of fish. different color meats, complete polar opposites when it comes to taste as well.
> ...


it's not just the atlantic-plenty of AJs here in the gulf have em' as well. it may as well be superficial though...you just cut em out. no affect on taste whatsoever. i'd say one in every fifty i've seen has em.


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## specslayer (Oct 9, 2007)

yea we caught one a weekend or two ago that had a big one in it like 2 or 3inches long but we just pulled it out....looked like a big one you find in trout. ive heard ones in the atlantic are full of them


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## Travis Gill (Oct 6, 2007)

Red grouper get em bad too


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## seacapt (Oct 1, 2007)

I was stationed in the PI about 30 years ago and had a neighbor that grilled Bonita all the time. It was good but I haven't eaten any since. As far as different people eating (or not eating) the same things as the others in their area...I think that's pretty standard. One area's bait/trash fish is anothers favorite fish fry. AJ's and mullet are two good examples of that, they are both considered trash fish in many areas (possibly more than not) but I like them both if handled/cooked right.

I've cut many a worm (wads of them) out of AJ's as well as afewgrouperand eaten the fish unless they are really ate up with them.


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## reelthrill (Oct 3, 2007)

If you bleed the meat and cut the dark strip out, you can boil the meat and make tuna fish salad out of it. It is not bad. The meat will actually turn from red to a pale white color. In the 70's we ate bonita burgers at Navarre pier every day. They actually sold them in the restaurant for 75 cents.


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## Dylan (Apr 15, 2008)

> *The Blue Hoo (12/10/2008)*i dont even know how AJs got pulled into this one. 2 completely different types of fish. different color meats, complete polar opposites when it comes to taste as well.


I was born in South Carolina and over there the AJs are LOADED with worms...I also agree one the tasting like penny comment refering to bonita sashimi..


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## Capt.Eugene (Nov 28, 2008)

Bonita in the Gulf of Mexico are truly "Tinny Tuna" by name.



BLEED THEM!!!!!



CUT OUT BLOOD MEAT! like all tuna it is more near backbone on the centerline.



DON'T OVERCOOK THEM!!!!!!



use garlic powder directly on meat salt & pepper too

cook 1 inch thick steak fast on hot smokey grill not bad!

same steak blackened with some "Tony's" and butter! 



IF YOU MESS IT UP ITS REAL BAD as in FISHY BLAH!!


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## Bryan Bennett (Dec 29, 2007)

As with anything, regarding taste there is no argument. I have eaten bonita prepared as sashimi and it was very good. It had been bled and brine-soaked and kept chilled, all of which, I am sure, helped. I have never had it prepared in more "traditional" ways.

I find that many people favor fish that are "harder to mess up" than others. Grouper, trigger, wahoo, etc. are all fish that, even if mishandled and not cooked well, still taste pretty good. Some people despise king mackerel, and, when I deck-handed a lot, many folks who had been on charters before wanted me to throw back amberjacks. I think that this kind of thing is a result of improper handling. Kings are oily and have to be well-iced immediately upon capture, and pains must be taken to cut the red out of their meat. Pretty much the same can be said of amberjack.

I tried to prepare some skipjack tuna once in the same manner I do yellowfin. I found the steaks to be "fishy" and had a rather mealy texture. Not real appetizing. But I have some Hawaiian friends who prize skipjacks for food. They cut the head and tail off, gut it, then score the skin with a knife and dust the "plug" with rock salt. Then they grill it whole and swear it is very good.

I guess my point is that any of the "lesser" fish can be eaten and enjoyed as long as they are iced properly, dressed properly, and prepared in a specific way. But if you don't care to deviate from the egg-wash, cornmeal, and peanut oil method, you probably won't like bonita.


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## Capt.Eugene (Nov 28, 2008)

Well wrote Well said!:bowdown'


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## Runned Over (Sep 6, 2008)

I can't even catch them!!! :banghead I was off the beach last Saturday and saw a ton of them (I thought they were Spanish Mackerel) I finally threw my rod down and tried to club them as they came by the F$#@ boat!!!:hoppingmad I need to see if CCC will award his name to the nextnon fish catching ________!!!!! I think I am worthy!!!! :looser


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## Runned Over (Sep 6, 2008)

WOW!!!!

I just realized I'm not a Pinhead anymore!!!!!! or is it pinfish? :doh


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## HIKE (Jul 10, 2008)

i have never really thought about trying it before because everyone says they are not good:banghead the next one i try though is gunna be dinner!


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## need2fish (Oct 2, 2007)

> In the 70's we ate bonita burgers at Navarre pier every day. They actually sold them in the restaurant for 75 cents.


Now that's interesting!


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## DragonSlayer (Nov 2, 2007)

:booNo way am I eating Bonitadan!:moon


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## netboy (Aug 28, 2008)

I had a charter this fall with some guys who worked at a seafood restaurant on the beach. They had a really good sushi chef and we called the restaurants when we got back to the dock and told the sushi chef we had a limit of kings and a bunch of bonita. He was more excited about getting his hands on the bonita! He did his thing pan seared it with salt and pepper so it was still raw on the inside and that was really good eats. I thought he was crazy but I had to try it and I am glad I did. Hell it is in the tuna family!



What he did with the kings was amazing too! Grilled with a mustard sauce and capers...damn!



Tight lines,



Netboy


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## Evensplit (Oct 2, 2007)

> ...So lets call remoras "lesser cobias" and maybe people will start eating them :letsparty:letsparty


Then the NMFS can make a size limit and season for them and then close it to save the species.


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## Capt.Eugene (Nov 28, 2008)

Netboy



Just go's to show that popular belief is not always correct about fish/fishing!!!


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## netboy (Aug 28, 2008)

hey evensplit,



LOL! Remoras creep me out. Not eating one, don't care if it tastes like pecan pie. 





Capt. Eugene:



Yeah, this sushi chef is the real deal. Made a believer outta me.



tight lines,



netboy


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