Had fun with some salty cats. 3 trips and around 20# of filets.
After the third trip, I was sinking fast. They're still biting!
Great job my friend,,,,, ;) looks like you where on them,,,,, :D what gear was you using,,,,, ;D
Why did you keep them? I was always taught that they were all but inedible.
Quote from: akfish on April 05, 2023, 05:23:26 AMWhy did you keep them? I was always taught that they were all but inedible.
Gafftops, or properly, gafftopsail catfish are a fine fish. Not thinking of hardheads are you?
Yeah if you can get past the slime, and the additional slime, and the slime you find after you think you've cleaned it all; they're a mild flavored flaky white fish that's great for frying.
That slime though.
They are ubiquitously known as "sail cats" around here.
Yes, slimy but tasty
Quote from: akfish on April 05, 2023, 05:23:26 AMWhy did you keep them?
Actually, I'm glad to see this question. The gaftop is often confused with the hardhead catfish since the latter is much more common and a nuisance therefore any saltwater cat must be a hardhead. The only use I've had for hardheads is in the crab trap....minus heads.
Many anglers easily confuse either of the saltwater cats as a hardhead. Here's a pretty good example of the differences in appearance. The gaftop is a hard-fighting fish and a bunch of fun on light tackle. Right now, they are spawning. I could probably go get a dozen more today, but I'm worn out. 8)
They are good to eat.....just messy. Aren't kings a little messy, too?
Oh, and here, they have to be 14". No bag limit. Catch what you can physically handle and clean up afterwards.
Quote from: Benni3 on April 05, 2023, 02:42:25 AMwhat gear was you using,,,,,
One is a 9'6" homemade with a 6600C5. The other is an AllStar Gulf Stream with a 209 in case the reds come by. Also alternated an 8'6" Wonderod with a #9 Penn.
I don't like dropping these hooked fish on the ground, so I take them straight to the cooler, still hooked, drop them in, and close the lid. Then, use the spare rig while the hooked fish calms down and can be safely unhooked. One jab from those spines and you're done fishing for a few days. Who's gonna clean fish if you're wounded?
Years ago I caught a sail cat in Florida and this local guy told me they weren't good to eat?I always soak channel cats in salt water overnight and they are great,sometimes muddy tasting if not .
Quote from: jgp12000 on April 08, 2023, 12:24:04 PMthis local guy told me they weren't good to eat
They have a mild taste. Never had to soak them in anything. I've found over many years of being around saltwater fishermen, many dislikes are rooted in what is taught or believed rather than experiences.
Others are influenced by being timebound and not having many opportunities to fish, so they target certain species. Any "bycatch" just eats up the clock....especially if they are paying 300 bucks for a half-day.
Some don't like to handle a slimy fish so it's considered trash just because of that alone. Some only care for the "Big 3", trout, redfish, and flounder so everything else is a nuisance.
I don't like getting covered up in hardhead cats. I'll move around all day trying to get out of those fish. I have a good friend who will sit there and catch/release those all day just because he gets his line pulled.
I'll fill a cooler with whiting and croaker if that's what's going on....and it soon will be. Some won't keep those....."too boney"...."not big enough", etc. They may have never put a croaker on a hook and turned it into a blacktip or a big spec.
I feel the same way about rays as others feel about gaftop. I turn them loose and won't mess with them at all. They're landmines to me. Others have found ways to eat those...and like it. I've never tried rays. Someday I might. So, I too have my own beliefs that are deeply rooted...and possibly mistaken.
It's all good.
Some Florida locals will say barracudas and checkered pufferfish/toadies are trash and or poisonous but they are two of my favorites to eat.
Quote from: thrasher on April 08, 2023, 11:22:36 PMbarracudas
Well, here's an example of what I wrote. I was always told not to eat big barracudas. Problem is, I like fish so I ate it anyway. I'm still here and don't have a twin growing on the side of my neck or anything. That being said, I have since learned of the risks and wouldn't eat another one unless I could see it first. Unfortunate, but that's the way it is.
Gafftop are excellent eating. Congratulations on some good messes of fish.
Baracuda are prone to having Ciguaters which is a neurotoxin they pick up from certain types of algae that has worked its way up the food chain.. Because the algae and herbivorous fish that eat ir have a patchy distribution, the incidence of Ciguaters poisoning is worse in some areas than others.
Puffers and toadfish have their own neurotoxin.
It's Russian Roulette. You can eat them for years and then one day get horribly ill. It takes a long time to recover from a naurotoxin..
Catfish venom hurts like hell and the puncture can easily become infected. But, they are not usually a long term problem. Hardheads may be the worst tasting catfish on earth. They are a lot worse than the muddy taste freshwater catfish can pick up.
Quote from: oc1 on April 10, 2023, 06:47:17 AMBaracuda are prone to having Ciguaters which is a neurotoxin they pick up from certain types of algae that has worked its way up the food chain.. Because the algae and herbivorous fish that eat ir have a patchy distribution, the incidence of Ciguaters poisoning is worse in some areas than others.
Puffers and toadfish have their own neurotoxin.
Yup, how the story usually goes. Not saying to do as I say or to do as I do, suppose I should have stated that.
Years ago I caught a 40lb Amber Jack off the coast of Savannah along with several kings,barracuda,and YT we had a good day.Anywho,I go back home and started cleaning the AJ and it had these long white spaghetti worms,sand worms?I called the local fish markets and they told me it was common with all fish over 10lbs in the grouper family.They pull/cut out what they can and the customer cooks the rest...I am sure I have eaten these worms over the years in restaurants after they have been cooked.It was just the gross factor of watching them crawl down the driveway that made me want to stray away from AJ in the future.
I went back for another round yesterday. Got 15 and a black drum....which was the first scaled fish I've caught in that spot since this adventure began.
Quote from: jgp12000 on April 11, 2023, 12:20:10 PMI am sure I have eaten these worms
Worms. I see these in many fish. Around here, larger black drum seem to have the worst case of them. I don't keep any over 18" or so. I may not keep any during the warm months. The last larger drum I cut into wasn't salvageable. The area above and behind the gut cavity was almost replaced with worms. Normally, I can pinch and pull these out when there are just a few.
nice haul of fish there fo'sure
I think the Gaftop spawn is ending. This is from Friday.
The surf photo shows a very high tide Wednesday at some brush along the dune line. Normally there is about 50-75' of beach there. A surge was predicted but it was difficult to figure how high it would be. This was just the beginning. I turned around and got off the beach. Sometime Thursday night the surf covered the beach to the dunes. Looking at this photo, imagine water about 2 feet deep where you see it is only inches.
Now I have to figure out what this has done to the bars and holes. Life is hard ;).
Went back yesterday and fished the surf most of the day. We had a good north breeze Sunday that pushed the water back. No luck, just hard heads. Not much bait in the water yet. SO I went back to the canal and sure enough, a few gaftop were still around. Also I was pleasantly surprised to land a 36" red. She went back to make more.