Thread: So I gotta ask....

I don’t want to come off the wrong way, but I would like to know what in the world the Asian fella on the pier is going to with a big cooler full of bait fish. Do they eat em? Make chum for bigger fishing? I can’t figure it out. I gave one guy three gafftops....

I’ve been told they make soup with the small fish. And as for gafftops?…I’ll take em too. They taste just like freshwater cats. Hardheads on the other hand,…yuk.

There are certain ways to cook them... when I was growing up, my mom would put them in a smoking hot wok or skillet and basically char them. The sabiki brigade can be frustrating and confusing, but they're meat fishing and have ways to cook fish that is pretty damn good. I'm half Okinawan, fisherman's stew is/was a comfort food. It's all the parts of a fish that you can't sell with big knots of nori, tofu and bitter melon (when I was growing up it was watermelon rinds because we couldn't find bitter melon.) At athletic events in Japan, they don't eat popcorn, they usually sell cups of small dried fish.

I equate a lot of this to when I used to deer hunt, married to ex2, I'd harvest about 10-15 deer a year because there were family members that couldn't hunt but wanted venison.

Which are DO NOT EAT fish?

For almost every fish when someone says "you can't eat that", someone in a forum says "sure you can" and has a recipe -- even ladyfish, bonito, or rays. Your cooking skill and tastes are also an issue. Fish with toxins or contamination risks like ciguatera or mercury are obviously another story.

Originally Posted by will46r

There are certain ways to cook them... when I was growing up, my mom would put them in a smoking hot wok or skillet and basically char them. The sabiki brigade can be frustrating and confusing, but they're meat fishing and have ways to cook fish that is pretty damn good. I'm half Okinawan, fisherman's stew is/was a comfort food. It's all the parts of a fish that you can't sell with big knots of nori, tofu and bitter melon (when I was growing up it was watermelon rinds because we couldn't find bitter melon.) At athletic events in Japan, they don't eat popcorn, they usually sell cups of small dried fish.

I equate a lot of this to when I used to deer hunt, married to ex2, I'd harvest about 10-15 deer a year because there were family members that couldn't hunt but wanted venison.

I have never heard the term sabiki brigade before. That’s kinda funny. They certainly do pretty good with them, I have never had any luck with a sabiki. I don’t know why, but I must be doing something wrong lol. That stew sounds pretty tasty if you ask me. I have a brother that is stationed on Okinawa with the USMC, and he loves it out there.

Originally Posted by midwestexile

Which are DO NOT EAT fish?

For almost every fish when someone says "you can't eat that", someone in a forum says "sure you can" and has a recipe -- even ladyfish, bonito, or rays. Your cooking skill and tastes are also an issue. Fish with toxins or contamination risks like ciguatera or mercury are obviously another story.

I have been reading through that thread. It’s interesting, but man some of that stuff I don’t know about. Like eating the shark suckers, that doesn’t sound healthy/appetizing at all.

Originally Posted by SteveH

I’ve been told they make soup with the small fish. And as for gafftops?…I’ll take em too. They taste just like freshwater cats. Hardheads on the other hand,…yuk.

Gafftops are edible? That’s not a fish I would have considered eating.

Another question, one guy was using this big lure/jig thing, it looked like a big weight with metal rods coming out of it, and what looked like to me, white plastic bag on it. He was jigging it up and down. Any idea what that is?

That sounds like a hard body squid jig...

Yep that’s it. I didn’t realize there was squid off the pier?

Originally Posted by ReelFishing

Yep that’s it. I didn’t realize there was squid off the pier?

Octopus too. Those are realllllyyy fun to unhook