Thread: Sailcat vs. Ladyfish Taste Test! Great or Garbage?

The quest for truth continues...

Cool video. I have tried sailcat and still don't care too much for it. As for the ladyfish, Adam aka VikingGuy posted a recipe in the recipe section where he scrapes the meat off and then makes fish cakes with them. Have heard they are pretty darn tasty that way. One of these days I will buck up and try them.

I'm not a fish snob but I wouldn't touch either of those fish. I love all sorts of fish and will eat blue fish, big croakers, etc that others don't care for, but I'd rather eat cigar minnows than ladyfish I won't eat gaff tops either, too many other good eats in the Gulf to eat catfish. Give me an ice chest full of whiting and call it a day.

n the way back days o my youth my dad reflected that gafftopsail were edible,didn't qualify as good bad or ugly...never mentioned skipjack,,at all,,when in my early 20's I relocated to Alabama I was amazed to see mullet (big uns ,horse mullet in th grocery),,querying dad he replied the locals in florida started feeding them to th yanks,and then started eating em them too,,,well in south texas my experience was not even a coyote would eat em,,maybe cut bait for reds ,,but carp before mullet for me,,,hell its all fish!

Never tried lady fish, but have fun catching them. Tried sail cats and if cleaned well and washed, not terrible. I'm siding a little with AA in the fact there are plenty of good fish in the gulf that you don't have to soak, cover with mayonnaise, drizzle with mustard or disguise its flavor with spices and seasoning to make them edible.

good fishing...

I have noticed that one of the best tasting fish seems to be the one I catch. I've tried dozens of saltwater fish and am rarely unhappy with the result.

My fondness for sailcat is well documented, but I'm ashamed to say that I haven't eaten a skipjack. I will. I saw a big black drum brought over the rail the other day and it came to me that I've never tried BIG drum, myself. I've simply taken the word from other people who have never tried them that they were tough and wormy (spaghetti worms). I get that large fish can be tough, but it's also evident that a lot of fishermen talk about things they don't know, from personal experience. Small black drum are delicious, which is why it's worth looking into.

Here's my assessment of the term "trash fish". It's used, primarily, by guys who can't cook. Sailcats - Excellent table fare. If I'm on the pier and you're catching 'em - I'll take every one of 'em!

Edited to add: When I said that I'd take every one of 'em - That was with the assumption that you didn't want them and you'd offer them to me.

I'm wondering how many of you guys have ever cleaned and fried up fish commonly used for bait? I've tried hardtails and they're not too different from bluefish. Besides that there are: scaled sardines, menhaden, cigar minnows, ballyhoo... I'm trying to think of other baitfish, but drawing a blank. I've tried pinfish. They taste a bit like freshwater bluegills.

I love puppy drum, I bake them with mustard and panko bread crumbs and even my kids who don't like fish inhale it. I tried cooking a big ugly and let me tell you from experience, put those guys back in the water. Cleaning it was pretty disgusting and the meat tasted like chicken. Very tough and I do know how to properly cook lots of different fish. I'd eat it rather than starve... but not soon before.

I don't mind mullet. If I'm able to snag a few I'll fry them up. I like to can fish and I've heard they can very well. I've just never been able to get into enough of them for a batch to can.

Originally Posted by eym_sirius

I'm wondering how many of you guys have ever cleaned and fried up fish commonly used for bait?

I have eaten a few hardtails, thought they were good. I am going to try some little bait mackerel I catch pretty often, Atlantic Chub Mackerel or something similar, after seeing this recipe Braised mackerel with radish (Godeungeo-mujorim) recipe - Maangchi.com

I had menhaden once and they were godawful. So far they are the only fish I can think of that I never plan to eat again.