HACKED BY CYBER-ATTACK - ALPERENBTN

[crab_n_fisher]

Who has honestly not eaten a Jack Crevalle? Through hearsay you've been told it merely "tastes bad," so you threw them back into the water or cut them up for shark bait. But there is a little secret many of us may, or may not, know: many people eat them! Here is the argument with a recipe accompanying it:

http://www.floridasportsman.com/sportfish/jack/S_0112_Eat/#cont

Enjoy!
_________________
"I just got a new fly-fishing rod and reel for my wife. It was the best trade I've ever made!"

[Guest]

What ? When I was a teenager. My Dad brought one back from the coast. He boiled it and fed it to the cat.. You know what happened. The cat turned up his nose and walked away.

If the cat don't like it. I would proceed with caution.

[tyler]

A friend of mine, Jim Bob, was working over in Africa and said he ate them and done medium rare they tasted like tuna.
I will have to try it before I turn my nose up at it.
Folks were telling me that in Venezuela they like King Mackerel better than red snapper. I think they said when they eat fish they want it to taste like fish!

TT

[Oz]

I guess if you are hungry enough, anything will taste good in 10 bowls of marinade and dressing.

An important note though is that unlike Texas where our average Jacks run 15lbs or larger, most of the Jacks they catch in FL and other tropical waters run much smaller.. many are of the "2- to 3-pound fish" like quoted in the article. They have a steady nursery that we just don't see here for Jacks that size. You have to be nuts to prefer a Texas size Jack over a Trout or Red.. much less anything else.

Pass up on the recipe and eat a Whiting.. instead support your local shark fishermen
_________________
- Oz

eXtreme coast international

[rabbit]

Hey oz i was wondering the same thing myself about the size fish he was eating. Or are you just looking for free shark bait?
_________________
Fishing and Kayaking its a rough life but somebody has to do it.

[Oz]

Thats what he wrote in the article.. he cleaned about 6 fish at 2-3lbs. In the end of the 2nd page of the article he later convinces a guy to eat one about 10lbs and the guy (proabably respectfully) said it "wasn't bad" BUT would try to prepare it different than the guy suggested.. LOL!

You never know too.. he may have got Blue Runners mixed up as Jack Crevalles too.

Either way, I'll take a Redfish Fillet any day over a Jack.
_________________
- Oz

eXtreme coast international

[ShawnQ]

Last time we were in Florida (christmas holidays), we went to a local powerplant to see the manatees.

While there, schools of jacks and spotted eagle rays were cruising all over the place (too bad you can't fish!). As I was pointing out the jacks to my g/f, I hear a guy say 'Those things are great to eat!'. I figured that maybe he thought they were pompano, because they were small...2-5lbs max. But, they were jacks...and now I'm wondering if he was correct on his identification also...and I was just ignorant to the fact that they are edible. There was also a big tarpon, 6'+ rolling around/cruising right by the dock...Florida is awesome.

You wont catch me eating a jack...they are too good for bait.

SQ

[Big John]

The small one might be good eating, while the large line-stripping adults along our coast here might not be. I can think of alot of fish were the small ones taste alot better than the big ones.

Ever tagged and ate a bull red in the 40"+ class. Yuck. The meat is drier, tougher, and does not have a very good taste to it. While slot size reds are great!!!

The bigger specks are no where as good as a nice 18 incher.

Freshwater catfish - 14 to 18" long are perfect, whereas those monster blues are nasty.

The list goes on and on...

So I can see where 2-3 lb'ers may very well be good eating. I think you can catch them around the rig pilings in the gulf.

Now some fish, it is just more of a good thing when they are big- like pompano, ling, snapper, permit, spainish mackeral, etc.

Tight lines!!!
_________________
Give a man a fish, feed him for a day.

Teach a man to fish, he'll be broke and hungry the rest of his life!

John Sullivan
Native Corpus Christian
Currently Displaced in San Antonio

[ksjmf]

I don't believe alot of the stories about eating fish like big fish taste bad or certain fish taste fishy, but I did keep a 15lb jack caught around pass cavallo thinking that all the rumors were untrue. I carved 2 nice big fillets of the meat which looked very similar to yellow fin tuna. Stored the fillets in seperate plastic bags. I noticed right away a strange smell coming from the ice chest. Stored the bags in the freezer and noticed that all of a sudden a strange smell was in my freezer (for some reason the smell reminded me of amonia.) I then took them to my folks house to cook. Fried one fillet that i had cut into several pieces and then watched everybodies nose wrinkle at the first bite. There were several forced swallows since we didn't want to waste something harvested from the coast, but midway thru the fish went into the trash can. Burger King sure saved the day on that one. So now my philosophy is jacks are great fun to catch, but are not going to be in my fish box ever again.

[crab_n_fisher]

Tyler,

Growing up, my parents would occassionally order for a couple pizzas. They would get themselves a large pizza with the works -- onions, peppers of various kinds, onions, olives and other "yucky" stuff to us kids. My brothers would always prefer a simple large pepperoni pizza, as did I. When we young ones finished eating ours, sometimes we'd want to get a piece from Mom and Dad's box. As one may imagine, we'd invariably pick all the "junk" off and then eat it -- even though the slice already had the veggie flavor soaked in.....Flash forward 15 or so years and I can tell you this: I really enjoy eating pizza with all the fixings!. It is very good.

Now times have changed. It was common for me to sit in the car in the parking lot of a local Maverick Market, munching a bag of Skittles or Plain Chocolate M&Ms, and tell my Mom, " I am never gonna give up eating candy!" ...Today I eat very little of it!

I guess times change and so do taste buds and/or preferences.

I once thought "exotic", as in foreign, foods exclusively were Italian, Mexican and Chinese. Boy, oh boy, was I ever wrong. Just last month I visited my first Ethiopian food restaurant and ordered the strangest tasting food ever! Who'd have ever thought one's utensil was a giant, rubbery and foul tasting Injera, which was also used as a napkin -- let alone, you were supposed to eat it too? But somehow I didn't dislike eating the food but also didn't come to truly enjoy it....It was the seasoning and the way it was prepared.

- There is a restaurant my parents reguarly like to eat at. It is called Kickapoo's Catfish Hole. One of the kitchen's carefully guarded recipes is one called "Cajun Fried Catfish." At the buffet line it looks like fish dipped into heavily seasoned batter, the color of paprika (dark red), and fried. One bite into this delicious fried fillet and one immediately asks, "Did the sign say Cajun Catfish? It tastes just like chicken tenders with a good Cajun seasoning!" ....And believe me, I've tried my own made-up versions and can not get that wonderful flavor. Who'd ever thought catfish could be made to taste like chicken?!?! (Ohhhh, my cousin can take oyster sauce, chicken thighs and use a secret breading to make the chicken taste very similar to fried oysters.)

- This is my first year to have eaten dove. At first I was shy to even nibble on a tiny sliver of it. I said to my cousin, "you go first!" She did and said it tasted good....(haha, I'm such a gentleman! I believe in "ladies first!") LOL ....I took a deep breath, opened my mouth and took a bite. SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAZAM!!! These feathered flappers taste darn good!


Oz,

Many people confuse Striped Bass with White and Hybrid-Stripers. For me, having fished for 'em over the years, I can easily tell them apart.

Stripers -- long slender bodies with several lateral stripes extending to the tail unbroken.

White Bass -- more of a chunky body with a hump in the back, much like Crappie, and with only one unbroken lateral line extending to the tail.

Hybrid Striper -- A genetically manipulated cross between a Striper and White Bass, having a deep body like that of a White but several unbroken lateral lines extending to the tail.

All are good eating. However, has anyone ever confused a 3 lb Pompano with a baby Jack? Hmmmmm, food for thought! (I probably would confuse the two, not knowing the differences to look for. I guess I should learn to tell 'em apart by taking a bite out of 'em! If I spit the raw fish back out, then I'd know it is for the shark rod!!!)

For those with their 2004-2005 Texas Hunting and Fishing regulation handbook, you'll notice that most lakes and rivers have a White Bass daily bag limit of: (a) minimum of 10" in length, and (b) 25 keepers to take home PER DAY! To the conservationists on this board that number may seem outlandish, but consider these fish grow to about 10" inches in their first year -- a time in which they reach reproductive maturity. Their life span is a mere 3-5 years as well.

To anyone interested in reading further:

The guest who replied to this thread mentioned even his cat having turned up his nose to boiled Jack! Hahaha!...I remember in 1986 my Mom bought a whole case of this new kind of cat food called _Kozy Kitten_...It was so cheap, plus it said "fish flavored...what cat's naturally love!" ....Opening one can stunk so bad it was nauseating...and this is coming from someone who has a strong stomach! The cats did enjoy eating it, even the tiny fish bones that were visible with each spoonful dished out onto a pie tin. One thing we did learn was to not put empty cans in the kitchen trash, but to place them in a trash bag outside. Otherwise, your friends would never enter your home again due to the wretched stench!
_________________
"I just got a new fly-fishing rod and reel for my wife. It was the best trade I've ever made!"

[crab_n_fisher]

Big John,

Speaking of catfish, one may want to view these pictures of an absolute slaughter of 'em on the Brazos River. It's sickening what people will do with the trophy-sized ones. :

http://www.anglerschat.com/_r/showthread/threadid_3955/index.html?s=7817d0613614e6763ed886b7eb100bc5
_________________
"I just got a new fly-fishing rod and reel for my wife. It was the best trade I've ever made!"

[mando]

i eat jacks, skipjack, hardheads, stingrays, dogfish...it all taste like fish to me

[Jolly Roger]

I worked and still do with many people that love bull reds and jacks for food. First thing most Texans think about when eating fish is either fried, BBQ or baked. Well, some take a different outlook to eating fish. Good example is one of my friends father goes to mexico on a regular basis. He brings back candy and what not back with him, and my favorite the BBQ peanuts. On one trip he brings back many pre- packaged, what looked to be fried sardeans. Me being the dumb red neck I am will eat almost anything. Serigo went through about two packages before I finally asked for one, of the very small fish. Luckly we were in the field office when I tried one, and not driving down the road. The taste of it made me to start puking almost instantly. The slime that was cooked into this small little fish was horrible. I puked into a trash can for twenty minutes, while Serigo kept eating the little fish and laughing at me. The leason I learned the hard way was that different parts of the world have different taste for fish. In the US we tend to perfer the fish with the less "fishy taste". But others perfer more fishy taste, and the more the better. So I can believe that some people consider jacks as a good eating fish, no matter the size. Beacuse they perfer the fish taste.

Has anyone ever tried fish head soup. Can not rember the Mexican name, but it is good with almost any fish. I have ate it cooked with jack, reds, hardheads all in one pot, and it was good.

[crab_n_fisher]

Jolly Roger,

I guess you could say my dad is a true blood redneck too. He's eaten rattlesnake, softshell turtle, sucks crawfish heads like Cajuns do, and delights in munching on goat. I've always laughed at hearing all the strange stuff he's eaten, squirming in my chair as he retold his favorite stories about the first time he dined on some "weird" species. Of course, I thought chorizo and chocolate milk were my strangest limits but he was just beyond that and downright crazy!

Three days ago my cousin came home from a local Super Wal-Mart with a package of goat cheese. She put them on crackers and asked if I wanted one. I said, reluctantly, "Um, ok. Why not?" Upon eating the first one I was reaching for another one, as if they were like Lay's potato chips (Bet'cha can't eat just one!). Wanna talk about gooooooood eatin'?

My favorite Cajun restaurant is Razzoos. It was there in the winter of '99 that I first tried fried alligator tail. With a special blend of Cajun seasoning and deep fried just right , I felt like it was food from heaven. So I immediately picked through the combination platter to find any last piece that had been overlooked.
_________________
"I just got a new fly-fishing rod and reel for my wife. It was the best trade I've ever made!"

[crab_n_fisher]

I haven't tried fish head soup! That sounds just too gross to even try! Wait a minute...many people think that of live shrimp! Why, who'd eat these "ugly" critters in the first place? (hehe, let people think what they will...Hand ME that plate of shrimp, buddy 'ole pal !! )
_________________
"I just got a new fly-fishing rod and reel for my wife. It was the best trade I've ever made!"