# Eating Blowtoads



## AndyMc

I'm a Yankee who travels to Emerald Isle to fish every spring. We'll be arriving Saturday. We usually catch enough mullet for a good feed. Last year the mullet were in short supply but we hammered the blow toads and we threw them all back. I have heard that fisherman eat them but I have no idea how to clean them. Is it similiar to how we clean spring bullhead?


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## hokieboy

They are really good eating. Esp if you have some with some size to them. Here is a video posted a while back showing you how to clean them.

http://drumwagon.com/dw-images/toadfish.wmv


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## Espresso

They're not poisonous like sushi blowfish?


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## hengstthomas

hokieboy said:


> They are really good eating. Esp if you have some with some size to them. Here is a video posted a while back showing you how to clean them.
> 
> http://drumwagon.com/dw-images/toadfish.wmv


Great video! I go a step further and remove the backbone then in some lemon for a few minutes and batter then deep fry....Excellent! The little womam hates fish but will eat these no questions.


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## surffshr

Espresso said:


> They're not poisonous like sushi blowfish?


NO different variety.
Nice video thanks.


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## LiteTackleChamp

u can really eat toadfish, or r u guys yanking my chain, i had no idea


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## surffshr

bmcox86 said:


> u can really eat toadfish, or r u guys yanking my chain, i had no idea[/QUOT
> 
> Taste is inversely proportional to looks.


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## Fishman

hokieboy said:


> They are really good eating. Esp if you have some with some size to them. Here is a video posted a while back showing you how to clean them.
> 
> http://drumwagon.com/dw-images/toadfish.wmv


WHAT AN INTRESTING VID  WHAT IS THAT TOLL HE IS USING TO PULL THE MEAT OUT OF THE SKIN WITH?


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## bluerunner

bmcox86 said:


> u can really eat toadfish, or r u guys yanking my chain, i had no idea



blowtoads...not the oyster toadfish otherwise known as mother in law fish.


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## hengstthomas

A stiff fork will work the same..Just give it a bend. 
bmcox86: Nope not yanking your chain !


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## hokieboy

http://drumwagon.com/dw-images/ToadTool.JPG

http://drumwagon.com/

Here are a couple links to his tool. Its a pretty cool tool. He sells them on his site but im sure you could easily make ur own. And bmcox they are good eatin. Very white flaky meat. The ones here are not posionous like the ones in japan. 

Riley.


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## bluerunner

well they can be....its just in the guts. Make sure you don't get into the liver. If you cut right behind the head and stop once you get through the backbone you'll be all right.


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## hengstthomas

bluerunner said:


> well they can be....its just in the guts. Make sure you don't get into the liver. If you cut right behind the head and stop once you get through the backbone you'll be all right.


you may find all kinds of stuff in the "guts" but I doubt poison. These are not poisonous.


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## AL_N_VB

AndyMc said:


> I'm a Yankee who travels to Emerald Isle to fish every spring. We'll be arriving Saturday. We usually catch enough mullet for a good feed. Last year the mullet were in short supply but we hammered the blow toads and we threw them all back. I have heard that fisherman eat them but I have no idea how to clean them. Is it similiar to how we clean spring bullhead?


they are super poisonous!!!!..when ya catch em...and ya see me...make sure I take em off your hook and safely place em in my cooler so I can disspose of them deadly critters!!!!

You'll be doing all the beach goers a service when ya give me all your blow-toads.

The more you catch and give to me ...the better...we want to make sure we wipe out all those filthy chickens of the sea.


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## Drumdum

hengstthomas said:


> you may find all kinds of stuff in the "guts" but I doubt poison. These are not poisonous.


 Not as toxic as others,but they do have toxin.. First time I cleaned them my hands developed a rash from the skin.. I work with chemicals and my hands do get some on there at times,but no problems,blowtoads irritated my hands.. 
Doubt it would kill you,and the flesh isn't toxic,it's dern good eatin...


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## Espresso

bluerunner said:


> blowtoads...not the oyster toadfish otherwise known as mother in law fish.


I've seen toadfish at certain asian markets sold live. Not sure how they are cooked though.


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## cygnus-x1

bmcox86 said:


> u can really eat toadfish, or r u guys yanking my chain, i had no idea


You might be thinking of our oyster toads in the bay. These are blowfish and if you tickle them they blow up like a balloon.

I have seen Oyster Toad tails being sold at a local place in Crisfield but the way they stink when you bring them up I don't think I even want to try them.


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## hengstthomas

Oyster toad ? Oyster cracker ? Same fish? Well if so the back straps are supposed to be excellent...my friend says like lobster but for me I cant get past their slimyness.


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## hokieboy

The oystertoad is not the same as the fish we are referring too. 

This is the nonkeeper

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/ccd/species/images/oystertoad3.jpg

This is the keeper

http://www.fishermansheadquarters.com/images/gifts/blowfish.jpg

Big difference. Make sure your not tryin to eat the wrong one.


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## Slingblades

Great video. It really is that simple. My dad made a tool out of four stainless steel rods that he cleans them with. Last spring we caught around thirty one afternoon, and he had the cleaned in about five minutes.

But they really aren't good to eat. PM me with where to pick up yours, and I will dispose of them properly.


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## fishhead

I ate them a few years ago when they were everywhere in the backbay near the inlet in Ocean City MD ... I used pliers to pull them apart ... like some others said, don't cut into the guts cuz they are nasty and potentially will spoil the meat.

I don't know if I'll do it again unless I'm starving ... it wa a lot of work


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## AL_N_VB

fishhead said:


> I ate them a few years ago when they were everywhere in the backbay near the inlet in Ocean City MD ... I used pliers to pull them apart ... like some others said, don't cut into the guts cuz they are nasty and potentially will spoil the meat.
> 
> I don't know if I'll do it again unless I'm starving ... it wa a lot of work


hmm....closes thing to a drum stick I've ever caught.

FH...make sure ya toss them nasty tastin toads in my cooler, too ...more for me..less for you.


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## bluerunner

we were fishing Ocean Isle Pier in the fall a few years ago my dad was fishing for spot , but I refused to and fished for flounder. A fe blowtoads were coming over the rail, and people started to throw them back. I told everyone to put them in our bucket. When I was cleaning them they realized why when they saw that pretty piece of white meat.


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## Digger

As far as the fork I just bend the two out tongs down and break off the two inner tongs the just follow the instructing in the video. 
Now the Spiney Blowfish is the one to watch out for not our Puffer.


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## hengstthomas

hokieboy said:


> The oystertoad is not the same as the fish we are referring too.
> 
> This is the nonkeeper
> 
> http://www.dnr.sc.gov/ccd/species/images/oystertoad3.jpg
> 
> This is the keeper
> 
> http://www.fishermansheadquarters.com/images/gifts/blowfish.jpg
> 
> Big difference. Make sure your not tryin to eat the wrong one.



That first pic is known as an oyster cracker here and also supposed to be great to eat and to some a delicacy.


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## bluerunner

hengstthomas said:


> That first pic is known as an oyster cracker here and also supposed to be great to eat and to some a delicacy.


i couldn't eat something that slimey....i don't even touch the things and i'm not especially squeamish


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## fishhead

tossed an oyster cracker to a wild cat on a pier in Maine once ... he swallowed it whole ... that about freaked me thinking how sharp it likely felt on the way down


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## Newsjeff

Digger said:


> As far as the fork I just bend the two out tongs down and break off the two inner tongs the just follow the instructing in the video.
> Now the Spiney Blowfish is the one to watch out for not our Puffer.


Digger, I still got that fork in my truck. That's for the help with dat one. 

What's wrong with the spiney?


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## Digger

Some varsities of the spiny are the poisonous ones, and I don't remember which they are. But for the most part they are in much warmer water.


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## ccc6588

Blowfish in Va. (Puffers) are good eating fish in Va. I think the original poster is talking about the ones down in Florida which can be toxic.

My understanding is that they eats some corrals that are toxic.

Blowfish sushi in Japan is a macho type of deal because there is a chance you can die from eating it. 

Sushi chefs trained can ruin their career if one of their clients die eating the sushi.


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## SeaSalt

oyster cracker/toadfish/mother-in-law fish are good eats? I use to consider myself skunked when I only caught those fish on my outings. easy catch on the bases of bridges. this is interesting. I think I'll keep a few next time. 

apparently they are poisonous.

"espite their homely-okay, ugly-appearance, sluggish habit and unpleasant tendency to stiffen their venomous dorsal spines and snap viciously when caught on a hook or in a net, oyster toadfish have other interesting qualities."











Sue Foster says norther puffers are good eats.
"Many people are scared to eat the blowfish because they confuse them with a 
Southern Puffer that can be toxic. The Northern blowfish are non-toxic and 
are often sold as “sea squab” in the North. They are one of my favorite 
species to eat and if I catch one in Ocean City I keep them to eat."
http://www.oysterbaytackle.com/drifting080706.asp


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## Espresso

The toadfish I've seen sold live at the stores are only 6-8". I've seen some caught on the beach that were 12"+.


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## carbine100

Tom, who sells the tool in the vid runs the Drumwagon site and has had a difficult time with some health issues. He is "salt of the earth" kind of guy and has been a great asset to me in my surf fishing education. I don't want to see anyone get hurt bending up forks and highly recommend his tool as far more durable and effective. I buy at least one a year (even though I still use my first one to clean) so as to have a supply for my grandkids when it's time for them to learn how to clean Mr. Toad.


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## lazy fisherman

The Northern puffer is not poisonous if cleaned properly (it's served in restaurants under the name sea squab). Avoid the skin and guts, especially the gonads, as that is where puffer toxins concentrate. Make sure not to confuse it with the Southern puffer, which is toxic to varying degrees. Unfortunately, the two species are hard to distinguish; the best way to ID a Northern puffer is by range. Southern puffers are not found much north of Florida, so any puffer found in S. Carolina or north is almost certainly a reasonably safe Northern puffer.

Oh, and if you start feeling numbness or dizziness when eating puffer, the only thing you can do is stop eating- there's no antidote. Death is generally by paralysis and subsequent suffocation. Have fun.


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## EDMboarder

They are really good eatin, just fried a bunch up for dinner yum yum


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## can't fish today

lazy fisherman said:


> .....
> 
> Oh, and if you start feeling numbness or dizziness when eating puffer, the only thing you can do is stop eating- there's no antidote. Death is generally by paralysis and subsequent suffocation. Have fun.


It's probably still safer to eat than the average McD happy meal.


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## hengstthomas

carbine100 said:


> Tom, who sells the tool in the vid runs the Drumwagon site and has had a difficult time with some health issues. He is "salt of the earth" kind of guy and has been a great asset to me in my surf fishing education. I don't want to see anyone get hurt bending up forks and highly recommend his tool as far more durable and effective. I buy at least one a year (even though I still use my first one to clean) so as to have a supply for my grandkids when it's time for them to learn how to clean Mr. Toad.


Get hurt bending a fork?  
If this were your 1st post I'd sware it was :spam:


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