# toadfish?



## sharker517 (Jul 11, 2011)

i hear of toadfish every once and a while, mainly as a pest what are they. are they oyster toadfish?


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## Tracker16 (Feb 16, 2009)

Didn't no they were in the bay heard the tails were good to eat though. If you can stand to look at them that is


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## Tracker01 (Apr 4, 2011)

Plants & Trees 
Reptiles & Amphibians 
Oyster Toadfish 
Opsanus tau

The oyster toadfish has a scaleless, flattened body that is olive-brown on top and pale on the belly. Adults have: 

Dark blotches or bars covering the body. 
Fleshy flaps or "whiskers" on the cheeks and jaws. 
Big, bulging eyes on the top of a large, flat head. 
A broad mouth filled with strong, rounded teeth. 
Oyster toadfish usually grow to about 12 inches long. 

Where do oyster toadfish live?

The bottom-dwelling oyster toadfish is abundant throughout the Chesapeake Bay year-round. During most of the year they live among wrecks, debris, vegetation, oyster reefs and rocky or muddy bottoms. In winter, oyster toadfish move to the Bay's deep channels.


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## dcheng01 (Dec 1, 2010)

I saw toadfish live for 7.99 /lb


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

I've caught quite a few shell crackers in the bay including The Tank. They're very good eating and I always keep them. You just skin the like a catfish and pan fry them. They're treated like a red head step child and I see people leaving them lay on pier for no good reason. Yea they're ugly looking to most but so is a raw oyster. Give them a try, you'll be surprised how good they taste.


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## tonymac (Feb 4, 2011)

:d


catman said:


> i've caught quite a few shell crackers in the bay including the tank. They're very good eating and i always keep them. You just skin the like a catfish and pan fry them. They're treated like a red head step child and i see people leaving them lay on pier for no good reason. Yea they're ugly looking to most but so is a raw oyster. Give them a try, you'll be surprised how good they taste.:d


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## hengstthomas (Mar 11, 2006)

Most commonly called an Oyster Cracker but its real name is an Oyster Toadfish .. A Shell Cracker is a FW Panfish more commonly known as a Red Ear Sunfish .
A friend caught the biggest Oyster Cracker I have ever seen and wanted me to fillet it so he could try it .. He now keeps every one he catches or is given because he swears the have a Shrimp/Lobster like taste .


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

hengstthomas said:


> Most commonly called an Oyster Cracker but its real name is an Oyster Toadfish .. A Shell Cracker is a FW Panfish more commonly known as a Red Ear Sunfish .
> A friend caught the biggest Oyster Cracker I have ever seen and wanted me to fillet it so he could try it .. He now keeps every one he catches or is given because he swears the have a Shrimp/Lobster like taste .


Sorry must have had a brain fart. Oyster cracker is what I wanted say.:redface: To me they taste like tilefish which many people say tastes like lobster. At any rate they taste great.


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## Big Rad (May 19, 2003)

You can catch as many as you like at KN. Fishing for some mutant perch we couldn't keep em off our hooks. Now I think I'll have to try em. I like blowfish. I'll keep every one thrown my way. I hope toads taste like em


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## solid7 (Dec 31, 2010)

catman said:


> To me they taste like tilefish which many people say tastes like lobster. At any rate they taste great.


Can't say that I agree with tilefish tasting like lobster. Tilefish is magical, to be sure, but I don't see that. 

But onto the toadfish - I don't ever catch them big enough to keep down here. They are all mouth, able to take a size 2/0 hook with no problem, on a body no bigger than 3-4" OAL. They are what you would call a "gotcha" fish. That is, they snap bait up the second it lands in front of them. Bite first, ask questions later...


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## surfnsam (Apr 28, 2008)

just think of them as mini monk fish or ling cod they are some ugly fish too but very tasty. when i was a kid my dad and i would catch blow fish by the hundreds and throw them back as an annoyance until a guy showed us how to clean one. instead of "damn blowtoads" it was lets eat yum


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## catman (May 28, 2001)

Sorry wrong post.:redface:


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## Tracker16 (Feb 16, 2009)

When I was a kid living in NJ back in the sixties we used to catch Ocrackers and blow fish all the time. We always considered them a PIA fish but now it seems they have some value as a food fish. Thats good I hate to see fish wasted


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## sharker517 (Jul 11, 2011)

thanks i was wondering caught some off herbert c bonner bridge last year i looked at them i thought they look like good eats but was scared got one bout 16in lb and a half maybe looked down saw a mullet head movin, just the head thats what stopped me droped another head down and got it let it go


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## fresh bunker (Jul 9, 2006)

What kind of puffer is this. It wasnt like the usually ones i catch this one had spikes.


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## iamthemud (Sep 1, 2011)

http://drumwagon.com/ and go to the cleaning mr toad video. it shows how to clean the one piece of meat out real easy.


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## markedwards (Jan 29, 2001)

fresh bunker said:


> What kind of puffer is this. It wasnt like the usually ones i catch this one had spikes.


 that is a striped burrfish


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## CoolDude (Sep 28, 2010)

I heard there is not a lot of meat and they are bony.


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