# Salt Water Catfish!



## Vinnx

I went fishing with a bud yesterday and told me he throws back all the catfish he catches, I laughed and said I keep all mine lol. I personally find both the Hardhead and Gafftopsail make for a VERY tasty fried fish!

They're both not very regulated and seem to be caught everywhere, what do you guys do with em?


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## Charlie2

If I want a mess of catfish, I just treat them the same as I do for a Freshwater Catfish. Clean them and fry them with hushpuppies, cole slaw and some baked beans. Wash them down with some good cold sweet tea. Yum Yum!

A funny thing: When you want a Catfish, they're scarce  ; usually they're all over the place. JMHO C2


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## Sand Dollar

I actually had friends who would keep the saltwater cats and they said they tasted very good. I never ate it myself but they swore to it. As a matter of fact, they also kept all cats, ladyfish and especially Jacks. The Jacks were filet and soaked in milk.........:beer:


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## Vinnx

I haven't had Jacks, but if I caught one I'd probably try it, if they were soaked in milk are they a strong tasting fish? A tip for Catfish tho, you can wash the slime off using vinegar with a little water, I like to have a bowl with some vinegar n water and just rise the fish off in there before I get to cutting it open. Changing the water every so often when it gets too dirty.


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## Dadfish

I filet Jack, then smoke them..Once they are smoked, I mix the meat with mayo and a touch of horseradish for an awesome fish dip..


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## solid7

I don't go near jacks, because they are one of the top fish that poses a ciguatera (ciguatoxin) risk. Lots of people eat them, (especially the poorer folk) and that's fine, but I have no urge to convulse uncontrollably whilst ****ting myself.

Now, as for the catfish... I have tried them both, and I literally can't understand how ANYONE can consider saltwater cats palatable, even in the least. For me, that's purely survival food, and I'd have a hard time choking it down, even then. The sail tops are better than the hard heads, but still just purely horrible. Shame, too, because they filet out so nice, with very little waste. Texture is pleasant, but they have a very strange aftertaste...

I have had these buggers fried, sauteed, and smoked. The dog ended up eating every preparation of them. I'm not a picky fish eater - I love just about any kind of fish. Not these things. No way.


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## Vinnx

Now that's an interesting toxin, didn't know there was such danger around reef fish till you brought it up. Guess I'll try to stay away from certain fish if I ever encounter them. 

I wonder if you had Catfish from the breeding season in the summer.. I hear around that time they're meat get's bad tasting from lack of eating properly or something.. I don't recall ever having fish from that season nor having Gaffs that tasted bad lol.


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## NC KingFisher

Jacks also have bloody red meat and parasites......good shark bait though


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## solid7

NC KingFisher said:


> Jacks also have bloody red meat and parasites......good shark bait though


I don't know about parasites, but as for the meat, it's only when they are older. Young jacks have white meat. (although they are still very bloody) They don't get nasty and brown until they hit a few pounds.

I consider crevalle jacks to be just about the ultimate cut bait. Blues can't resist them. Of course, neither can other jacks...


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## Vinnx

I've been wondering, won't larger Reef fish have a more concentrated amount of the Toxin in them, kinda like Mercury? So would certain sizes of particular species be considered safe, or is it best to just ignore all together?

It's actually kinda scary.. there's some articles on the web of people eating Grouper or Red Snapper at restaurants and catching the stuff


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## solid7

Vinnx said:


> I've been wondering, won't larger Reef fish have a more concentrated amount of the Toxin in them, kinda like Mercury? So would certain sizes of particular species be considered safe, or is it best to just ignore all together?


Yes, this is correct. However, smaller fish are generally considered "eat at your own risk", while in certain species, the larger fish are "never eat under any circumstances". (Great Barracuda, for example) There is no jack of any size, in my opinion, worth a neurological illness.

Yes, snapper are affected, as are hogfish, amberjacks, parrotfish etc. This is considered to be extremely problematic, particularly in fish from Caribbean waters.


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## Sand Dollar

I was in Mexico fishing and the guide siad his favorite fish was Barracuda. I mentioned the toxins you can get form eating the fish and he said the best way to tell if it has toxins is to taste the liver. If it tasted like acid it was no good, however if it tasted sweet the it went in the cooler..........Ummmm ..No thanks dude!!!


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## Vinnx

So each Barracuda they catch they have to kill it before they can determine if it eatable? Do they taste the liver while it's still raw.. or lick it.. or cook it.. can you use a pH strip if it's acidic? lol


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## solid7

Vinnx said:


> So each Barracuda they catch they have to kill it before they can determine if it eatable? Do they taste the liver while it's still raw.. or lick it.. or cook it.. can you use a pH strip if it's acidic? lol


All witchcraft aside, there is absolutely no test in existence that will tell you whether or not you have a toxic fish, unless you are willing to wait 2-3 days for the result. Of course, that's if you believe in all that modern day scientific bull****... Anyone that wants to be a liver licker, God bless you. Many of us know that if anything in a fish is going to be toxic, the liver is one of the most likely targets. (i.e. - puffer fish) Not sure how safe or smart putting your mouth on a blood filtering organ to test for toxins, but that's the beauty of life... We all get to make our own choices, and live (or die) with them.


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## wylie

Ive heard they throw some to local cats ,if cats eat it its okay. But I will pass on that. They say barracuda is deliciousbut I doubt I will ever try it .


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## Vinnx

I've had barracuda once in my entire life when I was prolly 7 or 8.. all I remember is that it was delicious. For me to remember how delicious a fish was 14 yrs ago.. it must of been pretty dam amazing lol.


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## solid7

solid7 said:


> All witchcraft aside, there is absolutely no test in existence that will tell you whether or not you have a toxic fish, unless you are willing to wait 2-3 days for the result.


It appears that I was wrong about this. There were several tests available, and it seems the minimum wait time for a result is about 1 hour. However, I also notice that at least 2 of the 3 tests I found referenced are no longer available. (???)

These tests are apparently quite common in the Caribbean.


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## Vinnx

solid7 said:


> It appears that I was wrong about this. There were several tests available, and it seems the minimum wait time for a result is about 1 hour. However, I also notice that at least 2 of the 3 tests I found referenced are no longer available. (???)
> 
> These tests are apparently quite common in the Caribbean.


Would you mind sharing the tests you found? I'm just kind of curious


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## solid7

Vinnx - before I do that, consider this: (it is an excerpted quote from a bulleting issued by a Florida Disease Control Agency)



> 4. LABORATORY TESTING
> A. Criteria for diagnosis
> Laboratory testing to detect ciguatoxins in humans is not currently available. The case definition requires that confirmed cases have an exposure history, which includes fish consumption with an onset of symptoms within 24 hours of exposure.
> B. Laboratory services available
> The FL-DOH Bureau of Laboratories does not provide ciguatoxin testing. Fish testing is available at the FDA Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory in Dauphin Island, Alabama and is strongly encouraged in the event remnant fish samples are available. Contact your Regional Environmental Epidemiologist who can advise on food sample collection and shipping to FDA.
> Commercially available ciguatera testing kits have been found to be unreliable in evaluating fish for the presence of ciguatoxins. FL-DOH, CDC, and FDA do not recommend the use of these kits for testing.




And this, which may partially explain why at least one of the test kits that I found has been withdrawn from the retail market:

http://hawaiiskindiver.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7867


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## solid7

The one that was withdrawn is Cigua-Check.... The website says that it is no longer available.


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## solid7

Sorry, I have a post missing that is "awaiting moderator approval"...


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## Vinnx

Its cool.. been Googling it a bit, it seems there's some truth to using cats as test subjects. Apparently they're a little more sensitive to the Toxin vs Humans, seems a little cruel tho....


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## solid7

Gotta be careful what you believe coming from the Islands. Those are some very superstitious people, and what they believe isn't always reproducible here on the mainland.


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