I am working my way down a short list of non-traditional "rough" fish that I have yet to try. Dogfish/bowfin has always been one of them that I simply did not have the gonads to try. This summer I resolve to fix that issue. Next small/med one I catch from a clean inland lake is coming home. Anyone here ACTUALLY ATE ONE?..here say and eating the board or rock type recipes are not needed. Spent my whole life hearing too many of them that I have proven WRONG by actually stepping out of the bluegill/perch/walleye zone to actually believe such nonsense.
Sheepshead is a firm white meat. Years ago my brother made a fish soup with a couple. Everybody there liked it, even the people that "hate" fish. Just fried it was rubbery with little flavor. Think tofu. If you want to try, treat like you would white bass, keep alive until you are ready to eat and remove ALL the red meat. For everybody else, catfish and white bass are yucky - throw them back (so I can eat them).
I like burbot, catfish, rock bass, lake trout, but have never tried bowfin, don't catch em much anymore to even think to try. I tried a big sheepshead last year and wast impressed. I think I tried to grill it, it certainly was white and firm flesh, but ended up rubbery and flavorless, such as described before sorry like firm tofu
i suggest not trying bowfin. had the same thought a few years back, did a little research and found someone say that before trying bowfin, take a cotton ball, dip it in a mud puddle and eat it. if you like that you'll like bowfin. I was skeptical so I still tried cooking up some bowfin and yep...tasted like mud. let us know if you think it tastes better!
Thanks for the insights folks......I am determined to give r a whirl. I will keep it alive til I get home, bleed it out in water for a few minutes, bonk it and then fillet it removing the lateral line and anything dark, give it an overnight soak and see. Worst thing that can happen is I spit it out or vomit right? Carp out of a spring fed gravel pit tasted better than I ever imagined, so the loss of my cookies is really the only thing at stake right? I eat catfish and sheepshead all the time from clean water too and like it...so what the hey, nothing ventured........
Sheepshead is a firm white meat. Years ago my brother made a fish soup with a couple. Everybody there liked it, even the people that "hate" fish. Just fried it was rubbery with little flavor. Think tofu. If you want to try, treat like you would white bass, keep alive until you are ready to eat and remove ALL the red meat. For everybody else, catfish and white bass are yucky - throw them back (so I can eat them).
I deep fry sheephead often, the trick I have found is to keep the pieces really small, like half the size of a bic lighter small. I will "double" fillet the medium sized ones to make this possible. The big ol beasties go back, been there done that and when they get over 4-5 lbs something weird happens to their taste, not terrible, but not as good either.
i suggest not trying bowfin. had the same thought a few years back, did a little research and found someone say that before trying bowfin, take a cotton ball, dip it in a mud puddle and eat it. if you like that you'll like bowfin. I was skeptical so I still tried cooking up some bowfin and yep...tasted like mud. let us know if you think it tastes better!
I have "heard" the EXACT same thing about bullheads. I have ate them my whole life and know it's false. It's all about where you catch them and how you clean them with bullheads. Had a mess of big ol yeller bullheads the other night in fact............sweet and yummy with a little lemon pepper seasoning and a coating of frymagic. Not quite as good as brown bulls but close. I used to have a place to catch big ol black bulls from gin clear water too, they were fine eating also. I quit fishing that spot for 20+ years because of life obligations and now they are all stunted but they make great flathead kitty bait. Maybe if I keep enough of them for bait eventually the big ones will happen again.
I have ate more channel cats than all the other fish combined likely. I really really like channel cats especially after they swim around in my 1500 gallon stock tank full of cold well water for a week or so. I used to only have nights available for fishing so that's what I learned to love. I have an 18 foot mod v flatbottom dedicated to the pursuit of the mighty channel kitty in fact.
I've only had one bad tasting channel cat. It was a monster from Muskegon last summer. All the rest have been terrific. Same for bullheads. Many of my friends dislike lake trout. I think they are delicious. Just grilled one I caught in Higgins recently. Can't wait to catch some more!
I like eating lake trout too. I have never had a "bad" channel or flathead catfish from where I catch them. Then again I do not normally keep 8+ pound channel cats or 10lb plus flatheads either. Once in a while I am guilty of keeping a 20lb flathead though...........I really like that sweet sweet belly meat the bigger flatties get, so once in a great while I kill one.
I love lakers. I always grind my teeth reading the posts about how lakers are inedible. I love a small laker on the grill, stuffed with mushrooms, onions, and butter. I've never tried bullheads or cats. I'm ashamed to admit that I'm terrified of the whiskers. My first fish was a bullhead and my dad told me that the whiskers would sting me if I touched them. 30 years later, even while knowing better, I still won't touch one.
I would be flat out lying if I said the bullheads will not ever harm you a little. Even if you know how to handle them you are still going to get got by them darn poky fins once in a great while if you do it a lot like some of us do. It has never been that painful and it has always quit hurting when the pain went away though. :lol:
An ocassional fin poke is worth it to me for the tasty bullhead meat to me. I can say a fullsized channel or flathead has never landed a pokey fin into my hide....it is the little buggers that are the dangerous ones. The big ones are just a lot easier to handle for most people. I do know a feller who drove a 10 lb channel cats fin through the bottom of his tennis shoe when he lost his balance while drunken shore fishing one night though.....it looked quite painful to me.
I would much rather eat a laker than a salmon so I feel your pain when folks say lakers are inedible trash.....it does leave more for us if they believe it though.
Your dad was right! Not the whiskers, but the spines on their fins will give a wicked sting. I've found the smaller ones have the worst sting. Some people barely react to it other than the sting, but some get some serious swelling and pain. I'm in the later. Accidentally grabbed a tiny one once, trying to catch a frog when I was a kid, swelled my whole hand up.
Hey 357, how did the bowfin eating experiment go last year? I tried to fillet one when I was a teenager just to see what their anatomy looked like and the meat had the consistency of thick applesauce. It truly was one of the most disgusting thing's I've ever seen. Needless to say I did not give it a taste test.
I will back up your comments on bullhead from clean waters tasting phenomenal with hints of sweetness in their pink flesh. I used to take a yearly trip to Reelfoot Lake in TN and we'd catch quite a few brown bullheads in the 14-18" range and those fish may be the best tasting freshwater fish I've ever had. The channel cats out of that lake were also very good without any hints of a fishy flavor. However, I've yet to catch what I would consider a good tasting channel catfish out of Michigan waters, which have included eating fish in the 24" and less range from the lower Grand River bayous, Bellville Reservoir, St Clair River, and the St Mary's River system.
I never caught a bowfin from the clear water lake I fish the most, Figures, Maybe this year.
Tanking catfish in cold circulating well water (pond pump) for a week makes any channel cat taste a lot better in my experience, but is not REQUIRED. If I cannot tank the fish I bleed them and bonk em and straight onto ice they go. An overnight fillet soak in milk is used by some of my buddies, I do not do it though. Most of my cats come from the Grand or one of it's tributaries. Are you removing the lateral line/mud vein? It is a REQUIRED step in my experience. I eat them all the time and do not suffer any bad taste. Not sure what to tell ya on that front ????
I use a 1500 gallon stock tank, but I used an old monster chest freezer that I siliconed for years and years. Catfish get ornery when tanked for a week or so in cool flowing water, hold on tight come time to take them out. :lol:
I suggest you try removing the mud vein next time, I bet you will much like the results just like you did on the white bass. I remove the mud vein out of most non panfish fish, just a personal preference thing.
I have had bowfin more then once. I liked it. You just have to know how to clean em. I have pan fried them up with salt and pepper. And have grilled em with seasoning. I liked more then bass!! But i would still take walleye and perch any day!!
Brother andI used to go bullhead fishin with Grandpa every summer. We would put two five gallon pails of them in the stock tank at the flowing well for two weeks then clean them. No mud taste just good eating. Two pails would feed about a dozen of us.
Dad used to smoke carp right along with suckers - he'd pickle them as well and it is actually quite good! I'm told carp is a delicacy in Europe, especially in Germany. Never tried Bowfin, though.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Ask a question
Ask a question
Michigan Sportsman Forum
8.8M posts
94.9K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to hunting and fishing enthusiasts in the Michigan area. Come join the discussion about safety, gear, tackle, tips, tricks, optics, hunting, gunsmithing, reviews, reports, accessories, classifieds, and more!