Eating different kinds of fish

[David Waters]

look, been reading the North Alabama Fishing Forum. There are a few guys in a discussion right now about eating SKipJack. It literally was turning my stomach reading it. It hought they were just pulling everyones leg, but I don't think so now. THey really eat these fish. I began to wonder if it was just me. Is there anyone here that has eaten these fish before? Am I crazy to think they wouldn't be any good? Seems to me it would be like eating a handful of shad.

[rango]

i give a feller a mess of fish once, (uncleaned) and when he returned the cooler a few days later, he said they fried the fish up and they was good, but the small silver fish in the cooler was strong tasting. the small silver fish he was refering to was some shad that had been left in the cooler with the fish. I dint have the heart to tell him what he eat, so i let it pass...

[J White]

Don't mean to get off topic, but what exactly IS a skipjack - thats what
I call em too, but I mean, what is its scientific name? I been confused, is it
just maybe another name for gizzard shad? I got an idea David, try it out on
the folks at the next fish fry without telling anybody - get a true, impartial
evaluation :D "How's the crappie tonite, guys?"

[Rattler]

I'm not sure if these are the same type of fish but a friend of mine in South Dakota had a can of some smoked fish that were called Sprats. It was basically a smoked shad canned in an olive oil base. We ate them raw out of the can. It is supposedly a Russian canned fish that will keep you from a hangover the next morning. I would have to say that I felt fine the next morning but still wasn't sure what I had eaten. There were about twenty to twenty-five of them to a can (about the size of a tuna can) and weren't more than three inches long. What I'm getting at is I guess you can almost make anything taste alright if you work hard enough at it but why would you want to do that when some good old cold water bluegill and some vidalia onions are as good as any steak dinner you'll ever have and you don't have to do a think to prepare it?! Anyhow, just my two cents. Man, I guess that only leaves me with three left for the weekend!!

Dont catch em all!
Rattler

[CrappiePappy]

IF they were "true" Skipjack Shad (Herring) ... then yes, they would be edible. http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Spec...ry.php?id=1578

But, IF they're using the word "Skipjack" to mean Gizzard Shad (it's one of the many misnomer nicknames used for Gizzard Shad) ... then they are either pulling your leg, or they've burned out their taste buds, a long time ago :p

On a dare, back in my youth, I roasted one (Gizzard Shad) of about a half pound in size over a wood fire (freshly snagged from the lake we were fishing) ... the stench, of the fish cooking, nearly caused me to renege on my bet. One small bite later, and I was spitting out the most foul tasting and boniest hunk of fish flesh to ever cross my lips :o ............ cp

[David Waters]

yes, the herring is indeed what they are talking about. They look just like a tarpon, and fight like one too. Jump around alot, and kinda fun to catch. I have caught these things schooling below the dam one cast after another. They are slimmy and nasty. Great catfish bait. Smell just like a gizzard shad. I can't even imagine eating these things. Ewwww

[crappieseeker]

I'm with Rattler, it dont get any better than some good ole bluegill. As far as the skipjack, I have never tried them and never wanted to. If they were good to eat though. I could catch enough in one day where I fish to last forever. They are very abundant in the Tennessee river. My wife enjoys catching them, cause they are very easy to catch. I remember one time a friend told me that he was throwing them back and two guys saw him and wanted the fish. He said they thought they were white bass. Poor fellas probably worked hard preparing them and more than likely ended up with a bad taste in their mouth. YUCK Give me some gillies

[J White]

I'll tell this on myself, against better judgement - :D
was cast-netting shad one day below the dam at Pickwick,
and caught a real big shad one throw - a fellow fishing up
on the catwalk came and asked if he could have it -
His English was not real good, he wasn't from around here,
at least not for long, you know. I thought "poor fellow, if
you want to eat this thing, more power to you" and gave
it to him. I had not really been paying any attention to him
before this - well, he went back up to where he was fishing,
stuck about a 10/0 hook in that thing, and zinged it out into
the boils with a surf rod :D I says "Ok, note to self: thats what
they mean by not judging a book by its cover"

[Barnacle Bill]

I went out on a head boat once to the Gulf Stream where we were catching Spade fish. The mate or someone grilled some fillets after dipping them in spicey italian dressing. Now that was some good eating. I tried it with some crappie once but it just wasn't the same.

[Jerry Blake]

I went out on a head boat once to the Gulf Stream where we were catching Spade fish. The mate or someone grilled some fillets after dipping them in spicey italian dressing. Now that was some good eating. I tried it with some crappie once but it just wasn't the same.

I marinate small crappie fillets (from about 10 to 11-inch crappie) in Zesty Italian Dressing and put them in the George Foreman Grill and they are some kinda GOOD! Trick though is not to over cook them and dry them out. Prolly takes about a minute and a half in the grill and they are done - unless they are too thick.