Jacks

Buddy of mine who grew up over in Panama City, said back in the early 80's when they would go out on head boats, no one , tourist or locals, wanted triggerfish.
"trash fish" everyone said.
His dad & granddad would tell everyone to throw them in their bucket, they "wanted them trash fish for fertilizer".
Needless to say, they always came home with a pile of triggers to clean and fry up and never told anyone on the boats what they really knew!

Trigger is my favorite fish to fry up, hand down, no contest. Grouper is a close 2nd.

A helluva a lot of "Thats nasty, it's trash fish!" is hearsay.

So far out of the so called Trash Fish I've tried,
Bluefish
Hardhead & Gafftop cat
Southern & Cownose rays
Hardtail
and found them to be from OK to pretty good.

I never did try Viking Guy's Ladyfish Nugget recipe, still have it, have to try it.

I didn't read through this whole thing, but I completely agree that Jacks are not bad to eat if cleaned and cooked properly. I didn't mention it about the jack I caught at DI because I knew I'd get laughed at for eating trash, however we filleted into steaks and cut any meat off that was black or purple. Basically looked like tuna cubes when done.

Three different preparations. First was marinating in ginger soy for 4hours then grilling. Teriyaki glaze.

2. Rubbed with dry rub and grilled/smoked. BBQ sauce to dip.

3. Grind up, add onion powder and a little bit of panko breading and ball into hamburger. This was excellent.

Had it three different days after I caught it, was enjoyed each time. Same with white trout. I think people must get awfully picky with the fish they catch based on how easy it is to target the species.

Honestly, it is a great change from the standard white flaky fried fish that people refuse to venture from. I added Jack to my list of red meat salt fish for sure, right after tuna.

LOL!!! I really liked this post! There are so many fish that you are right...TRASH! But when I get it home it is table fare for a king!
I am curious tho...triple tail?? Never heard of it until this yr..all the yrs living here and that is a first for me..had some blackened at WBL and it was super! Son and I are going to try catching flyrod style sometime in future..hear they are fighters!

Yall letting the sun get to ya eating jacks and stuff :confused: yall clean a puffer fish and tell me how it taste :D

No one kept Trigger fish on the charter boats out of Orange Beach in the 1950's (Lowe family charters)and I was too young to buck the trend. In the 1960's (Walter Griffith and James Brown charters) an old man told me they were great and just a little difficult to clean and that was the reason whey the Charter Guys called them trash fish. I tried them and never threw another one away. I would rather have them than Red Snapper or Grouper which are very high on my eating list. I have cooked Jacks on the grill and enjoyed them. I have smoked Bonita and enjoyed them. I have to fall in the group that says most fish are edible and good if properly cleaned and prepared. I personally eat some type of fish/seafood/crustacean an average of 4 to 5 times per week and my heart doctor says my pipes are clean.

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Originally Posted by salt_water_guy

Yall letting the sun get to ya eating jacks and stuff :confused: yall clean a puffer fish and tell me how it taste :D

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A friend from the northeast told me the Puffer is Spectacularly Delicious!
Fried Puffer Fish | Spectacularly Delicious

On arriving in bama 35 years ago I was appalled to see mullet in the Winn/Dixie. In texas we occasionally used them for cutbait,coyotes wouldn't eat em..Bringing this to my dad's attention he replied "son them people in florida were feeding them to the yankee tourists,then they started eating them too" Different cultures different tastes,If I had 5 bucks for every person whom extolled on the virtues of fresh mullet,I could live in Gulfshores,,,However I remain half coyote, half s#b,,,see yall in sept...chuckster

I can't say I've tried a pufferfish but the people in North Carolina were amazed I was throwing them back. I guess there are a few different species of puffer, some are edible but apparently some can be deadly poisonous.

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Originally Posted by sralman308

LOL!!! I really liked this post! There are so many fish that you are right...TRASH! But when I get it home it is table fare for a king!
I am curious tho...triple tail?? Never heard of it until this yr..all the yrs living here and that is a first for me..had some blackened at WBL and it was super! Son and I are going to try catching flyrod style sometime in future..hear they are fighters!

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Triple-tail are supposed to be quite good, although I haven't had them. I've also heard on North Carolina forums that the two strips of meat along the back of the blowtoad are very good. The northern puffer move in about the time the standard fish slow down, which may account for someone trying them. A video on www.drumwagon.com supposedly shows a quick cleaning method. I should have watched the video because this verbal description is not quite enough: "Take a knife and make a slit right under the jaw, and slip your fingers in. Run your fingers back down under the meat, and turn the fish inside out. Then cut the meet free of the head, its really simple." Right.