Finally ate a bluefish

Caught an almost-too-big blue and decided it was time to finally eat one. Bled him good. Didn't marinade or pre-soak. Just rinsed and removed the bloodline.

Pan fried the fillets, same day caught as advised here, in a little butter, took em out, threw in a little lemon juice, half n half, dill, salt, pepper, garlic, and butter to make a quick little cream sauce. Not my favorite, but also not bad at all. Parents even liked it.

Any bigger and it would probably have been mushy. Didn't measure but was around 20"

The smaller ones taste better , and make killer fish Tacos.

The girlfriend loaded up a sabiki with 14-15" blues last year. Managed to lift and swing 3 of them onto the pier. They were excellent pan fried with a little lemon and paprika.

Those bigger ones (over 20" FL) are best with the mayonnaise based panfry IMHO ;-)
VERY juicy and flaky...
http://www.gulfshorespierfishing.com...luefish-15831/

Yessir. Thanks much. Will be back in late October, will definitely give er a try if I snag another one.

If you completely cut out the lateral line/dark meat, fried bluefish are excellent! Also, something that we tried last night was fried baby jacks. Wonderful white meat! Absolutely no strong taste or off-putting aftertaste. Try both, if you haven't tried bluefish and baby jacks. They're super easy to clean and quite delicious!

I suggest maybe trying baby jacks on the grill, cooked skin-side down like you would a pompano (the fillet looks very much like a pomp!).

caught a bunch of baby jacks in the bay last week. have noted this for next time. much appreciated.

I caught a couple Blues while I was down there the first week of September and kept one to eat. All I did was fillet it, cut out the blood line, and fry it in Zatarans. I thought it was great tasting fish and actually prefered it to the Reds I ate. Wish I would have kept the other Blues I caught.

Googan question... what's a baby jack look like? Last time was down there people were mid identifying young pomps for jacks...

Check out this link, tons of pics of juvenile jack crevalle.
Very different from a small pompano.

Jack crevelle have a blunt nose and typically 'croak' when caught.
Juvenile jack crevelle:
https://scontent-dfw5-1.xx.fbcdn.net...5d&oe=5C5CAB4A

A pompano does not have 'scutes'.
The hard scales at the base of the tail.
Juvenile pompano:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/55/45...1e2a54c657.jpg

Okay that's really obvious hahahaha. I'm a dum bass.

Not at all, it's just a matter of paying attention to details ;-)

The jacks have serious dental work and the pomps have no teeth.