Thread: Fresh Sushi

Iv caught some nice mangroves off the pier. another good bait for them is small pinfish.

I've never caught a legal mangrove from the pier, but then again it isn't something one would target out there often. Several shorts on gsp, Navarre is where it's at for legals. Even there they ain't that big.

Originally Posted by CarlF

Mangrove (grey) snapper are around most of the time. But getting the picky SoB's to bite before something else (like pinfish) eats your shrimp or baby LY is another matter altogether.
Years back, I caught them round the Perdido pass bridge piles on really small LYs with some regularity, but mostly shorts. Caught them offshore by chumming them up & using light tackle with no weight, small hooks. That was a blast.

Mind if I ask what kind of chum?

Not at all: When anchored over a reef, we would cut up small chunks of pogies, squid and LYs. Then toss a handful up current every few minutes. After a while, if the grey snapper and red snapper were in the mood, they would come right up to the surface to feed on the chunks. The red snapper weren't picky, but the greys would inspect each chunk, I swear they can see the hooks. We would use our king mac size spinning rigs with a small (#2) stout hook, no weight, bury the hook in the chunk and toss it in the chum line. Had to let it drift naturally with the rest of the chunks, when it got down current, reel in & toss back up current, repeat. Sooner or later one of the 4-6# greys would screw up and eat a piece with a hook in it & the fight was on.

Few years back we went offshore and the guide chummed up all the red snapper you could dream off and one NICE mangrove showed up in the school. We caught all our limits early and I spent most of the trip trying to get that fish to eat. He didn't get that big being dumb.

Not to derail the thread, had yellowtail sushi last night. Definitely worth trying.

I've caught the big mangroves fishing the middle grounds in Feb. at night. We'd anchor over a good rock pile and fish all night-catching them on cut ly's and cigar minnows. Not hard to catch at all until it started to get light. None after sun up at all. I would as soon have a big mangrove to eat as a red. Fishing around the piers in the fall I've used fresh cut octopus tentacles with a small hook. As said, it can be hard to get it past the pinfish.

Originally Posted by CarlF

Sheepshead, flounder, ground mullet and whiting all make great sushi. I have not tried croaker but I bet its good too. I bet barely legal reds would be fine as well.
Most oily fish don't make good sushi, exception is Spanish macs, but it must be marinated in vinegar first. Look for my recipe in this section or google Saba sushi.

I've been wondering if any fish I catch off the piers would be safe for sushi. Dumb question here - Hey, I live in Illinois - by sheepshead, do you mean those striped convicts?

Yes. Some people call them convicts!

I will be the googan here, what is the difference between sushi and shamshenie, except my spelling

Originally Posted by witler

I will be the googan here, what is the difference between sushi and shamshenie, except my spelling

Sashimi is cut pieces of raw fish. Sushi is some form of fish served over rice(nigiri style) or in a seaweed or soy wrapper(maki)