sheephead - good to eat
 

I catch a lot of sheephead at big lake, but never keep any. Are they good to eat? If so, how do you clean em and cook em?

to clean them I take a knife and slide it down the side of the spine and cut down to the tail, don't try to cut threw the ribs, I usually don't use an electric knife on them either it will burn one up. eat them fresh there not bad, some people boil the meat in crab boil, taste like imitation crab meat. or fry up with some lemon juice on it.

They are real good to eat, you just don't get alot of meat off them if you filet them because they have a big rib cage that is hard to cut around(for me anyway). Maybe somebody else on here knows a trick on how to clean em. You can also gut and scrape them, then boil em' in a pot, pull the meat off and use it like a imitation crab meat. Most people don't keep them mainly b/c they are kind of a pain to clean.

good eating, but hard to clean, when we have fish like this, we just cook the fish whole, and pick from it

I knew I wasn't the only trash fishin redneck on this site!

I had a guy show me how to clean them. He lays them flat and cuts from the head to the tail right down the middle of the fish then cuts from the top of fish down to his cut down the middle.
Pretty piece of meat just like cutting the backstrap on a deer.

Better than Specks, harder to clean.
Not a lot of them in Big Lake.
Rigs right offshore have more then the lake.
White firm meat. Good eatin.

I agree Ray, I have fed them to many people that just bragged on them. I told them it was redfish and specs lol...

I don't tell till after they eat them. They say they will definitely eat them again.

Ive seen a guy use electric knife on em before. He started at the tail and worked his way up to the ribcage,then just came up and over and bypassed the ribcage all together. Prolly dont get all the meat,but a nice easy piece without the fight.

Great eating....
 

I love them, in fact if i can target them and get on a consistant bite, I will load the boat...There are difficulties in cleaning them, but once you get your own method, they are not bad at all...I usually make mock crab meat or mock crab patties out of them....They are great eating....Most people would just rather the ease of cleaning specs, but seeing as how I am usually on the losing end of a spec trip....Love catching them....I nevered fooled with them until an older fisherperson showed me a thing or too, I actually get excited to catch them now....

HMMMM
 

Might have ya bet on the trash fish..... :grinpimp:I was told by an old timer one time that Gafftop were good,so one day we were catching nothing but gafftop so kept a few of the medium ones and tell you what as long as you cut out the blood line, that is some of the best catfish I ever ate, meat is really white.

I have only caught maybe 5 in my life....they eat good though,used a electric knife to clean em.

I only keep really big ones and clean from the tail forward

exactly how i have always done it. i dont throw them back and its not hard to clean them using this method.

You got that right!

April Fools????????

Actually thats the other fish I catch a lot of and they ARE quite tasty..

:work:

dont see why anyone would eat a gaftop but whatever floats ya boat! lol

Don't put a Sheepshead or Gafftop n your Do Net while wading!!! LOL

You gettin all those 2Coolers fired up, esp. "W"!!!!!

Next time try cleaning the red fish from the tail forward. Cutting under the scales is alot easier than cutting thru them.

And we know not to do this, HOW????? :eek:

You learn from the best!!! (Buddy Reaux!!!)

Them lil bird legs got holes in em. LOL

I'm sorry....but they have way to many fish here in La to be keeping Sheephead....black drum....croaker....and god forbid a Gaftop

Now Texans will throw trout back for a sheephead....they have a limit on them...lmao...make sure they don't put them in extinction

You have no idea what you are talking about ptfff sheephead is the stuff son...fry em up and keep the scaled heads for stock boy thats how we do it anyways i hate how people always try to hate on sheephead. I think that more guides should start targeting these species and maybe it would put less of a dent on the trout population.

also gaftops eat as well as blue cat.

I will charter a gaftop trip at the cleaning. Stall.... 50bucks a person for 2 hours.... GurrOtEE no less than 200 gaftop.....I will provide all the bait....

I smell a rat.

"W" I just met a salesman at Dawson Marine who said your Haynie aint got nothing on a Majek . Said yall was buddies.

Yea.... I ran over a few of Pauls Majeks boats..... That Haynie just spit em out

:eek:WWHHAATT?

Not what he said .He told me that Haynie cant catch the Majek to run over it...lol

He is tryin to sell me a sea fox.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Any body ate that new fried fish at Long John Slivers

That MAJEK probably will outrun a comparable Haynie, without the slop being a factor. theirs not enough V in the Majek to keep up in the slop, hulls shaped just like a bass boat with minamal V, but they run like scallded dogs on top in a light chop.

Nope .

:rotfl: what was that stuff Cod? :shaking:

Don't know how that dude makes a living.
What ever boat he is selling is the best.
He was saying Haynie was best one month,
next month he was trashing it saying that
them Majeks were best.
I don't trust salesmen who swap jobs like
they swap underwear.
If one boat is best, why move to another
brand of boat???

Man, I thought you said that dude was under another screen name last week?:rolleyes:

I just thought it was funny .Thought I would pass it on to W . Wasnt trying to start anything there is plenty others on here doing that.

Yea... Ol paul bleed Haynie boats when he sold them....and now he Bleeds Majeks.... He is just trying to make a living but he wears a Haynie is #1 T Shirt under his salesman gig

LOL ...He seems like an alright guy ...for a salesman anyway

He reminds me alot of you. :cool:

I love to eat ships heads