Gaff Top Apocalypse

[MathGeek]

Gafftops are fun when the drum aren't biting.

[MathGeek]

Originally Posted by ChrisD

I had one go through my index finger this past Saturday, I always thought they weren't as bad a hard head... I was wrong

Kid: It hurts when I do that.

Dad: Don't do that.

[Sightwindow]

MG, what's your theory on why there isn't a market for sail cats? They're not bad eating, easier to clean than most, readily available and everybody knows the name catfish. The yield isn't great, but neither is sheepsheads and drumMost rookies I fish with ask about even a hardhead being good to eat when I'm loosing them back into the water.

[swamp snorkler]

Originally Posted by Sightwindow

MG, what's your theory on why there isn't a market for sail cats? They're not bad eating, easier to clean than most, readily available and everybody knows the name catfish. The yield isn't great, but neither is sheepsheads and drumMost rookies I fish with ask about even a hardhead being good to eat when I'm loosing them back into the water.

I've eaten sailcats and hardheads and there's not much difference between them and a freshwater cat. The main thing is you don't get as much meat off of them. I'm not saying I would have kept all of what they caught but if I scratched on everything else and that's all the had we would have been eating sailcat for supper.

[MathGeek]

Originally Posted by Sightwindow

MG, what's your theory on why there isn't a market for sail cats? They're not bad eating, easier to clean than most, readily available and everybody knows the name catfish. The yield isn't great, but neither is sheepsheads and drumMost rookies I fish with ask about even a hardhead being good to eat when I'm loosing them back into the water.

There is a small market, but prices are usually too low to justify the effort and expense of transporting them from the boat to the buyers.

The guys who run trot lines for black drum catch a lot of them. Black drum has a stable market (mostly as imitation crab) that is strong enough to cover the transportation costs of a highly perishable product.

I'm not sure how much restaurant catfish might be gafftops, but the supply of gafftops seems to outstrip the demand.

[Sightwindow]

Originally Posted by MathGeek

There is a small market, but prices are usually too low to justify the effort and expense of transporting them from the boat to the buyers.

The guys who run trot lines for black drum catch a lot of them. Black drum has a stable market (mostly as imitation crab) that is strong enough to cover the transportation costs of a highly perishable product.

I'm not sure how much restaurant catfish might be gafftops, but the supply of gafftops seems to outstrip the demand.

I would theorize farm-raised catfish dominates the market. And I think if you put freshwater cat flesh against a sailcat flesh, I'd be able to pick it. But that doesn't mean it's bad. And the sail cat's average size would seem to make it viable.

A significant hinderance would be the large amount of red meat (I call it the bloodline) on the skin side, which is much more than drum or sheepshead and bad for its aesthetics. The time lost in processing that out of the filet is probably a factor.

Black drum is almost the default fine dining white flesh fish selection in New Orleans. Maybe it's different elsewhere.

[rardoin]

"Black drum is almost the default fine dining white flesh fish selection in New Orleans. Maybe it's different elsewhere."

#baygrouper

[saltysully]

You really didn't have to go all the way to southwest pass to catch all those gaff tops. Last Tuesday I caught gaff top after gaff top after gaf top all over 4 pounds at the new reef (Leon and David Ortemond Reef) located about 1 mile from the Quintana. About 3-4 weeks ago, one boat limited out on specs there. The Leon and David Ortemond Reef is located 29° 44’ 19.7” N, 91° 52’ 45.8” W. Hopefully we'll see some specs back there b4 too much longer.