Posted by Hardy on 17/8/2007, 9:35 pm, in reply to "LORD OF THE CODS!"
Poor old Mr Red Cod. Nobody loves him. But way back when I was an avid surf caster Mr Kahawai was similarly treated, nobody wanted him. He was a poo fish. A few smoked him, was regarded as skungy bait. Wouldn't fry, made a passable fish cake. Now regarded as a sports fish, and now many people I know reckon he is the best eating fish about.
Maybe 20 years from now, blind eels will be in favour. Hard to catch off a beach tho. Suprising tho when Supermarkets rename a fish and how well it sells. You never see Stargazer for sale, as it is marketed under a different name, and sells real well. Guess wot it is.
I can always remember when I used to net rig off the beach and I had an American staying next door. I set the net and he came down to see how I did. Plenty of rig (lemons whatever). Thats a shark he said, no it aint I said, it aint got no teeth and any fish that lives on crabs tastes real nice.
So I dropped him off a big fillet. Next day, he turned up. "Ya gonna set that net again, and catch some more of those toothless sharks. " That is the best fish I have ever tasted. " My reply. "yeh okay I'll catch some more of those sharks yank. And to top it off he was a retired commercial fisherman outa Maine USA.
And nothing wrong with a pilchard for that matter. Maybe we should eat our bait.