Whole snook $20kg!

[Wert 470]

This is a sign the world has gone mad if anything is.

Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoy the old snook, both catching and, when fresh, on the chew (just accept you're losing the entire rib section then skin for A grade fillets, mmmmm), but $20kg for whole fish would be near on $40kg for fillets which is crazy talk.

Tommies, mullet, bloody STs(!) etc are a similar sort of price & don't even start me on the real crazy stuff like cockles and pillies. This is bait people! Not $20 per kg food!

No-one on here actually buys seafood of course so I guess what I'm getting at is, now more than ever, YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO NOT GO FISHING! So let your bosses/missuses/etc know how things are and get out there when you can and start saving a fortune!

[doobie 5,802]

Just crazy prices.

Saw whole Gar at $50 p/kg the other day, so maybe around $60-70 p/kg fillets.

Like you say Wert, 'you can't afford to not go fishing'.

 

[yellow door 1 1,821]

Ive only ever eaten one snook. It was caught that morning and eaten side by side with pinkie and flathead fillets from the same session.

I didnt enjoy it enough to justify killing another one for myself........ But if someone was swapping them for $20 notes I'd be killing plenty as a revenge for all the bitten off lures

One of our mates dad used to like em, so we would keep a few for him

[Rybak 622]

Snook are ok eaten fresh, but need to skin them. They dont freeze well at all - become mushy. Need to heavily salt if you wish to use them as bait. Excellent for smoking.

[jackmac 307]

Snook have been one of my favourite fish to eat and catch for as long as i can remember.They are second to none as  smoked and as far as freezing them they need to be cleaned and skinned but before you crumb or batter them when defrosted squeeze a little lemon juice on them and season with salt and pepper.I will challenge anyone to pick the difference.Treat any fish you catch with respect ,ice slurry and clean and fillet as soon as possible and even salmon trout are a delicacy.I know so many people who say they wont eat this or that but after i have cooked them a feed they soon change their minds.

[Wert 470]

2 hours ago, jackmac said:

Snook have been one of my favourite fish to eat and catch for as long as i can remember.They are second to none as  smoked and as far as freezing them they need to be cleaned and skinned but before you crumb or batter them when defrosted squeeze a little lemon juice on them and season with salt and pepper.I will challenge anyone to pick the difference.Treat any fish you catch with respect ,ice slurry and clean and fillet as soon as possible and even salmon trout are a delicacy.I know so many people who say they wont eat this or that but after i have cooked them a feed they soon change their minds.

I agree, with a few exceptions most fish are absolutely delicious if treated right and prepared correctly, I agree that people who won't eat certain fish have likely just.not had them prepared correctly and finally I also rate fresh snook up there with anything.

But most importantly in my message GO FISHING!  There's never been more justification and it's good for the soul.

[Bilbobaggins 10]

I pulled into this fish and chip shop at green acres Captain Hook. Had garfish and chips fairly cheap. 

[gregtech 1,029]

6 hours ago, jackmac said:

Snook have been one of my favourite fish to eat and catch for as long as i can remember.They are second to none as  smoked and as far as freezing them they need to be cleaned and skinned but before you crumb or batter them when defrosted squeeze a little lemon juice on them and season with salt and pepper.I will challenge anyone to pick the difference.Treat any fish you catch with respect ,ice slurry and clean and fillet as soon as possible and even salmon trout are a delicacy.I know so many people who say they wont eat this or that but after i have cooked them a feed they soon change their minds.

100% agree mate. Fresh, bled and skinned snook with the bloodline removed are spot on for eating. On the bbq for a couple of minutes and wacked on fresh buttered bread with salt & pepper or a dash of sweet chilli sauce. Bliss

[yellow door 1 1,821]

6 hours ago, jackmac said:

Snook have been one of my favourite fish to eat and catch for as long as i can remember.They are second to none as  smoked and as far as freezing them they need to be cleaned and skinned but before you crumb or batter them when defrosted squeeze a little lemon juice on them and season with salt and pepper.I will challenge anyone to pick the difference.Treat any fish you catch with respect ,ice slurry and clean and fillet as soon as possible and even salmon trout are a delicacy.I know so many people who say they wont eat this or that but after i have cooked them a feed they soon change their minds.

Yeah I reckon you're right. Taste is personal and Im a marginally better chef these days - so I reckon I'll revisit some of these species I'd written off in the past

Ive written off a few fish because they didnt compare well, when eaten side by side with others cooked in the exact same way. My expectations of how fish should taste and their texture is based of the ones Ive eaten most often in the past.

Goat fish are another one that some people rave about, that I release.

Snook and Goat dont make up a huge percentage of our overall catch, so its easy enough to just chuck em back and go for the ones I know how to cook.

We used to do alot of catch and release, and fish much more often than now - getting a feed of pinkies was a matter of heading out to the shallow reefs for an hour or 2 and it was exceedingly rare not to get a few.

Any day of the year, the pinkies just used to be stacked up and waiting for your lures. I had to instate a rule that I couldnt take fresh fish, if I still had some in the freezer. So there were alot of weekends where catch and release was the only option. And it was under those circumstances that I made some of my choices of what was worth keeping.

My mind set was  - if im going to kill a fish - I better really enjoy eating it - and ones that werent as good as Pinkies and flathead got a free pass. There were enough of the ones I liked, to not take ones I didnt like quite as much.

But those days are long gone  - so the next goat or snook I get has a right to be very nervous

[Crabby 8]

it is all about looking after fish is you are eating them

[Soobz 557]

I'd love some tips on filleting snook. I'm not happy with the way I am doing it myself.

As for eating, fresh snook is on par with KGW IMO. In both cases this of course varies with how they were treated/processed and the size of the fish and where they were caught.

And whilst we're talking snook, why is it some snook fight like hell and some give up after 5s?

[yellow door 1 1,821]

53 minutes ago, Soobz said:

I'd love some tips on filleting snook. I'm not happy with the way I am doing it myself.

As for eating, fresh snook is on par with KGW IMO. In both cases this of course varies with how they were treated/processed and the size of the fish and where they were caught.

And whilst we're talking snook, why is it some snook fight like hell and some give up after 5s?

Yeah we used to catch 40 pinkies for every snook on lures. The standard snook take was a noticeable single take - no warnings with missed hits - then a bit more weight than normal - then they would come to boat quite easily in a slow arc. Then when you pulled there heads up to the surface, they would shake their heads and slice through 8lb leader and steal your lure.

But occasionally you would get one that put on the after burners and went nuts - usually the bigger than average units.

I watched them getting air bourne while smashing gars, so they do have the ability to generate power - most of them save a bit for when they are in the boat and your fingers are near their mouths

[Wert 470]

6 hours ago, Soobz said:

I'd love some tips on filleting snook. I'm not happy with the way I am doing it myself.

As for eating, fresh snook is on par with KGW IMO. In both cases this of course varies with how they were treated/processed and the size of the fish and where they were caught.

And whilst we're talking snook, why is it some snook fight like hell and some give up after 5s?

Obviously bleed and get straight on ice when you catch one.

Knock the fillets off ribs and all no need to scale, then cut the ribs away completely, like straight down pin bones and all, that part is just packed with bones, good berley though, or crab bait but not worth even trying to save to eat in fact it can mess with the next bit.

The fillet you have left will be almost diamond shaped, skin from the tail end, start it with the knife but once started you should be able to just pull the skin off, it will also pull away any pin bones you missed making a mess if you tried to get greedy and "save" the rib section at 45cm minimum it's a big fish, accept the small loss as part of nature's design.

You should have a perfect fillet. Do not wash under water! At no stage do you want the meat to get wet Most fillets are better to some extent without getting wet, even with seawater but snook more than most I've found can really just go to crap, just clean off any bit of blood or scale with paper towel and lay out on paper towel if not eating immediately.

If you've done it right you'll have a perfect slab of delicious boneless, skinless flesh you can cut and cook anyway you like, with practice you'll be able to do it quicker than it takes to read this post.

Might do a video if I can get out again sometime soonish and remember to do it.