jackmac

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 😉

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😊

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.

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.

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.

Trusted and union don’t go in the same sentence 

Trusted and union don’t go in the same sentence 

Trusted and union don’t go in the same sentence 

I have been catching some impressive gummies around Edithburgh.Try the rips around Saltana Point around dusk.Use squid heads on a running rig.I know its not against the law to catch and keep females but after gutting a good size female a few years ago and finding over 30 pups happily swimming around inside her,i have made it my rule not to keep females.The one I am holding here is a male.

After checking my diary storms and and big tides = mulloway upper reaches of the port river

After checking my diary storms and and big tides = mulloway upper reaches of the port river

After checking my diary storms and and big tides = mulloway upper reaches of the port river

I always start my day off with 2 rods and a white on one and black on the other. Then what ever is working best on the day gets the go ahead.

I try and keep it simple when squidding so ill change through a few colours (mainly white, silvery baitfish colour, green, gold) if i have to but i try not to. Changing colours too much does more bad than good sometimes as you end up too focused on the colours and not focused enough on actually working the jig. Most of the time for me its not colours to be reason the squid aren't biting, its usually the way your working the jig or the spot that your fishing. 
any way in saying that i have found that the Shimano Sephia clinch flash boost jigs with the inbuilt flash are really good, even when the squid are a bit shut down.

White is the colour i use no matter what conditions.One of the most important things is getting the weight just right and having the jag as close to the bottom as possible.Slow and even dodge tides are best in my opinion.I dont over work the jig but i like to cover as much ground as possible by casting as far up current as possible and let it drift back a in a large arc.I always keep a jig ready when fishing for whiting or snaps as squid will often follow up a hooked fish.On a recent trip to emu bay on KI we sat on a small whiting patch and with 4 on board we landed our bag limit of 30 in very short time and also landed 30 squid by using this method..My number one rule i live by when fishing is dont over complicate it.

White is the colour i use no matter what conditions.One of the most important things is getting the weight just right and having the jag as close to the bottom as possible.Slow and even dodge tides are best in my opinion.I dont over work the jig but i like to cover as much ground as possible by casting as far up current as possible and let it drift back a in a large arc.I always keep a jig ready when fishing for whiting or snaps as squid will often follow up a hooked fish.On a recent trip to emu bay on KI we sat on a small whiting patch and with 4 on board we landed our bag limit of 30 in very short time and also landed 30 squid by using this method..My number one rule i live by when fishing is dont over complicate it.

Come on guys we are all fishermen here, i think it was a sailfish and a bloody big one at that.😏

I have used nippers on a couple of occasions at Vincent at the Julia spit .My method is to use them on the slow end of the tide on a lightly weighted running rig with a size 4 fine gauge circle hook.I hook them through the end of the tail once exposing the hook,and gently casting.Big whiting love them and i have hooked some monster salmon up there aswell.If the nippers are only small you can put 2 on it works great.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I do the same Greg , but I steam my crabs , then on ice , way better flavour , and no flavour lost in the water .

Bring sea water to the boil add crabs and when it comes back to the boil set timer for 8 minutes… I then like to drop into ice water to set the meat or eat them hot what ever you prefer

Bring sea water to the boil add crabs and when it comes back to the boil set timer for 8 minutes… I then like to drop into ice water to set the meat or eat them hot what ever you prefer

Bring sea water to the boil add crabs and when it comes back to the boil set timer for 8 minutes… I then like to drop into ice water to set the meat or eat them hot what ever you prefer

Bring sea water to the boil add crabs and when it comes back to the boil set timer for 8 minutes… I then like to drop into ice water to set the meat or eat them hot what ever you prefer

Just cook em up....never noticed any hard bits upon eating

Just be mindful - I think there is a ban on collecting mud cockles around the port area.
Sportsfishing scene are around $14 a kilo but if you can get your own, will save a fortune. I think I have about 5 kilos left in the freezer but will do a couple of trips down to goolwa after the april school holidays, when there is less people collecting them (the water gets pretty cold).
In saying the above, most of the whiting I've been catching have been on fresh squid - wouldn't touch the frozen stuff