Sea Robins

[Holty]

Took Billy No Tacks and my buddy Duane out yesterday morning to kick some bass. We had been doing very well lately with the pajamas. Not yesterday!!! Final score three or so shorts , 8 Sea Robins for Billy and 7 of the flying fish for Duane . Maybe next time.

regards Holty

[No Tacks]

:D Thanx for the good time jay...Its been a looooooonngggg time since I fished the north shore.... :D

[Squid Row]

Many years ago (early 80's) I worked on a charter boat in Amityville and fluke fishing was terrible. We had 38 passengers one day and only caught three keepers. So the captain shouted down to me to start keeping a "few buckets full" of sea robins..

I had no idea what for, but my job was to do as he said.. so I did it. On the ride home, after I cleaned all 3 keepers :) I went up for the ride home and he told me to start cleaning the sea robins and make sure everyone had fillets to go home with..

Long story short but on their next trip with us every single person commented on how delicious the fillets were and some even asked if we could TARGET SEA ROBINS! I nearly laughed myself out of a few tips that day..

[Bordino]

I originally lived up in Freeport N.Y.
Sea Robbins are very good eating. I ate them when no one wanted them.
There like Blow Fish. Whiche are hard to find now.
ishing in Punta Gorda, Fl. is getting better now.
Michael

[Squid Row]

I used to work in Freeport as well, on a dragger name Saint Peter that docked right next to Earharts (sp?) clam house but that was 20 years ago when I was still in high school....

Blowfish are pretty abundant in NC in the winter but a lot of folks here think they are poisonous or trash fish. Course I don't tell them they are wrong, just put them in the cooler and watch their expressions! LOL

[easytimes455]

At this point, I can't verify this as absolutely true, but I read an article about blowfish. The article said that there was some sort of chemical situation in them that could render them as poisonous in a ratio of approximately 1 in 1,000, if they were spawned in tropical waters. In North Carolina, potentially half of the blowfish are tropical natives, according to the article. From the Chesapeake Bay northward, NONE of the blowfish are of tropical descent.

According to that article and the ratio they suggest, one of every two thousand blowfish caught in North Carolina waters could be poisonous, other variables notwithstanding.

It also said that the tropical natives usually leave this area (NC) in the colder weather, to some degree, but there would still remain the chance of some of the suspect fish not leaving. Another ratio adjustment is in order here. I would imagine a 1 in 10,000 ratio of the total population would be close. But that's my assumption, not anything I have read.

I don't know how accurate this article was, but I think I read it in the Wildlife Magazine that the state wildlife agency publishes. It could also have been in a national fishing magazine... I just can't quite remember. They didn't say to stop eating them, but they did want everyone to know the relative risks, if any do exist. They did say to avoid the roe of all blowfish, as it is poisonous to humans in all species. I eat fish roe, but I have never even seen blowfish roe.

I have eaten many blowfish, but that article did slow me down a bit. They are not bad, but I am one who appreciates more flavorful fish, anyway, so not eating blowfish isn't necessarily a sacrifice for me. My least favorite fish of the popular market fish is flounder. I am still crying about these damned limits on red drum... that's redfish for you Gulf folks.

This link addresses some of the concerns about parts of the fish and their poison content. It's like everything else. Nothing is ever totally clear.
http://www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/blowfish.htm I haven't read the complete article. I just did a word search, but I think I will read it through. Cleaning them seems to be a caution point.
Hope this doesn't upset anyone.
CB

[Squid Row]

There are different types of blowfish species. I have caught a few but have only eaten one kind. Not sure of their exact name, but they are the only one you catch a lot of in NC and northern parts. The common puffer is what I think they are called. Others, like the spiny boxfish which is pictured in the link posted above by easytimes or a look alike of that posted above, are also common but I have not eaten them..

I will try and attach a photo of the northern puffer. If you are fortunate to catch these little guys, ice them, cut their heads off, pull the skin off and fry. They look just like a little chicken leg but taste a lot better.

[Squid Row]

Now that I think I have this picture posting down...

Here is a picture of a deflated spiny boxfish or striped burrfish. They have so many different names. Anyway, this fish is found in NC but I have not tried eating one. They are not nearly as common as the northern puffer

[easytimes455]

Yep, that npuffer is the one. I have caught a blue million of them.

I don't want to scare anyone with that article. I actually contintued to eat them after reading the article. One day I just stopped taking them home to eat. It was probably more from the mild flavor than potential for poisoning, which I think is minimal, especially in the winter. I just like knowing if there is any potential when I eat something. Then I can make the decision to risk it or not.

For cleaning them, if you just put a little notch in the skin, just behind the head, you can put your fingers in there and pull the skin in opposite directions as the skin tears, the tail will almost pop out. You snip the tail and whack behind the head with a knife. We referred to them as being super jumbo shrimp with a backbone.

The cleaning technique we used is like skinning a squirrel, for those who have done that before. Catch enough of them and it's like a fitness exercise.
Bon apetito,
CB