I’m Willing – Are You?
Posted by doodaa on July 23, 2008
One of my favorite ways to get away from it all and relax is fishing. I don’t care what I catch either, as long as I have a fish willing to put up a fight. I prefer to take on big fish, but even the little scrappers are fun – especially on light tackle. I know this might sound a little crazy, but one of my favorite fish to catch is gar. They are pretty willing to jump on a lure, and put up a great fight. But I have always just let them go, after the catch. That might change…
I did some reading on the ‘net, and evidently gar is pretty popular table fare. I, like so many others, have always considered gar “trash fish”, and full of bones. I even went as far one time to take home a chain pickerel I caught, cleaned it, and baked it. A chain pickerel (jackfish to some) is a southern cousin of the northern pike. People eat pike, so I thought a chain pickerel would be good to eat, too. It was. Very tasty, in fact. Flaky, white meat. But full of tiny bones that I had to pick out as I ate the meat. It was way too much work for me to try again. I assumed a gar filet would be full of bones, too. But I was curious, and it turns out gar filets come off the bone boneless. But how do you get to the meat?
From what I’ve read so far, once you breach a gar’s armor-like scales, it’s all down hill from there. The recommended tools for the process include a hatchet, tin snips and a filet knife. The meat is likened to chicken in texture, and without a fish taste. Gar connoisseurs recommend cutting the filets into chunks, battering them up and fry away, just like other fish.
I am a person who will try pretty much any food at least once. If I don’t like it, I won’t ever eat that particular dish again. So, I am going to catch, clean and then fry up a gar. I know to some of you this might sound like a waste of time and effort, but I am hoping that the end result will be a welcomed surprise.
So, stay tuned for an update to this particular blog, and if any of you are gar eaters, then post up your favorite method of cooking them…
doodaa
You bet! There are a lot of fish like that…whitefish have a reputation as a trash fish, but are actually quite tasty. Who would have suspected gar?!
July 23rd, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I ” use” to eat gar when i was younger. Living in St Landry Parish you become aquainted with different food. Once,my uncle opened a gar where he would make steaks and gar balls and it was filled with parasites (tapes-or roundworms)—- I’ve never eaten it again and still have that image burned into my memory.
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Tom – I’ve seen some folks serving up whitefish on TV, and it looks like a big shad. I guess I can put that on my list, too…
Mike, I know exactly which worms you’re talking about. I’ve found them in bass, bream and white perch. They are more common during the winter months. I just cut out the area of meat where the worm is at, since it really just creates a little pocket. Remove it, and that’s all she wrote.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:15 pm
OOOPS…
Mike, I meant to say more common during the summer than winter months, in my reply…
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Doodaa-The parasites seemed to be more in the gut cavity. Fishing in the marsh 95% you encounter Specs-Redfish-black drum with “tapes” that will alot of times- infest around the bones and fleshy top meat. That’s viewed as more protein when they are filleted. Lsrge reds (bulls ) in the 18lb + usually have them-Pesonally I release any “big bulls” as breeding stock and those sizes –the meat looses its “flakey” characteristics and becomes tough and fishy flavored anyway.
Big black Drum (in my experience) are much worse-but again I do not keep anything over 24″ usually.
On large drum I’ve seem “tunnels” throughout the top fleshy meat that have been filled in with a gelatin mass. I don’t eat those . That’s one thing I’ve never told the “Wife” or showed her. that comes under the category of “Let the sleeping dog Lie”
July 24th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Mike I couldn’t agree with you more on the catch and release of large reds and drums. We only keep the ones that are perfect for the grill, scales down of course. I haven’t ran into an issue of tape worms in fish in my neck of the woods, but I have found tape worms in squirrels before.
July 24th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
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