| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Treacodactyl |
GarfishBugs and I have finally managed to go sea fishing, first time ever for Bugs and the first time for me since I was an adult! I know it's a bit late in the year and the weather wasn't the best but we tried a spot of mackerel fishing off a steep sided beach. Our main aim was just to have a bit of practice but we were sure we noticed a few fishes having a nibble at our baits.Eventually I managed to catch a brightly coloured garfish and a few moments later so did bugs.  Both measured just over 21 inches  although they only weighed around 8 oz each as they are a long thin fish. 
Both were well hooked and the garfish have long beaks full or teeth so they had to be dispatched. I ate one last night for supper and they taste rather good, sort of cross a firm cod/mackerel sort of taste. They do have loads of bones though, but they are easy to find as they are bright green!  The other one is in the freezer and a few strips of bait cut from the tail end.
Not a big catch but we learnt plenty, the main thing is to keep the tackle simple and the fish didn't seem too fussy - first nibble was on a home made feather, I caught mine on a strip of mackerel bait and Bugs caught her's on a spinning lure. Now off to find out how you should weight a small lure so you can cast it a decent distance. |
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| Jonnyboy |
Well done both!
Rick Stein's 'seafood' has an illustrated guide to filleting garfish |
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| Treacodactyl |
So it does, I've just dug out the book! I did actually fillet them and did it in a similar way. Looking at the comment about not gutting small fish the ones we had were easy to gut so perhaps were a reasonable size. I just coated my fillets with flour with salt & black pepper added to it and fried lightly for a couple of minutes in olive oil. | ||||
| Jonnyboy |
For really fresh fish I think a simple treatment like that is best. | ||||
| Bodger |
If Gar Fish grew any bigger, I don't think that anyone would fish for anything else. They are tail walking mini marlin, its a shame that the record for them only stands at a round 2lb.
I caught my first ones many years ago on float in Coverack in Cornwall. They fight in a very spectacular way, almost out of the water as much as they are in it as they try to throw the hook from their boney mouths.
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| Treacodactyl |
Before we caught anything Bugs saw something jump out the sea only a few meters from the shore, probably a garfish. The were lively beasts when landed, although having heavy tackle they didn't pose much of a problem thankfully. | ||||
| Green Rosie |
Garfish - I saw these strange looking fish on the market for the first time last week and they were very popular with the French. I did not know how to cook them but sounds like I should give them a go - especially if I can get the fishmonger to fillet them. | ||||
| Treacodactyl |
Worth trying Rosie but even if filleted they have some small bones running down the side that'll be in the fillet. Once cooked they are easy to spot and remove and you're left with what looks like bright green eyelashes as the bones are green.
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| Green Rosie |
We have friends visiting this week-end so maybe not one to try on them - one is strictly a chicken stir fry man (Groan) - but if they are on the market the following Friday I'll give them a go. As for chicken stir fry friend - I might still get some mussels if only to see his face .... and I did see some frozen garlic escargots in the supermarket 
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| Treacodactyl |
Snails are one thing I've yet to get the taste for and I eat a fair few strange things; I've eaten limpets, winkles and seaweed tonight for example. Worth serving snails to your friend though and pretending you'll be so very upset if they don't eat them.
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| Green Rosie |
We have the same sense of humour there!! I love snails and round here we have loads of the large Roman Snails which I have seen people collecting to eat. Need to look up what you have to do to make them palatable - I vaguely remember something about feeding them lettuce and then starving them - or I might have dreamt that ... 
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| Treacodactyl |
We get large plump and probably tastey Roman snails near us as well, but sadly they seem to be protected. Anyway, processing snails has cropped up once or twice here. Purge by feeding them lettuce for a few days (I'm sure the ones I've done know what's going to happen as they seem to refuse to eat the lettuce), starve for a day and then cook. Some old threads:
http://forum.downsizer.net/viewtopic.php?t=3621 http://forum.downsizer.net/viewtopic.php?t=12945 |
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| Green Rosie |
I am not sure the French understand what a protection order is, especially if it can be shot and/or eaten!! Mind you the snails ae really common round here so may well not be protected. I will investigate for my own interest. Where I lived in Kent, I worked on a few wildlife sites where they existed and got really excited if we saw one because they were so rare. How different it is here! | ||||
| Treacodactyl |
I very much doubt they are protected over there and I'm rather surprised they are here considering they are non-native. Anyway, they are fun to see and quite common on the Surrey part of the North Downs round here - you have to take care not to tread on them when it's been raining during the warm months. | ||||
| Green Rosie |
We also have the largest slugs here that I have ever seen - some are bright orange and others are best described as brindle. Hopefully they only eat dead plant material and not the live stuff I have recently planted in my new veg patch | ||||
| Treacodactyl |
Back to the garfish, here's a pic I took before munching them.
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| dpack |
tasty , my first one was a bit of a shock | ||||
| Treacodactyl |
It surprised me and you should have seen the expression on Bugs' face as it was her first ever fish.
Now, what's going to be easy and tasty to catch from the beach in a month or so? |
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| Jonnyboy |
Lovely pic, they look so fresh! |
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| Bodger |
Hand on heart, how did you rate them eating wise?
I use to fish for them under a bubble float with just a small thin strip of mackerel. Garfish like to get under floating debri such as seaweed or a piece of wood and so in the vacinity of any flotsum and jetsom is always a good place to cast. |
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| Treacodactyl |
Not that fresh, they were a couple of hours old when eaten.
They were quite boney although that will not put me off and flavour wise they were great. I would certainly like to catch some more so thanks for the tips. |
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| bernie-woman |
Beautiful looking fish - they look almost prehistoric
I love beach fishing - am hoping to be able to catch something down in Devon over the next couple of weeks
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| gil |
Sounds great, and they look very good. Do they remind you of a scythe blade too ?
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| Treacodactyl |
Good luck and I'd love to hear what you catch. Gil, now you mention it they do look a bit like a scythe. Perhaps not obvious in the photo but they also have a large number of quite large teeth for their size. |
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| fish (the other one) |
when i was working as a fish monger i allways tried to get a few garfish for the counter display,good thing to get folk looking ,by the way the y are fab smoked! i used to make a fab pate with gar too! | ||||
| bernie-woman |
Ummmmm ....... (nothing, unless you want to count pieces of seaweed) - it's a good job I have a good sense of humour - there were many fishermen on the beach at the same time who took pity on me and gave me all sorts of advice but I was excellent entertainment for them 
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| Stewy |
Only ever caught one and that was off Chesil a few years back, weird bloody things, I chucked it back as I didn't really fancy scoffing it.
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| dpack |
good flavour ,spikey bones
be careful |
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| fish (the other one) |
theyre a great fight on light tackle,try light floating kit with a slither of mackerel on a 1/0 circle hook. | ||||
| Steve the Hiker |
Garfish bonesThought you might like to know that Garfish bones are fantastic when fried in very hot oil for a couple of minutes. Crispy and tasting something like pork crackling. |
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| tahir |
Re: Garfish bones
You've eaten something that even dpack hasn't? Welcome on board.
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| dpack |
many a garfish has got scranned
tasty if a bit spiky must try harder
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