We have been eating this fish for years! The meat as you stated has a soft consistency so we we would gut the fish and refrigerate for a couple of hours. this allows the meat to turn into mush basically. Then we would spoon the meat of the bones but do not introduce water because it will ruin it. So now you have all this soft meat and we would season add egg to hold it together and add green peppers and onions and form patties like salmon patties and fry.
The key to Bowfin is keep it ice cold . Before it dies ice it down and keep it cold throughout the Cleaning process and up the moment you roll it in your breading mix and put into the skillet. this way it will stay firm. Don't freeze it without cooking it about 3/4 of the way done first or it will be mushy. After freezing finish cooking it and you have a quick meal.
This is correct. It’s a strange meat, turns into a melted cotton candy texture if hot. We call em Grinell down hear in southeast Texas ain’t bad eating if you let ‘em flop in the ice, in January. Not so good in July.
When I was a kid fishing the Ohoopee River in Emanuel County Georgia with my PaPa well my Granny told me Son if you catch a blackfish bring him to me and I did and she loved it It had fins all the way down it’s back🤙🏻🙏🏼🤠❤️
I from trinidad and tobago and the reason i subscribed to your channel is because of your not afraid to try these species of fish...simply because some of the fish your catch and cook is prized fish in my country that we go fishing for apart from all the regular ones....well done man👊
I grew up eating Bowfin but here in South Louisiana we call them Choupic and instead of water we use vinegar because water seams to turn the meat into mush. We also make patties out of them like crab patties.
You are absolutely right!! My wife and I recently started bank fishing as a hobby and were catching quite a few Bowfin we always called them Mudfish. well we were messing around on youtube and seen where someone did a catch and cookon them so resided to give them a try. They were very good, reminded me of cat fish.
You know, I was thinking when looking at the filets the bowfin looked a lot like catfish taken from warm waters. I find that warm water cats prior to cooking has a pretty mushy look and feel, yet once cooked it firms up nicely. I can't wait to give these bowfins a try. The meat appears every bit as white, as firm and as flaky after frying as does catfish. l bet it tastes quite a lot like catfish. If it is close, at all, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
SouthTX Outdoors honest to god I tried to fillet one today and I don’t know what it is they’re just so freaking weird and slimy I can’t get a good grip on the fish even with gloves I say I only got like 5 pounds of meat out of the 12 pound fish honestly a disgrace of a job for me but nonetheless they’re really hard to fillet no idea why
We call them "grennel" in Mississippi. They are fun to catch. Extremely powerful with great stamina. A 5lb grennel is like a small truck pulling on your rod, lol. I'm surprised yours tasted as good as it did with you leaving al that red fat/flesh on the meat. It's best to trim that off. It requires a super-sharp blade, which i don't think you had that day.
Where's a good spot to catch em at in Mississippi? I've seen a few people around my way catch them over the years around Calhoun County and Grenada lake. But I rarely see these fish.
Hahahaha I’m not here for the result of the catch and cook, I’m just here to watch you fillet the fish. 🤦♂️ bro I love your vids but you need to get a good fillet knife sponsorships.
Here's my suggestion for you Do a tasters test Get three guys together and have them do a blind test of five or six fish such as dogfish carp largemouth crappie reddevil catfish snakehhead and see what the top/lows are Gangbusters!
I live in eastern Texas where the bowfin are called grendel. I catch them often, ALWAYS feeding them to my hogs. Now I'll take time to try them for myself due to YOUR VIDEO. THANKS BRO: FISH ON...
I live in the Philippines and we call it dalag(mudfish). Some of our people cultured it and some catch it from the wild mostly river and creeks and sometimes in our ricefields. That fish taste really good if you know how to cook it properly.
I just recently got into these after my dad and somebody timers talking about em. Bleed em out, run your knife down the fins and filled em down to the belly, scrape all the meat in a bowel with seasoning and flour and make patties out of em and fry em up
When I was young in the early 1960's, my dad, brother and I would catch mudfish from where we duck hunted in Marion County Florida in the winter and would catch mudfish and large mouth bass in the spring. There's no freshwater fish that fights as hard as a mudfish. We never released any mudfish as they had the trash fish reputation and we're enemies of bass and bream and we had no problems of giving the fish away to very happy recipients. Good to know how delicious they are. Thanks for the "Catch & Cook." 🤩🤓🧓
In Louisiana u catch choupic on everything such as crank baits,rattle traps, Beatle spins, worms,etc trust me I caught choupic on all of those baits I mentioned and more.
Years ago the caviar industry came in and started buying the roe. $9/lb paid to the fishermen. They normally sold the whole fish for $1.50 - $2.00 PER FISH! It resulted in the wholesale slaughter of tens of thousands of big females and taking ALL of their eggs out of the ecosystem. As a Louisiana native, I’m glad to hear they shut that crap down. It took years for choupic populations to recover.
North Louisiana here. On Toledo bend we always called them grenal. When I was 7 or 8 I caught one for the first time. It was green from algae. I thought I caught an extinct dinosaur fish 😂
I’m from Cambodia I know a lot about dat fish .. dat fish we never fillet we cook the hold thing .. so the meat is not soft if u grill u have to push a lot salt warp on the fish .. I’m telling y’all dat fish is really good
Mississippian and “grinnell” lover here! Don’t get the meat wet! Keep them cold and alive as long as possible and when filleting don’t rinse them with water! Sounds bad but that’s what causes the bad texture! Pat it dry, batter and fry!
Cool video. I haven’t eaten one for several decades back when I was a kid. We used to catch them and eat them at my family river camp. They taste really good fried, but they’re hard to clean. Maybe that’s why they get a reputation is not being a good eating fish.
It’s crazy because I had never tried bowfin until 2 days ago because I’d always let the fish die and then the meat would be mushy, but let it stay alive until u get home and then knock it out with a hammer and then fillet it. The meat is perfect and not mushy at all. I’m glad I found this out so I’m sharing it with everybody
Ah man, these are kinda lame now since it goes straight to you reeling them in and completely leaving out the fun of doing a few casts, looking for the perfect location of the fish. I've always cared more about the actually catching on these video's than the cooking.
@@Zonezero05 for sure. That's how my brother and I catch them. Cut blue gill with a sinker. We fish the slough from the Mississippi River here in Missouri. We throw them back all day.
Good trick with bowfin is keep it cold and alive as long as possible. Out of the water, into a cooler on ice. The meat deteriorates super quick in texture. I then fillet them right away, boil and cool the filets and make fish cakes.
I was given some bowfins that my nephew didn't want to eat. I put them in my garden to fertilize my plants. If they don't turn out you can do this or animals would like them.
This fish is very tasty! It's consistency of the meat is very, very soft and is best fried. I used House Autry Seafood Seasoning Mix and deep fried it. It is delicious!!
When you catch a bowfin put it in a cooler full of ice before you fillet it give it a 2 to 3 inch cut in the hole beneath the stomach let it bleed out for a while make sure it is fully bled out and the meat will no longer be mushy trust me bowfin are my Favorite fish to eat
Good job filleting it. Hint a electric fillet knife works great on any fish. once you use one you will not clean a fish without one. Also, mudfish needs to be cleaned just as soon as you kill the fish or the meat will get really soft and gooie.
I live for fishing, I have caught alot of these fishes. I am now not going to throw it back, going to cook and eat it, it's very good eating. Deep fry with seasings salt, yum.
I caught about five of those this weekend I just got back from going on a fishing tripThe fish were biting good at Rodman damn and I ended up catching about 30 most catch and release but won ate the hook so I decided to keep him my way next, keeping them and trying it out for myself
@@simbo52 Shouldn't throw them on the bank; they are an important part of the ecosystem. Anyway, return them to the water so somebody else can catch them...
Before I start keeping and eating Bowfin I have questions. Do you eat Pelicans, Coyotes, Fox, Slugs, earthworms or Wild Turkeys? Have to know your taste spectrum.
I caught a pretty big one today and kept him alive in the live well and took it out and immediately filet while still alive and the meat stayed firm......I had a huge filet....the most meat I gotten off any fish. The key is keeping them fresh. If not they are only good for fish patties or balls
I am talking on my wife’s account,... But, keep them alive, and DRY!!! I use paper towels when filets are made to keep drying them off, and then FRESHLY bread and fry(we did on the Pearl River Bank in Neshoba County Camping, and it was my favorite (right up with Catfish!!!!). Best memories!!! A loaf of bread, a fresh raw onion cut into ringlets, Cayenne Peppers fresh from the Garden, and some Tomato Ketchup and Pepper Sauce(Peppers and Vinegar), and Hot Sauce(Tabasco for me, Bull, and Crystal), Lol!!!! Good Times!!! And a Breading of 3/4 Cornmeal-1/4 Flour, Salt/Pepper, Slap Your Mama Seasoning, and a Paper sack to sack coat them.... Fry!!!! Hush Puppies if at home😜❤️
Lacey Carrington yes we call them Grinnell too where I stay I never knew the real name of them till recently... I bet you have good recipe and how to prepare the fish please share
We call them Grinnel here in Indiana. I always heard bad things about them, but I caught a good size one yesterday and tossed him in a makeshift live well till I got home, then dispatched him and started filleting pretty quickly. One thing I didn’t have was the smell you’re talking about. I think it’s because you cut into the intestines a bit. Whatever he was digesting must’ve been pretty gnarly.
Slit the tail to bleed out and put on ice within minutes of catching them to keep firm texture ice is your best friend with bowfin...keep as cold as possible....after cleaning back on ice until ready to cook .....ice ice ice ice!!!!!!
I've been catching them for years in Indiana they are large and never ate any because people say there no good I'm going to try it reviewers say it's better than catfish.
Caught one this morning. Old timer was passing by in his boat, I asked him if they are worth keeping. He said he tried it once, was real mushy, now he doesn't keep. So I threw it back
I can tell from watching you fillet it that you either put these on ice or let it die before cleaning it. You have to keep these alive until you clean them
Can you do catfish? Try channels, flathead or blue cats. And compare them all. I want your opinion on the taste of them. I heard that bottom feeders aren't good
The best way to keep the filets together and not mushy. Is to keep the fish alive and clean it. Then soak them in ice water and vinegar for about 5 to 10 minutes then bread them and fry.
I made some years ago. Batter fired it. Two different times. Mushy. Didn't taste fishy but wouldn't eat it again unless I was stranded on an island and starving to death. Way better fish to eat vs them.
Queasy Islander 02 no not really I’m not defending his skills they look pretty flawed but I legit filleted a bowfin this evening and it’s was so freaking nasty it looked exactly the same
I had the same problem For years until about 2 days ago. You have to keep the bowfin alive until you get home then bash it on the head with a hammer. After it’s knocked out, fillet it and it’s waaaaaaaaaaaaayy firmer , just like catfish. someone said u can’t wet it or it’ll be mushy, that is a lie. I washed my bowfin nuggets in cold water and they were fine and then I threw them in some fish fry and fried them, they were perfect and I’ll definitely be keeping them now that I know how to keep them from going mushy .
Good camera , Great look at the cooked flesh. Looked great . They ( Mud fish ) are now on my menu . PS I heard on other utubes DON'T freeze the meat though . Turns them to mush . But on Ice or fridge is fine.
Thank you for the video. I know where some nice mudfish hang out at up a creek comming off the Gulf and my son's and i are going to catch some and fry them up God willing 🌎✌🙏🙏🙏
I'm here too tell you it the best fish too eat. You catch it an put it in a cooler an let him calm down then have a bowl of water on ice an vinegar. Once he is calm take a electrical filet knife an you have too filet him alive an take the meat an put it in the water,ice an vinegar. Let it soak for bout 15 min then batter it up an fry or grill it. Once there dead an you try to cook them this is what you get. I catch them all the time an we eat them as snakes or even a meal. Just try it!!!!
I recently found a way to make Sheephead AKA Drum taste well. I chopped one of these things heads off with a machete yesterday trying to get my bait back. I don't think the ones up here in western Wisconsin along the Mississippi that swim with the channel cats... yea, I highly doubt it. Next time I catch a small one I may keep an open mind and try it... but I will have bourbon and IPA next to me to wash my mouth out. May want to tell people filleting a dogfish is nothing like filleting other fish. Also, a technique for cleaning fish that helps a lot is to cut along the vertebrate before making the incision behind the gills whenever dealing with a fish that has scales of armor, and even then it's a pain to make that cut (do it at an angle of course). My concern with these outside taste is simple: Here they are so abundant and undesired most people kill them and bury them. Same with sheephead and carp. The reason I am reluctant to try them outside of taste: heavy metal and PCB content. These fish are like dinosaurs. Pro tip: If you're insane enough to actually TRY to catch one of these ugly things: Piss in the water, as well as bleed out your other catches in the water. They are in the shark family and sharks are attracted to both; here you don't have to try to catch them, you're likely to be plagued by them. A family friend of mine lost an entire stringer of fish last week because a dogfish swam up, grabbed the fish and broke the branch holding the stringer - this isn't uncommon. They come up and bite chunks out of your fish as well.
Purging them in a small swimming pool is also not a bad idea. This will get rid of a lot of the slime. After doing that for a while, cut their gill and let them bleed out. This will make for better filets with less of a marshy taste. I do this with -any- predator fish. If you don't want to purge, simply cut their gill and let them bleed out at the river prior to taking them home.
My grandpa keeps telling me to keep some of them. I catch a lot of them but let them go normally. Love catching them. He used to eat them a lot when he was a kid. Might keep one soon
We have been eating this fish for years! The meat as you stated has a soft consistency so we we would gut the fish and refrigerate for a couple of hours. this allows the meat to turn into mush basically. Then we would spoon the meat of the bones but do not introduce water because it will ruin it. So now you have all this soft meat and we would season add egg to hold it together and add green peppers and onions and form patties like salmon patties and fry.
The key to Bowfin is keep it ice cold . Before it dies ice it down and keep it cold throughout the Cleaning process and up the moment you roll it in your breading mix and put into the skillet. this way it will stay firm. Don't freeze it without cooking it about 3/4 of the way done first or it will be mushy. After freezing finish cooking it and you have a quick meal.
Or just keep it alive u til u get home and hit it over the head with a hammer and then fillet it. The meat is way firmer
This is correct. It’s a strange meat, turns into a melted cotton candy texture if hot. We call em Grinell down hear in southeast Texas ain’t bad eating if you let ‘em flop in the ice, in January. Not so good in July.
Pretty sure that’s any fish 👍🏻👍🏻
When I was a kid fishing the Ohoopee River in Emanuel County Georgia with my PaPa well my Granny told me Son if you catch a blackfish bring him to me and I did and she loved it It had fins all the way down it’s back🤙🏻🙏🏼🤠❤️
I from trinidad and tobago and the reason i subscribed to your channel is because of your not afraid to try these species of fish...simply because some of the fish your catch and cook is prized fish in my country that we go fishing for apart from all the regular ones....well done man👊
I grew up eating Bowfin but here in South Louisiana we call them Choupic and instead of water we use vinegar because water seams to turn the meat into mush. We also make patties out of them like crab patties.
Best fighting freshwater fish ive ever caught
Destroyed my new Finnish lure on one today, ripped the rear trebel hook off the ring, twisted metal!
What a fighter!
You are absolutely right!! My wife and I recently started bank fishing as a hobby and were catching quite a few Bowfin we always called them Mudfish. well we were messing around on youtube and seen where someone did a catch and cookon them so resided to give them a try. They were very good, reminded me of cat fish.
You know, I was thinking when looking at the filets the bowfin looked a lot like catfish taken from warm waters. I find that warm water cats prior to cooking has a pretty mushy look and feel, yet once cooked it firms up nicely. I can't wait to give these bowfins a try. The meat appears every bit as white, as firm and as flaky after frying as does catfish. l bet it tastes quite a lot like catfish. If it is close, at all, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
Please work on your filleting man
Yeah he butchered the hell out of that thing
He has always been shit at filleting, don't think he is going to get better.
SouthTX Outdoors honest to god I tried to fillet one today and I don’t know what it is they’re just so freaking weird and slimy I can’t get a good grip on the fish even with gloves I say I only got like 5 pounds of meat out of the 12 pound fish honestly a disgrace of a job for me but nonetheless they’re really hard to fillet no idea why
Zatlan54 thank you, bowfin are hard to clean, everyone knocking him for his filet job but don’t understand how difficult it is
Lol
Catch and cook: freshwater drum (sheephead in Midwest, Gasper gou, croaker)
They don't have fresh water drum in Florida
@@jeremiahsmall1744 I've never caught one in Florida, but its only a short drive to Alabama for me, and 'Bama is thick with them.
Yes I want to see freshwater Drum(great eastern white perch) caught and cooked
@@jackheath7991 I got a 14# drum on my channel. Lake Erie is full of big drum
We call them "grennel" in Mississippi. They are fun to catch. Extremely powerful with great stamina. A 5lb grennel is like a small truck pulling on your rod, lol. I'm surprised yours tasted as good as it did with you leaving al that red fat/flesh on the meat. It's best to trim that off. It requires a super-sharp blade, which i don't think you had that day.
Where's a good spot to catch em at in Mississippi? I've seen a few people around my way catch them over the years around Calhoun County and Grenada lake. But I rarely see these fish.
Hahahaha I’m not here for the result of the catch and cook, I’m just here to watch you fillet the fish. 🤦♂️ bro I love your vids but you need to get a good fillet knife sponsorships.
lifeisgoodenjoydaryd looks like I I did the filleting of the dog fish
That's hilarious
Here's my suggestion for you
Do a tasters test Get three guys together and have them do a blind test of five or six fish such as dogfish carp largemouth crappie reddevil catfish snakehhead and see what the top/lows are
Gangbusters!
I would like to see that video. Give me a link
I live in eastern Texas where the bowfin are called grendel. I catch them often, ALWAYS feeding them to my hogs.
Now I'll take time to try them for myself due to YOUR VIDEO.
THANKS BRO: FISH ON...
I live in the Philippines and we call it dalag(mudfish). Some of our people cultured it and some catch it from the wild mostly river and creeks and sometimes in our ricefields. That fish taste really good if you know how to cook it properly.
I just recently got into these after my dad and somebody timers talking about em. Bleed em out, run your knife down the fins and filled em down to the belly, scrape all the meat in a bowel with seasoning and flour and make patties out of em and fry em up
Eat it already!!!
It's seriously amazing!
When I was young in the early 1960's, my dad, brother and I would catch mudfish from where we duck hunted in Marion County Florida in the winter and would catch mudfish and large mouth bass in the spring. There's no freshwater fish that fights as hard as a mudfish. We never released any mudfish as they had the trash fish reputation and we're enemies of bass and bream and we had no problems of giving the fish away to very happy recipients. Good to know how delicious they are. Thanks for the "Catch & Cook." 🤩🤓🧓
In Louisiana they commercial fish bowfin and even have size limits, number limits and closed season during the spawn.
Logger John.
John Tadlock here in Louisiana we call them choupique. Pronounced shoe pick.
Some of the best eating freshwater has to offer. He fucked up by letting it die before he cleaned it
In Louisiana u catch choupic on everything such as crank baits,rattle traps, Beatle spins, worms,etc trust me I caught choupic on all of those baits I mentioned and more.
Years ago the caviar industry came in and started buying the roe. $9/lb paid to the fishermen. They normally sold the whole fish for $1.50 - $2.00 PER FISH! It resulted in the wholesale slaughter of tens of thousands of big females and taking ALL of their eggs out of the ecosystem. As a Louisiana native, I’m glad to hear they shut that crap down. It took years for choupic populations to recover.
We call them choupique (shoe-pick) here is south Louisiana! Nice video dude, I’ve never eaten them I’ll have to try it one day though!
Trent Boudreaux I’m from south La as well we catch em on jug lines in the basin a lot. Taste if fine but texture is mushy.
North Louisiana here. On Toledo bend we always called them grenal. When I was 7 or 8 I caught one for the first time. It was green from algae. I thought I caught an extinct dinosaur fish 😂
I’m from Cambodia I know a lot about dat fish .. dat fish we never fillet we cook the hold thing .. so the meat is not soft if u grill u have to push a lot salt warp on the fish .. I’m telling y’all dat fish is really good
Mississippian and “grinnell” lover here! Don’t get the meat wet! Keep them cold and alive as long as possible and when filleting don’t rinse them with water! Sounds bad but that’s what causes the bad texture! Pat it dry, batter and fry!
Cool video. I haven’t eaten one for several decades back when I was a kid. We used to catch them and eat them at my family river camp. They taste really good fried, but they’re hard to clean. Maybe that’s why they get a reputation is not being a good eating fish.
It’s crazy because I had never tried bowfin until 2 days ago because I’d always let the fish die and then the meat would be mushy, but let it stay alive until u get home and then knock it out with a hammer and then fillet it. The meat is perfect and not mushy at all. I’m glad I found this out so I’m sharing it with everybody
They are actually pretty tasty, the key is getting em while the water is cooler, much better taste from cooler water
Thanks for teaching me how to clean this mudfish. Because I was told this mudfish we should not eat it. You prove me wrong.
Here's a true challenge. If you ever go where catching and keeping burbot is legal try it
First time I ever seen your video very impressive looking to watch more of your videos keep up the good work
Ah man, these are kinda lame now since it goes straight to you reeling them in and completely leaving out the fun of doing a few casts, looking for the perfect location of the fish. I've always cared more about the actually catching on these video's than the cooking.
thoamas lizbad his last vid prior to this showed him out catching the bowfin. He was in everglades going out for bass
thoamas lizbad yo dude. Him catching this fish was in another video. This was just his catch and cook portion. Check out all of his other vids.
I prefer this style. He puts his fishing vids out for fishing.... This is the catch and cook.
Go on wiki, they explain their habitat accurately. Catch them easily on cutbait on a sinker if they're in the area.
@@Zonezero05 for sure. That's how my brother and I catch them. Cut blue gill with a sinker. We fish the slough from the Mississippi River here in Missouri. We throw them back all day.
My 12 years old son just got one today it was huge really big well I cleaned and put a salt lemon juice pepper and fried the fillet really good
Good trick with bowfin is keep it cold and alive as long as possible. Out of the water, into a cooler on ice. The meat deteriorates super quick in texture. I then fillet them right away, boil and cool the filets and make fish cakes.
I was given some bowfins that my nephew didn't want to eat. I put them in my garden to fertilize my plants. If they don't turn out you can do this or animals would like them.
We also call them Grinnell in Arkansas
How would you compare this fish taste to northern snakehead
Besides the main spinal and rib cages, are there any small needle bones or y-bones like suckers and or northern pikes?
Should go from live to skillet or they get soggy like cotton ie. Cottonfish. They are good eating best when fresh not frozen overnight
I’ve ate them a few times. Eat them fresh and they are kind of like chicken and fish. Meat was always hardy. Tastes better than large mouth bass
As long as you clean it right. Take the mud vane. Filet it. Got to be fresh. Best fresh water fish there is.
I've always wondered how those ugly bastards tasted!!! Lol, dude I might be down your way next week! I DM'd you on IG
Wanna know something even more interesting they lived with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago
Nah the texture is gross and they taste like mud hence the nickname:mudfish
This fish is very tasty! It's consistency of the meat is very, very soft and is best fried. I used House Autry Seafood Seasoning Mix and deep fried it. It is delicious!!
Very similar to catfish! Great vid!
We just shot a bunch this weekend bowfishing. Told my son we should try eating one. He said no. Think I'm gonna give this a try on our next outting.
When you catch a bowfin put it in a cooler full of ice before you fillet it give it a 2 to 3 inch cut in the hole beneath the stomach let it bleed out for a while make sure it is fully bled out and the meat will no longer be mushy trust me bowfin are my Favorite fish to eat
Good job filleting it. Hint a electric fillet knife works great on any fish. once you use one you will not clean a fish without one. Also, mudfish needs to be cleaned just as soon as you kill the fish or the meat will get really soft and gooie.
Electric knifes leave to much meat behind in my opinion
worst fillet job ever
The description says they are a bigtime predator.......for the most part, fish that eat other fish taste pretty dang good!!! ^_^
I live for fishing, I have caught alot of these fishes. I am now not going to throw it back, going to cook and eat it, it's very good eating. Deep fry with seasings salt, yum.
I caught about five of those this weekend I just got back from going on a fishing tripThe fish were biting good at Rodman damn and I ended up catching about 30 most catch and release but won ate the hook so I decided to keep him my way next, keeping them and trying it out for myself
How was it
Man i'm bummed. We've been dispatching these when we catch them as unwanted evasive predators. Next time I get one he is going straight to the grease!
Riccardo Rasberry if you’re in the US they are native just so you know
They are our oldest native fish and wanton waste is illegal.
@@katyaks8770 just so you know by 'dispatching' I mean releasing them right away...fyi
That's good generally when people think something is invasive they say dispatch instead of kill.
They are not invasive your thinking about snakeheads bro
When cooking bowfin you have to keep the fish alive until right before you clean and cook it. The meat will not me mushy if it’s done fresh
I tried bowfine once, and it tasted like actual swamp water and mud
Michael Pearson really?
Yeah they are terrible tome we used to catch them and throw out on the bank. Nobody eat them where I lived we just like to catch them.
@@simbo52 Shouldn't throw them on the bank; they are an important part of the ecosystem. Anyway, return them to the water so somebody else can catch them...
I caught a few 5 pounders/ 20”< and I just have to know if it’s worth it.
Before I start keeping and eating Bowfin I have questions. Do you eat Pelicans, Coyotes, Fox, Slugs, earthworms or Wild Turkeys? Have to know your taste spectrum.
Stop it, get some help
I caught a pretty big one today and kept him alive in the live well and took it out and immediately filet while still alive and the meat stayed firm......I had a huge filet....the most meat I gotten off any fish. The key is keeping them fresh. If not they are only good for fish patties or balls
I am talking on my wife’s account,...
But, keep them alive, and DRY!!! I use paper towels when filets are made to keep drying them off, and then FRESHLY bread and fry(we did on the Pearl River Bank in Neshoba County Camping, and it was my favorite (right up with Catfish!!!!).
Best memories!!! A loaf of bread, a fresh raw onion cut into ringlets, Cayenne Peppers fresh from the Garden, and some Tomato Ketchup and Pepper Sauce(Peppers and Vinegar), and Hot Sauce(Tabasco for me, Bull, and Crystal), Lol!!!! Good Times!!!
And a Breading of 3/4 Cornmeal-1/4 Flour, Salt/Pepper, Slap Your Mama Seasoning, and a Paper sack to sack coat them.... Fry!!!!
Hush Puppies if at home😜❤️
Aud I go fishing there sometime
You can't let it die you have clean it a live and don't put it in water or keep it over night in the fridge frey it the same day you felt it
Now I'm excited to eat it now, caught a huge one the other day.
Can you do bluegill, perch, and sunfish?
He already did blue Gill and they don't have perch in Florida
When he pulled the mouth wash out I started dying. Great vid btw
I hope you recovered!
Man we eat Bowfin down here in Louisiana all the time. We called it Grinnell but it’s the same exact fish. I was raised eating it.
Lacey Carrington yes we call them Grinnell too where I stay I never knew the real name of them till recently... I bet you have good recipe and how to prepare the fish please share
We call them Grinnel here in Indiana. I always heard bad things about them, but I caught a good size one yesterday and tossed him in a makeshift live well till I got home, then dispatched him and started filleting pretty quickly. One thing I didn’t have was the smell you’re talking about. I think it’s because you cut into the intestines a bit. Whatever he was digesting must’ve been pretty gnarly.
Do spade fish plz it is really good
A little lemon juice and everglades and you have your self a five star recipe
Slit the tail to bleed out and put on ice within minutes of catching them to keep firm texture ice is your best friend with bowfin...keep as cold as possible....after cleaning back on ice until ready to cook .....ice ice ice ice!!!!!!
Love the catch and cook videos!
Will you ever try bullshak
I've been catching them for years in Indiana they are large and never ate any because people say there no good I'm going to try it reviewers say it's better than catfish.
Were you using a butter knife to fillet those things out? So, they definitely taste better than they smell, huh?
Caught one this morning. Old timer was passing by in his boat, I asked him if they are worth keeping. He said he tried it once, was real mushy, now he doesn't keep. So I threw it back
I can tell from watching you fillet it that you either put these on ice or let it die before cleaning it. You have to keep these alive until you clean them
these things take forever to die they live for a long time out of water
They have super hard skin and their scales are like armor. Plus, they put up a fight if you keep them alive while filleting
Can you do catfish? Try channels, flathead or blue cats. And compare them all. I want your opinion on the taste of them. I heard that bottom feeders aren't good
Most people had catfish before so I think it would be an interesting video comparing them all. And giving your opinion on the meat
Well you heard wrong😂
From Seward Alaska... Thank You for your tremendously enjoyable videos!
I'm just glad he counted those fish pieces for me
The best way to keep the filets together and not mushy. Is to keep the fish alive and clean it. Then soak them in ice water and vinegar for about 5 to 10 minutes then bread them and fry.
Have you done largemouth bass yet?
Great video, straight to the point
this channel has become “I just caught a fish and I want to cook it”
Subbed and voted just because you tried to cook Bowfin. Respect!
Bowfin roe is sold as caviar. Not a bad substitute actually. Getting expensive.
I made some years ago. Batter fired it. Two different times. Mushy. Didn't taste fishy but wouldn't eat it again unless I was stranded on an island and starving to death. Way better fish to eat vs them.
that meat when you were filleting it looked disgusting
Fishing Infinite it looked bad because he sucks at filleting
It firmed up when cooked tho.
Queasy Islander 02 no not really I’m not defending his skills they look pretty flawed but I legit filleted a bowfin this evening and it’s was so freaking nasty it looked exactly the same
That was nasty it wasn't even done right you have to bleed and leave a layer of skin to hold meat together
Unless you full a bowfin right after they died then there meat is known to get mushy
Just FYI everyone! Bowfin are a lot harder to fellet than anything else. It's like holding a bar of soap, and it's hide's as tough as leather.
My dad caught one when I was 5 it was just as big as me
bowfin meatballs next
Your catch and cooks are the absolute best.
Thanks
You’re kind of my go-to for when I’m curious about normally not eaten fish.
Your welcome
I had the same problem
For years until about 2 days ago. You have to keep the bowfin alive until you get home then bash it on the head with a hammer. After it’s knocked out, fillet it and it’s waaaaaaaaaaaaayy firmer , just like catfish. someone said u can’t wet it or it’ll be mushy, that is a lie. I washed my bowfin nuggets in cold water and they were fine and then I threw them in some fish fry and fried them, they were perfect and I’ll definitely be keeping them now that I know how to keep them from going mushy .
Glad to finally see this! As living in Tampa we see these a lot & usually give them away
Where at in Tampa?
Maybe catch and cook something else other than fish? .... like crab or something just to change it up a bit ya know?
Great video. Never tried this fish. It's called a grinnel in Texas.
Old timers just used to cut it into steaks instead of cutting it into filets. This may help prevent the mushy texture.
Good camera , Great look at the cooked flesh. Looked great . They ( Mud fish ) are now on my menu . PS I heard on other utubes DON'T freeze the meat though . Turns them to mush . But on Ice or fridge is fine.
You have so much fish variety, I get to pick, trout, trout, trout, and some trout. I did once catch a Kokanee salmon, but it was to small to eat.
Thank you for the video. I know where some nice mudfish hang out at up a creek comming off the Gulf and my son's and i are going to catch some and fry them up God willing 🌎✌🙏🙏🙏
Crazy, I caught one the other day, should've eaten it! Oh well, next time!
GREAT fish, filet it fresh and it is best caught out of colder waters.
Catch and cook a pleco?
Mouth rinse from Dollar Tree…actually good stuff.
I'm here too tell you it the best fish too eat. You catch it an put it in a cooler an let him calm down then have a bowl of water on ice an vinegar. Once he is calm take a electrical filet knife an you have too filet him alive an take the meat an put it in the water,ice an vinegar. Let it soak for bout 15 min then batter it up an fry or grill it. Once there dead an you try to cook them this is what you get. I catch them all the time an we eat them as snakes or even a meal. Just try it!!!!
I recently found a way to make Sheephead AKA Drum taste well. I chopped one of these things heads off with a machete yesterday trying to get my bait back. I don't think the ones up here in western Wisconsin along the Mississippi that swim with the channel cats... yea, I highly doubt it. Next time I catch a small one I may keep an open mind and try it... but I will have bourbon and IPA next to me to wash my mouth out.
May want to tell people filleting a dogfish is nothing like filleting other fish. Also, a technique for cleaning fish that helps a lot is to cut along the vertebrate before making the incision behind the gills whenever dealing with a fish that has scales of armor, and even then it's a pain to make that cut (do it at an angle of course).
My concern with these outside taste is simple: Here they are so abundant and undesired most people kill them and bury them. Same with sheephead and carp. The reason I am reluctant to try them outside of taste: heavy metal and PCB content. These fish are like dinosaurs.
Pro tip: If you're insane enough to actually TRY to catch one of these ugly things: Piss in the water, as well as bleed out your other catches in the water. They are in the shark family and sharks are attracted to both; here you don't have to try to catch them, you're likely to be plagued by them. A family friend of mine lost an entire stringer of fish last week because a dogfish swam up, grabbed the fish and broke the branch holding the stringer - this isn't uncommon. They come up and bite chunks out of your fish as well.
Purging them in a small swimming pool is also not a bad idea. This will get rid of a lot of the slime. After doing that for a while, cut their gill and let them bleed out. This will make for better filets with less of a marshy taste. I do this with -any- predator fish. If you don't want to purge, simply cut their gill and let them bleed out at the river prior to taking them home.
We made nuggets. They are now my wife's second favorite fish.
My grandpa keeps telling me to keep some of them. I catch a lot of them but let them go normally. Love catching them. He used to eat them a lot when he was a kid. Might keep one soon