Wrasse

[omega3]

Dave, am I going to be reading about you in my new book I just bought "the history of oilfield diving" ???

I have just got to the chapter "Libya" and its 1963. I will start looking now shall I?

Great book!!

Thats a delux Kirby modified by Divex. Good for at least another 30years I`m sure!!!

oooooooooooohh I hear you all say

James

[sunfish]

Hi Omega 3, don't eat Sunfish. They may seem big but I believe they're mostly bone and cartilage. We see them occasionaly here on the South coast of Ireland. They're recognisable from a distance by the way their large dorsal fin waves from side to side above the water surface. I think they come on the gulfstream and they're mainly seen in summer.
A couple of years ago I photographed a pair of lumpfish in their mating/nesting behaviour. The pics didn't come out well due to milky water conditions and the camera wasn't digital so I couldn't do much to them at that time. I can say that the female was a lot bigger than the male and she was slatey blue grey, whereas he was pinky purple with pink eyes. They almost looked like different species.

[omega3]

Sunfish are safe! lOl!
Well i went out yesterday and got these two.
I found filleting them a bit tricky but ended up with 4 nice "j" fillets as described by OMD. There was a fair bit to discard so I reckon cooked on the bone might be better to get every bit out of it.
I pan fried them to get a good idea of what they taste like.
The meat was firm and flakey. The taste was very very mild but started to come through after the 3rd fillet. It was nice enough!
I will have the odd one of these now and again to try in the suggested recipes.

[Old Man Dave]

I took a 5lb wrasse the other day http://forums.deeperblue.net/718952-post1088.html. Gave the fillets to my brother and the frame to my mate for pot bait. Yes the ratio of fillet to whole weight isn't too high but you still get a good meal from a decent fish.

Dave

[omega3]

Very nice!
I wish we got the bass. I love bass. The shop bass is all farmed and so I guess at the restaurant too around here.

[Mr. X]

I commend your desire to get more off each fish but OMD is wise -- convert the leftover carcass to tasty lobster via a lobster pot (mine is collapsible & cost about £6/7 off eBay - and could also be used to catch fishing bait or American Signal crayfish).

Otherwise, consider making fish stock with the head & skeleton (freeze it for later use), which can be used in other recipes, inc. boulabaise. Alternatively cutting a real big one one into steaks cross-sectionally will get most of the meat on the plate.

Saw a very big (deep rather than wide) ballan wrasse at the weekend & several other quite large ones. Not as big as those seen round the Lizard though.

[omega3]

Hi X
No point for the lobster pot for me .Its the only thing I have in abundance where I am. Parton crab as well. I can pick up as many as I need in a few minutes they are like rats up here, 10-20 in an hour easy if I wanted but I am happy with 6-8 all good size 4-5 lb and the odd monster. I will be putting one in the bag and looking at the next usually. The freezer is loaded with em! And they make great gifts. Its going for them that I see the wrasse which got me thinking about them. The stock pot is the answer or like you said BBQ....Yum!

PS even the local lobster guy doesn`t hate me or the others that come for them. He is using an all new pot from Canada which is supposed to be the mutts. Its quite a lot bigger and is baited really easily. He is often getting 7 in a pot he reckons! He says it is £54 to us lot but he gets em a lot cheaper.

[Mr. X]

You've got lobsters like rats & we're talking about wrasse?! I guess the novelty must wear off. I bet you're a popular guest.

[Old Man Dave]

The Old Foodie: Dialectical Difficluties.A parton (partan, partane, perton, perten, pertine, pertein, pertian) is, apparently, Gaelic for crab. Ain’t linguistic trivia grand?

Common edible brown crab (cancer cancer or something)?

Not so long ago (10years approx-ish) boats were travelling all the way from Guernsey to Scotland to fish for lobster. They would take their own pots and transport their catch back live in their vivier tanks after a month or so and then on to France to land them. We had the expertise and the experience to exploit a far away resource but it's no longer profitable as others with less overheads and less than a near 2000 mile round trip to make, have taken over. Lot of lobbies up there though, just not much of a market.

Dave

[podge]

Originally Posted by omega3

Hi X
No point for the lobster pot for me .Its the only thing I have in abundance where I am. Parton crab as well. I can pick up as many as I need in a few minutes they are like rats up here, 10-20 in an hour easy if I wanted but I am happy with 6-8 all good size 4-5 lb and the odd monster. I will be putting one in the bag and looking at the next usually. The freezer is loaded with em! And they make great gifts. Its going for them that I see the wrasse which got me thinking about them. The stock pot is the answer or like you said BBQ....Yum!

PS even the local lobster guy doesn`t hate me or the others that come for them. He is using an all new pot from Canada which is supposed to be the mutts. Its quite a lot bigger and is baited really easily. He is often getting 7 in a pot he reckons! He says it is £54 to us lot but he gets em a lot cheaper.

Lobster’s running around like rats……..
Wife pack the bags and drag the kids out of school, we’re moving to Scotland.

[omega3]

X , I tell ya lobster gets a LOT of favours. Most notably a flight on the jump seat of a Dornier 328 to Dundee and then on to Oslo Norway last year. It was great! ....."V1 Rotate" neeeeeeeeeeooooooooooooow!!!!!

Love the recipe on that site for them partons Dave . Going to try that for sure with wine and oysters.I mostly make soup and sandwhiches. Funny thing the market, the shops up here all stock the Canadian lobster of barely legal size. One of the fellas I work with, his brother is a lobster potter from Johnshaven down the road. He sells all his lobster to the local lobster magnate who stores them in a loch. Every year a team of about 4 drain the loch and count the lobster....Approx 78 000 !!!

Honey , leave the kids to fend for themseves, were off down South for bass.

[omega3]

Just read in todays P&J paper that the salmon farmers plan to breed Ballan Wrasse to combat the sea lice that plague the salmon cages. Its says Noway is already doing this.

[James T]

Great idea - didn't know that sea lice are a ballan wrasse bait.

[azapa]

we dig real big sea lice here, like the size of shrimps, from the breakers. they are dynamite bait for Bass, Flounder, grouper etc.

[Pav]

Closest thing that reminds me of Wrasse is Pollock / dab.
Little flavour.
Meat looks good , and fillets off large fish are substantial portions.
Scaling takes a bit more effort than the round fish like Mullet and Bass.

I imagine if cooked in the correct way with some strong flavours they make a satisfying meal.

I have only taken 2 whilst spearing for interest. I'm generally seeking out Bass (with little success this season! ). I often observe them in pairs hanging out by a cave. Almost as playful as the seals!