Has anyone eaten the invasive Northern Snakehead?

This article just got me wondering if they really are good eating or if it’s just hype. What about other invasive species? Friday night foreign fish fries perhaps. lol

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/08/15/340648935/fighting-tasty-invasive-fish-with-forks-and-knives

I’ve had smoked Silver and it’s awesome. Might have been the best smoke fish I’ve had…with the exception of the bones.

There are Y bones in the backstrap.

Haven’t had a snakehead…yet.

Have not eaten snakehead because fortunately they are not around here. Have eaten both grass carp and silver carp on several occasions and they are both tasty. They both have a lot of bones but there are ways to fillet around at least some of them. I figure maybe we can eat some to help with the problem. Maybe if they could make them taste like spam BK could single handedly reduce the population.

I’m working on the details to have smoked silver carp at Everts for the fall bite. Couple hurdles to jump, but I’m thinking many will be surprised.

That and I’m running low on Spam.

Not much different then Bowfin.

Dave Lozier wrote:

This article just got me wondering if they really are good eating or if it’s just hype. What about other invasive species? Friday night foreign fish fries perhaps. lol

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/08/15/340648935/fighting-tasty-invasive-fish-with-forks-and-knives

@MPLSPUG

The Pug is moving to Florida. We’ll have to check in with him in a couple of weeks for recipe ideas. Pug Moving to Florida

Really? Do you think he really could catch one?

Brian Klawitter wrote:

Really? Do you think he really could catch one?

Rumor is they are extremely aggressive. They might be aggressive enough to be the only fish I can limit out on. I saw Zach Hogan fish for them a couple weeks ago on Monster fish.

Like the Burmese Python, this fish seems to have established populations just south and east of where I will be living.

Since you can’t throw them back, I may end up eating one.

mplspug wrote:

Rumor is they are extremely aggressive. They might be aggressive enough to be the only fish I can limit out on.

Will they eat the zeebs?

Not sure. No zeebs in FLA.

How far north are they?

Good question. I can’t find a map online. There are several species who habitat over there ranges from tropical to cold. I think that some have been caught fairly far north in the east?

I did find this in a PDF.

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mplspug wrote:

Not sure. No zeebs in FLA.

Because the snakeheads eat them.

I saw an episode of that “River Monsters” guy fishing for Snakeheads in Florida. He was throwing top waters in a canal. Lots of blowups; he only stuck one or two of them. It looked like they fought OK and they weren’t especially big.

They must be edible. They interviewed a local CO who suggested that people were planting them on purpose so they could harvest them and sell them to the locals.

I’ve never eaten a Snakehead but I have eaten a lot of other invasive species. Rainbow trout, Brown trout, Ringneck pheasant, corn. Mmmm-Mmmm-good!

Rootski

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

Because the snakeheads eat them.

I’m going to miss you guys. They aren’t that quick in FLA.

Rootski, you sure that wasn’t Monster Fish with Zeb (called him Zach above) Hogan?

Pug, nope it was the River Monsters guy.

http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/river-monsters/videos/catching-a-bullseye-snakehead.htm

Ah, didn’t mean to question you, but when you said he only caught a couple and missed a bunch, that is exactly what happened to Zeb too. But the guy he fished with caught many more.

mplspug wrote:

Rumor is they are extremely aggressive

That’s the key to their populations not exploding, they are highly territorial and seem to regulate their own #’s. That’s what the Zeb or Zach guy said at least.

If I remember, they also grow at an alarming rate, unless I am confusing them with a show on carp I saw.