Gafftops are indeed game fish

By Chester Moore, Jr.

This week I received an email from a reader saying that they almost got a ticket for keeping under-sized gafftopsail catfish.
The problem was they like many people did not know that gafftops have a minimum size.
Others get small gafftops and hardheads confused but there are key differences in appearance. The main one is the gafftop has a large, unique sail like top fin whereas a hardhead basically looks like a freshwater cat.
More importantly, anglers can only keep gafftops measuring 14 inches or larger. Hardheads have no minimum size limit.
The reader had kept a couple of small gafftops and was checked by an understanding warden while fishing near Rockport.
They got away with a warning, but could have easily gotten a stiff fine. Lucky for the reader, the gafftops were alive enough to release without harm. Otherwise, I have a feeling the warden would not have been so lenient.

 

A neighbor,from the North naturally,invited us over for fried fish one night....we found out later that we were served "hardhead"...truthfully, well seasoned,cornmealed,with a good spicy red sauce ,we didn't taste anything bad....sauce was great,the fish was a good "scooper"...not saying I am fishing for hardheads now,but they weren't bad.

 

hardheads taste like catfish. Nothing worng with them, just that there head plate takes up about half of there body. Per pound you get very little meat out of them.

 

My daughters friend cought a Gafftop today and we fried it up along with some Croaker (long story). The Croaker were very good and and there was a definite difference in taste but the Gafftop was not bad. One thing I noticed when cleaning the Gafftop was it seemed easier cuting the filet off the skin from the head end rather than how I typically start at the tail end? I was dissapointed on how little meat I got for the size fish it was.

 

I've fished in Fla. quite a bit, and I never met anyone who kept or ate hardheads. I've eaten hardhead just to say I tried it. I thought it was very oily and for lack of a better word, quite yucky. I'd eat it before I ate king mack though.

 

When I still had a boat, Rainy and I would go out fishing specifically for gaff top. Love them.

Also know of snooty guides who won't let anyone bring a gaff top in their boat even to pull the hook. To me, that is a rip off since the gaff top is a game fish in the great state of Texas.

GY

 

Gafftops go better with a nice Chardonnay, while Hardheads are better paired with a beer.

 

I've eaten both and I like both of them. But, as long as I can catch enough flounder to meet my needs, I'll not keep either one. I'm with Coachlaw on the king mack though.
Wayner

 

Im not hungry enough to eat either of them. I have heard that they eat mullet in Florida. I have also been told something about licking the belly of a hard head. Im not planning on doing it any time in the near or distant future but is there any truth to it.

 

Hahaha...

I've posted this before: When I was a poor college student at Dauphin Island Sea Lab, I ate LOTS of mullet. The local dive, Seahouse Bar, used to have a "Mulletspecial every Wednesday night. It was all the mullet, grits and gravy you could eat, plus a pitcher of beer, for just a few bucks. We'd sing (okay, I'd fake it) for the tourists, and we'd use the tips for the "special".

Something I was told as a lowly marine biology student there...if you let fresh mullet sit for a day, chemicals in the skin begin to break down, forming a mild hallucinogen.

Mostly, it made you have, in the words of a famous storyteller, "tremulous dreams".

It probably explains how I ended up the way I am now....:tongue:

(oh, and gafftopsails are good eating. Then again, I like mullet...)

 

Ewwwhh! Hard heads are nasty! Tried some once back when I was a kid just to see if I was missing out on something. I had a black gentleman who worked for my dad that had been keeping a few of the larger ones and from that I gathered well hmmmm. I know some black folks that make some of the excellent BBQ,Gar balls and of course all eat watermelon. Well there must be some black in me some where down the line because I like all mentioned above except the hard heads.lol

Now gafftop?? Nope I haven't tried them yet. Guess I'll never get past them boogerish slime they have. Thought about it a few times Saturday while fishing with 007. They were crashing the hell out my top-waters and even plastics we were chucking. Caught a ton load of 20" plus or so. 007 said they were good and maybe we should save them for Tiny or MC that they loved them. I've always heard from a few other 2Coolers they were good also. I guess truthfully I didn't what them in the mix with our trout and redfish. lol Maybe I'll have to give them a try one day. Maybe! lol

 

I've always been told that you could handle a hardhead barehanded......but don't try this with a gasstop...

 

Well thanks for the late warning there bud! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

 

If you eat hardheads, You are definetly the ultimate potlicker. I agree with Melon, I may try a gafftop. maybe. I like watermelon too:rotfl::rotfl:

 

Gafftops are great table fare. But hardheads? I can fix you a Jack Crevalle that you'd be able to ingest better than hardhead. As far as mullet goes, there's actually an article in Texas Fish and Game I believe last month, that talks about mullet as table fare. I've been saying they were good for years, but few people here will listen. They just call me a coonarse and ignore me. Careful when you clean them, don't bust their guts. That makes them nasty. Fry up a bunch aside some trout, and you won't know the difference.

007, why don't you just use a catfish flipper? Both kinds of saltwater cats will spike you badly. Hardhead hits are much more toxic from what I've seen.

 

DO NOT EAT

My goodness ya'll what are you thinking about, why would you even waste your time on a nasty turd rustler they are just plain nasty please don't eat them there are so many other good eating fish out there that are execellent eating. hard heads are considered trash fish and thier job is :rybka:to clean up the poop left by other fish and according to most marine biologist they have no food value at all and contain some of the highest levels of contaminents such as dioxins and pcbs. Please do not eat them.

 

to eat poop or not to eat poop

do you eat tilapia? they eat poop also. check out the "dirty jobs" episode 'vomit island' where they raised the tilapia to keep the aquariums clean.

Tilapia (pronounced /tɨˌlɑːpiə/) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the tilapiine cichlid tribe. Tilapia inhabit a variety of fresh water habitats including shallow streams, ponds, rivers, lakes, and estuaries. Most tilapia are omnivorous with a preference for soft aquatic vegetation and detritus. Historically they have been of major importance in artisanal fishing in Africa and the Levant, and are of increasing importance in aquaculture (see tilapia in aquaculture). Tilapia often become problematic invasive species in new habitats, whether deliberately or accidentally introduced.

My goodness ya'll what are you thinking about, why would you even waste your time on a nasty turd rustler they are just plain nasty please don't eat them there are so many other good eating fish out there that are execellent eating. hard heads are considered trash fish and thier job is :rybka:to clean up the poop left by other fish and according to most marine biologist they have no food value at all and contain some of the highest levels of contaminents such as dioxins and pcbs. Please do not eat them.

 

"clean up poop"

funny stuff, hardhead are just a catfish. Nothing different about them then any other catfish that people eat. Only differene is the massive head bone they have.

Funny how picky some people are, willing to eat crawfish, shrimp or crabs. Yet the ideal of a hardhead is to much for some to take.


I can promise you, the first time you see a floater in the bay. You will never eat a crab again.

 

recently, there was a post regarding if gafftop were any good. most eat them as i do. some don't. if you go to florida, most fisherman there don't eat gafftop, but eat hardheads. what's the difference. i don't know because i have never eaten hardheads. do the fish taste different over there? just curious.

Good post. I noticed the same thing when I was travelling to St. Pete's Beach in Florida. I was chunking the hardheads back in the water and the other fishermen were admonishing me for wasting good fish. I couldn't believe they were eating hardheads. Since then, the thought has lingered in my mind, I enjoy catfish and gafftop - these things look like a cross between them - maybe I should try 'em.

Still haven't.

 

Give me speckle trout or redfish anyday, you can keep the catfish....HA!

 

I think everyone should try it to see if they like it. That's what I did. I thought they were not good, but to each their own.

One day I was putting in at the old KOA at SLP and this guy was just pulling in with his kayak. He was a new fisherman and I chatted him up. He said he had a great day, had an ice chest full of mud cats. Ummmmmmm. I asked to see them, and I was sure sorry to burst his bubble. I explained that mud cats were fresh water, and it was very salty right there at the pass. He said he was going to eat them anyway since most of them were dead already. I told him some people did eat them, but he'd have to be the judge on it. I'm all for people eating them if they like them. They need more predators anyway. I use them exclusively for crab bait.

 

My galley crew in Venezuela made a fish soup with hardhead at least once a week. The ship chandler furnished them frozen in 5 kilo boxes.
The soup tasted like cheap canned sardines.
They also butterflyed 2 pound mullet and deep fried them. Not bad.

 

Silly fish snobbery. Never tried HH, but GT are FAR better table fare than a mushy, wormy trout. Double that if you freeze them. I enjoy catching trout and eating the smaller ones fresh, but they're pretty far down the list of preferred fish. My only issue with GTs is the slime. Once you get passed that they are one of the better eating fish in the bays and surf. Definitely will try the pressure washing trick next time I catch some!

 

Dang...When I read the title I thought there was a fight between RiverRat and MC lined up....my bad:slimer:

 

GT are fine table fare...as far as the slime most of you are so fickle about it is the same slime you find on any trout or redfish...just more of it...as a young whippersnapper my dad would take me fishing for GT...we would place them in a burlap bag hung over the side of the boat...by the time we got to the cleaning station there would be little or no slime on the fish...turned the bag inside out and just let it dry on its own...slime would fall off.

 

I've caught a few really big hardheads in the surf. The ones from the surf seem to taste better than those out of the bay. Nothing wrong with blackened "surf run sea cat".. Can't say the same for the ones out of the bay, I'll pass on those.

I lived in S. Florida (Homstead) for 5 years and fished at least once a week and don't recall ever catching one. Maybe some over on the gulf side. Cleaner water over there might help their standing as table fare. I also ate a lot of mullet in Fla. too. Mullet was all cold smoked though. Great on crackers..

 

Wow!! This is some funny stuff. I have served Gafftop to hundreds of people and no one ever said that they tasted any different then any other fish they have eaten. I did have Hardhead in Tampa, Fl. but they were filleting fish that weighed over five pounds...these were big hardheads. I couldn't tell the difference. Once correctly fried, smothered in tartar and cocktail sauce and chased with a cold one.... it's all good.

I can tell you...I have soaked Specks, Flounder, Gafftop, Sheapshead, and Redfish fillets in bowls of water in the fridge before frying and I will tell you that Speck and Flounder fillets are the dirtiest of them all. The bottom of my bowl was lined with fine sand. Every fishing buddy I have showed this too couldn't believe it. I soak all my fillets and change the water at least three times before I fry.

 

Enjoyed some fresh-caught, fried gafftop on Matagorda once a few years back. It was the end of the trip and we hadn't caught anything else. I have a hard time keeping them when I'm targeting other fish though. They will even hit touts and spoons. Had one pull drag on my spoon the other day. Maybe I should just learn to eat what I'm capable of catching