Bronzie

Hi all, just thought I'd share a report. Went down to wet a line at a beach down Mandurah way Wednesday night, sensational night down there with no wind and low swell. Was initially just targetting herring and tailor. Not much interest from anything except 15-20cm and whiting and tarwhine. Tarwhine went back, but I held onto a few whiting to use on the surf rod.

 

After a few whiting were munched by crabs, ended up with this little bronzie of 110cm  which I initially thought was a ray from the massive runs it was taking. It's my first shark apart from Port Jacksons so I'm pretty chuffed, and they aren't bad eating at this size either I hear. 

 

Filleting/skinning took an hour and a half and multiple knife sharpens - any tips for doing this?

 

PS was fishing solo and only had my phone so excuse the poor photo!

 

Mike

 

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Posts: 644

Date Joined: 13/11/11

Bronzie

Sat, 2011-11-26 05:26

Nice bronzie mike, how long did the fight last? Sounds like a mission to clean as well! Was it caught on live or dead whiting? Have you cooked any fillets up yet?

abandon's picture

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Date Joined: 23/05/07

The fight lasted about 10

Sat, 2011-11-26 21:46

The fight lasted about 10 minutes, 4 very solid runs and a bit of to and fro up and down the beach. Caught it on dead whiting. Looking forward to cooking the fillets, will probably do it Tuesday night.

 

Mike

chris raff's picture

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Well Done Mike...would've had

Sat, 2011-11-26 06:58

Well Done Mike...would've had the addrenalin pumping with a some hard runs

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cudbfishn's picture

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Nice fish.

Sat, 2011-11-26 08:15

There pretty good eating. How was the weed? Have been down madora way a few times lately and weed was a pita.

 

abandon's picture

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Date Joined: 23/05/07

No weed at all mate -

Sat, 2011-11-26 21:48

No weed at all mate - somebody else in another thread suggested the easterlies we have been getting have got rid of it all?

cudbfishn's picture

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Cheers Abandon

Sun, 2011-11-27 07:29

Cheers Abandon

Will give it another go next weekend I think. Been too busy this weekend and the weather isnt all that crash hot.

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Date Joined: 27/12/06

bronzie

Sat, 2011-11-26 09:04

Nice catch abandon, They are great eating, beer batter is the go.

cleaning shouldnt take that long lol.  Heres how I do it.

When caught cut the head and tail completely off to bleed the fish then slice from the neck down to the anus and remove all guts getting right up to the back bone.  You can remove all the other fins as well.  Now put it on ice until you are ready to fillet.

filleting use 2 knives, one is going to be stiff of cutting up and the other for filleting the flesh.  Use the stiff knife to cut the fillet straight off the backbone starting from the neck down to the tail.  This knife will get bluntened, do the same for the other side and then on both fillets trim around the back of the ribcage or belly lining and discard the belly flap if you dont want it.  Now lay the fillet skin down and take of the fillets off the top to the size you want ie 2cm thick 10cm long.  There is also a line of flesh from the backbone to the top of the shark this is good to eat also.  I filleted a gummy and bronzie in this way on tuesday and it took about 20 mins and I am not a speedster

This way only one knife really gets bluntened, dont be put off by the sharks smell either it goes away once cooked.

bon apetit

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head tail and fins straight

Sat, 2011-11-26 11:45

head tail and fins straight of, then when u get home get a towel and bucket or big container and put boiling water in it, keep dippin the towel in the water and rubbing it on the sharks skin, this cooks the outside few mm after a while, then just peel back the skin, chuck in the freezer for 2 weeks then shes ready to go, no ammonia taste what so ever.

carnarvonite's picture

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Filletting

Sat, 2011-11-26 15:12

Best way to keep the edge on your knife is to cut from the inside out. Poke the point of the knife under the skin ahead of the direction you want to cut so that you are actually cutting through the skin from the under/ inside and not trying to saw you way through the tough outside.

Once you have cleaned it, lay it flat and split it from the gut cavity through to its tail then cut down along one side of the spinethrough to its back all the way from head to tail taking a full side off. Then remove the spine from the other side. Cut the belly flap off and lay the full fillet dowm on a flat surface and with a long bladed knife make a  cut down along the skin so you can grip the skin with your fingers then laying the knife flat one the skin cut towards the tail while holding the skin tight and flat on the cutting board. With some practice you should be able o take all the skin off one side in one go.

Do the same to the other side and again to the belly flaps cut of earlier.

Jamos Damokos's picture

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Date Joined: 11/08/11

nice fish champ.

Sat, 2011-11-26 17:26

nice fish champ.

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abandon's picture

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Date Joined: 23/05/07

Cheers for the filleting tips

Sat, 2011-11-26 21:51

Cheers for the filleting tips guys, will take it on board for next time.

 

This guy seems to fillet a gummy fairly well too - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qod7hnwz2zY

 

Mike

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Yep, what Canarvonite

Sun, 2011-11-27 19:48

Yep, what Canarvonite said

 

Cheers

Dale

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