Monday out from Dawesville
G'Day,
Finally took a day off to get out for a fish with the brother in law on Monday, picked a great day too, probably could of done with a bit more wind to help the drift along! But not complaining. Headed SW out to the 30m line & fished around some craypots for about half an hour but pretty quiet so the choice was made to search for a bit of ground in the 40's. Got out there and found some likely looking bottom and I picked up my pb BB, nice and fat too. The brother in law picked up another one a little bit smaller than mine, so I had the bragging rights there!!
So with 2 nice ones on ice, the talk got onto getting my pb Dhu. About half an hour later thought I had it in the bag. Got a good hit on the bottom & it took a couple of powerful runs near the bottom, I started to slowly get a bit of line back and could feel a good bit of weight on the other end. Was starting to get a bit nervous by this stage hoping all my knots were up to scratch. The fight seemed a little bit strange though, a couple of little surges but nothing major considering the weight I could feel. Then we saw it.... A bloody shark! Oh well not the dhu I was hoping for but the shark wasn't too big so we decided to keep it (haven't had much fish in the freezer lately). It came to life when it got to the boat as we knew it would but after a couple of runs near the boat we pinned it with the gaff. Thought it was a nice little Bronzie at first but seemed to have longer fins, then when loping its head and tail off noticed how bloody thick it's skin was. So called it for a Thickskin, know why they're called that now!!! Does anyone know what they're like on the chew. We trunked it as soon it came on board then pumped water thru from its tail section then straight on ice. Also heard from a few sources that keeping shark in the freezer for a month or two before eating makes them a bit more tender.... we'll see.
It was starting to get on a bit now so we decided to head back to the 30's have a few drops then cruise home. It was still pretty quiet but Doug nailed a great KG whiting of about 55-60 cm. To finish the day off nicely. Flew home on a glassy sea! Sweet!
Cheers for reading.
Chris
Justo82
Posts: 482
Date Joined: 17/10/11
never had a thick skin, but
never had a thick skin, but freezing for a week or 2 can help with the amonia taste. otherwise just dip the fillets in milk before you batter them. turn out absolutely beautiful. Shark has got to be one of my favourite eating fish.
well done on the PB BB. Another great table fish. Thanks for sharing.
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
Nice day out
Nice day out mate . I caught a thick skin last week . The way you cleaned it sounds ok and if treated right you can eat it straight away, altho i like to freeze shark for at least a few days, ( don't think it needs a whole month . ) They taste fairly good not much different to Bronzie. I did notice a bit more red meat on the fillets but i just trim this off .
I caught and eaten a few now , as you said the main problem is they wreck your knives with such a tough skin . Cheers Grant .
kirky79
Posts: 1354
Date Joined: 13/01/12
Cheers for info Justo &
Cheers for info Justo & Grant.
Have heard about the milk trick, will give that a shot. How long do you leave it in the milk?
Had the BB last night. Bloody beautiful!!!
Cheers
Chris
anypuddle
Posts: 597
Date Joined: 22/01/12
gday
i dont mind a feed of shark, my personal technique is to prepre the fillets and just pop them in a bowl of milk for a while while i heat the oil, pull the fillets out and let them drip a little and roll them in flour/salt/pepper and fry them up. yum.
really suprises me the amount of people i fish with that say shark is crap. i have had some lovely feeds from them. mmm well still rather some dhuie. but better than nothing.
Anywhere anytime
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18051
Date Joined: 11/03/08
well done on the pb. we have
well done on the pb.
we have eaten thickskin before and no probs at all. but as mentioned , freeze for at least a few days. when they thaw the excess amonia they may have will come out in the process ,seems to work for me. dont think you need to do the milk trick tho but try both ways to taste the diff. enjoy the feed as shark is a enjoyable feed
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together