Taste Test

[Redfisher]

I don't keep fish mostly because i can't cook. But I'd kill a cow with my bare hands for a Hamburger. Hell, I'd kill a fellow cajun for some Etoufee right now!

[Paul]

I think the preparation of the fish and how it is cooked it the most important part of the taste.....but Yes you have to cook good tasting fish to start with

Snook is better if I had to choose allegedly

blind Mullet - Trigger fish is tasty - I've always cooked it with the skin on

Spanish Mackeral and kingfish are very tasty when fresh...but they don't freeze well.

I hate to admit but I have started buying frozen Tillapia from Publix

I rather eat fish after catching fish....that was the way I was brought up...we never bought fish.

The Tillapia is farm raised very eco-friendly

I still fillet fish....but I don't fillet a fish just cuz I caught....i fillet fish when I plan to eat fish.

[Norm]

Well if I had my druthers, I would take Mangrove Snapper, or Yellowtail anyday...BUT...since the question was asked about Reds or Snook, I would take the Snook.
Im not one that feels the need to take a fish home everytime I go...but its been along time since I have caught a legal snook in season...that being said, I would take one home.
Reds...since they are so plentiful, (I caught one last Saturday), I dont always take them home...this one was patiently revived I do enjoy the Reds just as much...its just a different flavor. The reds I bake wrapped in foil with a bit of butter and Everglades seasoning...yum yum 8) The snook I like to fry in flour to a crisp golden color, but not overly cooked, lightly salted, ...such a delicate white meat that just flakes in your mouth... Jeezus...I feel like a monk who was just given a Playboy magazine to read

Norm

[GILs_GONE_WILD]

Would you all eat ribs if you had to personally kill the pig?

Didn't have pigs or cows but yep ... wrung a few chicken's necks and knocked a few rabbits in the head ... all for Sunday dinner. Man, I hated helpin' momma pluck all them feathers off them chickens.

On the poll, I clicked Redfish. Only because my favorite way to cook fish is to blacken it. Snook is good too but I've never had it blackened before.

Has anyone tried blackened Snook?

[DaveR]

You all know I rarely keep fish. That being said, as far as the 2 species in the poll snook wins hands down. We did a taste test of sorts on a trip to Shell a couple years ago and among trout, flounder, bluefish (it was gill hooked), and snook, the snook was the winner with flounder being a close second. Nothing fancy. Just breaded and dumped in hot oil. Trout was a distant 3rd and the bluefish plain sucked. I have eaten plenty of redfish and compared to snook and winter trout they come in third place.

[Paul]

I know guys that swear by bluefish......but It's nasty
I've tried it several times and even the last time - we filleted them as we caught them and put them on ice. still funky fishy bad tasty

[RockinNReelin]

I"m not a big fish eater so I generally don't keep them but I do prefer redfish over snook, trout over redfish and my FAV fish to eat is flounder. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at catching flouder but if anyone is willing to share their flounder holes, lures and technique, feel free to PM me.

[DaveR]

I grew up eating blues in Jersey Paul and they were fine. Down here they are just a different critter.

[Norm]

I know guys that swear by bluefish......but It's nasty
I've tried it several times and even the last time - we filleted them as we caught them and put them on ice. still funky fishy bad tasty

I would never swear by it maybe swear at it. I worked for a seafood company in West Palm and I have tried it everyway possible. I cant possibly see what people see in it. It has a darker meat, very very strong fish smell and flavor, and it just feels mushy before it is cooked. To me it is one very nasty tasting fish...but that being said...we use to sell a boatload of it to the Yankees every year..., but I hear they will eat anything

Norm

[FishingDL]

I think Snook is better by far but I don't the the Snook population is in very good shape right now. I catch a lot of under slot Snook but not very often a keeper. Because of that, I won't keep one unless it doesn't look like it would survive release and that rarely happens. I keep a Redfish for dinner almost every time I go fishing and I don't feel bad about it at all. Reds are plentiful and if their numbers start to decline I will stop keeping them also.

[LagoonAddict]

I've been a fresh water fisherman all my life....and daddy said...if ya keep it you better damn well cook and eat it....being southerners we ate frog legs, bass, snake, rabbit, gator and just about anything else you can think of.

But the rule was you got an ass-beating if you wasted God's food. We lived off the land and from the kind hand of Mothernature....sometimes this place gets carried away with the catch and release rhetoric.

As I just joined the salt water fisherman...and thanks to this web site I've leaned an awful lot, I hope to catch my first snook this year...and if it's between 27" and 34" you can bet it's gonna hit my table. Daddy can rest easy....I wouldn't even dream of keeping anything I wouldn't put on the table....the way it is meant to be.

So far, my wife's cajun red dinner can't be beat...we'll let you know how we feel after our first snook.

Anyone want to share a secret way to cook snook???? Hell, I don't even know how to catch em yet!!! LMAO!!!!!

[Todd]

I would not put any seasoning on a snook if you want to try it. They are excellent grilled with a little lemon and butter. Surely would never blacked one, they are too good with nothing on them.

She who must be obeyed does not fully understand C & R, she wants to eat them. So to keep peace I have to bring home a little meat for the table every now and then. Usually a redfish, once or twice a year a snook, cannot remember the last time I brought home a trout.

[tbray]

I agree with yall for the record! I wouldnt think twice about killing any of what i eat....I was just confused as to the posts that said you wouldnt kill the snook or red....

I think it ALWAYS taste better at your hand, than packaged by some chain....

swimming sandwiches made me laugh!

[DaveR]

Make sure you skin it Bob. No joke. Skin it.

[shamus]

I'd rather fish for and keep a pizza. Specially, the new lasagna styles pizza hut offers. Fudgems!

Alright Rik thats it ban him for life Pizza hut

I've had freezers full of game That I've taken from field to table I did every step inbetween.

Snook, considering I can't catch Reds.

[Dustin]

I'll take snook over redfish in the eating department, but I doubt I could bring myself to put a snook in the cooler. I don't think twice about keeping a low-slot red occasionally, probably because I catch so many of them over the course of the year. Snook are just a more special fish.

On the subject of eating bluefish...call my crazy, but I really like them. They aren't worth a crap fried, baked, or broiled. However, throw a few fresh bluefish fillets (with skin intact) on the smoker, baste them very lightly with barbeque sauce and Everglades seasoning, and you'll have a fine meal. They're really not much different than spanish macks. I actually enjoy the stronger taste when they're cooked on the smoker. The meat firms up quite nicely.