Alligator Gar

[HawkTheSlayer]

Some of the latinos here, split them and cook on a fire in it's own shell. I would not skin it, tin snips make short work of that armor.

Yep. Sawsall works good too.

[HawkTheSlayer]

There lots of video on YouTube, from catching to cleaning.
After you see the cleaning vids, you'll want to go to the store and pay through the a$$ for finished product. :-)

[HawkTheSlayer]

Some of the latinos here, split them and cook on a fire in it's own shell. I would not skin it, tin snips make short work of that armor.

We either shave the very top off with a machete or Sawzall(high tech coonass/cajun) or use snips but you still gotta cut the meat from the scales.
Boy , seems like someone could invent some armor out of those gar hides.
Might be a good idea for a doomsday scenario.

[resister]

http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/st...l#.WX0Mo7Ao5J8

Garfish roe is big business in the atchafalaya basin and in florida in the winter months. Most roe fishermen take only the meat and waste the meat and there should be a law against it.

Seems to make good bait.

[Captain Obvious]

but, can ya eat 'em?

Yeah, bony tho

[resister]

We either shave the very top off with a machete or Sawzall(high tech coonass/cajun) or use snips but you still gotta cut the meat from the scales.
Boy , seems like someone could invent some armor out of those gar hides.
Might be a good idea for a doomsday scenario.

I have a collection of fossilized gar scales, I hear Indians used them as bird points. When I cleaned a gar, I took a fillet knife and just removed the backstraps, very few bones at all. They basically have an exo-skeleton.

[HawkTheSlayer]

Yeah, bony tho

Actually, they don't have bones. Only a central cartilage. What they do have is lots of softer, outlying fibrous segments of cartilage that contain the meat. These are simply ground with the meat when preparing it.

I don't ground my garfish meat. I do it the old fashioned way and it's time consuming but yields a superior product.
I scrape the soft meat with a spoon. All of those segments stay attached to the carcass and you are left with just pure fish meat.

[Casper]

All in the Lake outside my back gate, yes, life is good. I always released them the few times I have caught one, not the best eat'n fish in a lake full of fish, so why keep it. Some people treat them, as with carp, boil the meat off and it is supposed to make a good stew, so far I do not know. I have eaten about everything that swims, flies, or crawls, but gar I have not done, and not in a big rush to get there.

[HawkTheSlayer]

I have a collection of fossilized gar scales, I hear Indians used them as bird points. When I cleaned a gar, I took a fillet knife and just removed the backstraps, very few bones at all. They basically have an exo-skeleton.

That's how you do it. And take a spoon to what's left and you will get four or five pounds of premium meat to make balls and fish patties.

[resister]

Actually, they don't have bones. Only a central cartilage. What they do have is lots of softer, outlying fibrous segments of cartilage that contain the meat. These are simply ground with the meat when preparing it.

I don't ground my garfish meat. I do it the old fashioned way and it's time consuming but yields a superior product.
I scrape the soft meat with a spoon. All of those segments stay attached to the carcass and you are left with just pure fish meat.

I need a 30 pounder and a wild hog, i'm hungry, it is the end of the month. I make some $ on my odd jobs but I am not a welfare leech.