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Are Bull Reds Good Eating?

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:23 am
by Facehook
If I recall, Texas fishing limits allows one oversized Red Drum to be kept along with a second if you have a bonus tag. Are Bull Reds good eating fare or just the younger Redfish?

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:26 am
by EZ-E
you can eat them but the smaller ones taste better IMO ....... i also think the big ones are a pain to clean ....... i have only kept 1 over sized red & it was 42". i was living in an apartment at the time & had to clean him in the bath tub ..... he took up the whole tub & my back was killing me from leaning over to clean him.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:30 am
by Gone Yakin
Eazy-E wrote:you can eat them but the smaller ones taste better IMO ....... i also think the big ones are a pain to clean ....... i have only kept 1 over sized red & it was 42". i was living in an apartment at the time & had to clean him in the bath tub ..... he took up the whole tub & my back was killing me from leaning over to clean him.
Lol, funny mental picture.

Big reds

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:39 am
by Phishtech
Do a search on this forum and you'll find recipes for Bull Reds. One guy
from (where else?) Louisiana has what looks like a pretty good recipe for them.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:44 am
by CptSavAMullet
I ate one once it was my last time the meat is very course but i guess it would be good if you where make courtbouillon seeing as how it probably would holdup better because of its toughness.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:04 am
by Tricky Matt
Funny this was posted today. I was asking myself the same thing in the shower this morning.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:07 am
by sherwood
Cleaning a bullred is a PAIN IN THE A$$. You better have the fish on a table because your back will be aching. You have to do a lot of cleaning/slicing to get all the blood out. I will never again keep a bull red. The only reason why I kept that one was because my mom wanted some fish. NEVER AGAIN!

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:14 am
by BullyARed
sherwood wrote:Cleaning a bullred is a PAIN IN THE A$$. You better have the fish on a table because your back will be aching. You have to do a lot of cleaning/slicing to get all the blood out. I will never again keep a bull red. The only reason why I kept that one was because my mom wanted some fish. NEVER AGAIN!
Same experience here. I just release the fish from then on. They are such beautiful fish.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:44 am
by WushIzFishin
Tagged a 44" red, once that was hooked real deep and exhausted after a long battle on a trout rod. I didn't like it. Strong and fishy and course texture. I think a successful release is almost as good as the fight. I enjoy watching them swim off, knowing it's the right thing to do.
James

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 12:04 pm
by Barnacle Bill
No.. Throw them back. They aren't worth the time and effort as others have already pointed out.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:18 pm
by Mitchw123456
when they get that size they are good for one thing and one thing only.. breeding.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:28 pm
by SafetyHooker
:roll:

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:36 pm
by TexasSurfFisherman
NO let them go. Bull redfish that are killed for meat dont taste any good, You get more meat off a 8lb catfish than you do a 35lb bull red

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:50 pm
by Gofish!
I had the same experience with Bull Reds as everyone else. They seem to have a layer of fat between the flakes of meat. If you do happen to kill one, I heard that some people have had success with slow smoking them.

bull reds

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:57 pm
by capt red
i have cleaned one and eaten it. wasn't worth a crap imo. if you are going to put that much effort into cleaning a fish, clean the sheepshead...a much better tasting fish....

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 3:05 pm
by FishingSETX
Ive never heard of a good way to cook them. Kept a 40" one time and wont do it again. after two hours of cleaning, I couldn't find a recipie to make the thing edible.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 5:37 pm
by Daniel32
In my experiences the ones from the 28.01"-32" range are generally the better tasting ones. I've never kept one over 32"

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 6:33 pm
by Big Perm
i have heard they have a good chance of having worms in the meat, is that true?

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 6:34 pm
by preacherman
I've kept and cooked a few. The taste isn't the issue. It's the cleaning. The bigger the redfish, the bigger and tougher the scales. And...the bloodline between the meat and the skin can be nearly 1/4" thick in places.

Let 'em go to make more babies. Cleaning them is not worth the effort. BTW, I'm from Louisiana, where you can keep one a day over 27" and I still let anything go over about 30-32".

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 7:08 pm
by Jolly Roger
I catch about 3 TONS of bull reds each year. I eat maybe one, only if he will not swim away. They just are not worth the effort. If I go to the surf to catch fish to eat, I catch whiting.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 8:32 pm
by Nim Rod
When I first moved here from West Texas I didn't know nothin' about saltwater fishing. I caught a bull red on my first outing...man I was stoked. Threw that big ol boy in the trunk and hauled it home. 3 hours later my back yard looked like a crime scene. I filled the freezer enough meat to last a year, but after that first meal the thrill was gone. Just one small step on the saltwater learning curve...

BULL REDS

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 9:33 pm
by mrkm1010
Trout have worms in them to, in fact it seems like at least half the fish i clean have a few worms in em. They are the little white spots in the meat. If you pull one out they will uncoil about an inch long. Just fry or bake your fish untill it is good and done.You can't see em or taste em after the fish is cooked. I have taken smaller a smaller Bull Red and cubed it and cooked it in gumbo and the meat tasted a lot like crab meat. One fish will make all the gumbo you could eat eat in a year.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 9:44 pm
by My Fishing Buddy
I was told that any bottom feeding fish has worms. They are just more pronounced in larger fish. In other words, the worms are proportional to the fish size.

In smaller fish, you have to look closely to find the worms. In big fish such as bull reds, you can't miss them.

Again, this is what I was told. I have not observe this myself; however, I believe just about everything my older brother tells me.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 10:00 pm
by Jolly Roger
there are worms in all fish in the drum family, redfish, croaker, trout, black drum etc. But there are different speceies of worms for each different species of fish. All worms found in these fish are most often called spaghetti worms, you can guess why. Worms that live and grow in trout live in the middle of the body, very easy to see in a fillet. Worms that live in red drum or black drum tend to live more toward the tail. Not as easy to find when cutting the fillets.

The worms life cycles are complex, involving sharks, small finfish and medium size predators. Worms in trout means a healthy bay system, the worms will be the first to go if the chain of predators is ever broke.

Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2007 11:57 pm
by corkpopper
but would you eat a fish with worms?