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Can you eat wrasse?

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89K views 33 replies 22 participants last post by  thecornish1  
#1 ·
This is a question Ive been meaning to ask for a while now. While the cod have been thin on the ground lately Ive always managed to catch plenty of wrasse but let them go. A chap at work asked if you can eat them but ive never really thought about it as I always thought they were too tough and bony. In my area they can be around 3 pounds and they look decent size for meat wise. What does anyone think?
 
#2 ·
You can eat anything that walks, hops, crawls, slithers, swims.......flying i ain't too sure about never tried an airplane :laugh:
 
#3 ·
Hi there are gonna be do's n don'ts on the subject of eating wrasse. Yes you can eat them my wee lass caught her first one a month ago about 5lb in weight wish I'd taken a pic of it now too but I filleted it and got some beautiful cuts from it, it's a very firm flesh almost like monk or the likes I cooked it in breadcrumbs along with fresh cod fillets and they tasted great. The down side to killing these fish is that they are very slow growing I'm sure it's something like 7yrs till they reach maturity. Hope this helps.
 
#6 ·
Post #2 has link to her doing just that!

well if i do end up having to hang my fishing gear up for good:eek:fftopic:, maybe i could become wsf's celebrity chef!!!:crazy::victory:
 
#9 ·
Some of the local 'old boys' that hang around the harbour told me I could eat Grasdos (Sand Smelt) by gutting, pulling off head and frying whole, eating whole. I tried it and they were disgusting, full of bones, horrible taste. When I told the 'old boys', they just said "we only said you COULD eat them, not that they are nice".

Never tried Wrasse, though it is popular with the Portugese contingent we have down here.
 
#10 ·
Some of the local 'old boys' that hang around the harbour told me I could eat Grasdos (Sand Smelt) by gutting, pulling off head and frying whole, eating whole. I tried it and they were disgusting, full of bones, horrible taste. When I told the 'old boys', they just said "we only said you COULD eat them, not that they are nice".

Never tried Wrasse, though it is popular with the Portugese contingent we have down here.
I heard some of the fish trailers are now calling them "Jersey grouper" lol
 
#15 ·
Hi there are gonna be do's n don'ts on the subject of eating wrasse. Yes you can eat them my wee lass caught her first one a month ago about 5lb in weight wish I'd taken a pic of it now too but I filleted it and got some beautiful cuts from it, it's a very firm flesh almost like monk or the likes I cooked it in breadcrumbs along with fresh cod fillets and they tasted great. The down side to killing these fish is that they are very slow growing I'm sure it's something like 7yrs till they reach maturity. Hope this helps.
need 7 years in the oven more like lol
 
#16 ·
The secretary of our local angling club ( who is in his late sixtys)told me that wrasse would be part of the staple diet here on the West Coast when he was a child. His parents would catch them using barnocks (limpets) on hand lines. They would gut them and boil them whole in milk with carrots and onions.

Just aswell this seems to have died out as they would have to catch a lot of the little ones that are left to make a decent meal.
 
#17 ·
Ive not eaten them myself but ive noticed you can get what seems to be a nice thick fillet off a decent size wrasse.
 
#19 ·
would you eat a rockling?
My mum and dad eat rockling if i bring one home reckon they are nice but get them cooked as fresh as possible after youve landed them.
 
#21 ·
i filleted one before and the fillets were huge....

but it smelt like sewage in side......:yucky:
Dont know about that,i just bring them in,chuck them in the sink and me dad fillets them.:laugh:
 
#23 ·
ever tried them as pot bait???

they are great conger bait.....

i imagine wrasse are good pot bait.....
Yes wrasse is ok for potbait.
 

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#24 ·
Yes wrasse is ok for potbait.
There is a crazy auld fella in a yellow inflateable who thinks wrasse is a great pot bait, the bigger the better, he has single handedly wiped out one of the best wrasse marks in South Clare. He must think that they are better gamey as he leaves them in fishboxes for days.
 
#25 ·
There is a crazy auld fella in a yellow inflateable who thinks wrasse is a great pot bait, the bigger the better, he has single handedly wiped out one of the best wrasse marks in South Clare. He must think that they are better gamey as he leaves them in fishboxes for days.
Before bass became popular with chefs and sports anglers,people used to bait pots with bass!!!! I knew an old potter that used to do this.:eek:hmy: