Question about Dogfish ?

Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 10:39 pm

hiya all,

what do you do with doggies when catch em? can you eat em or do you just return them?

if you do eat them are they different from mackerel to prepare and how do you cook them?

also are they always hard to get removed from the hook? i had 2 and both where difficult to get off the hook

many thanks

Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 11:42 pm

Go to a fish shop and order rock eel thats dog fish! the hardest thing about cooking them is the preparing removing the fishes tough sandpaper like skin... Have you try using a T-Bar to unhook them?

Member Joined: Jul 25, 2006 Posts: 52

Hi,

Doggies, Rock Salmon, Cat Shark whatever you wana call them they are a pain in the ass to get off the hook, skin, handle, you name it these fellers are a nightmare to me. I catch 1000's of em

EATING THEM...

A easy way to skin them is to pull there skin off like a jacket which is very tough. I hammer a nail through the top part of the head into a wooden board then using a very sharp knife make a cut around the base of the head. Grab the skin and pull very hard. The skin should come right off (Use force if not) all that there should be left is the head nailed to the board with the meat exposed. cut from the head and cut the end off the tail and there you have it one skinned dogfish.

HOOK REMOVING

I have found that if you are fishing for them you can use "barbless hooks". Alongs the hook is set deep there is a very slim chance the hook will come out epecially if you apply pressure when reeling in.

There mouths are like leather which is why the hook is a pain in the ass to get out. If you can not get barbless hooks simply get a pair of plyers and squash the barb down so that there are no sharp barb sticking out, make sure it is smooth. Or if you wish to still use hooks with barbs then a T-Bar is probably your best bet.

COOKING

Small Dogfish can be slightly tasteless to me so I use them in fishcakes or lightly poach them in water and you can fry them .(Dont over cook as it will be tough and bland) Serve with veg and a white sauce of some kind is prob the safe option. Or you can batter them and deep fry like you have in Fish in Chip shops

Hope this helps!
If you are still unsure then just ask :lol:

Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2006 1:18 pm

thanks very much, loads of very helpfull information there.

Trouble is that we were not actually trying to catch them! was hoping for a nice sized Bass or something really. They are a bit of a pain as was out there in big numbers obviously last night, as soon as casted out the rod was going beserk with bites! Both Bass we caught were only small.

I dont really want to use barb less hooks in fear of loosing the perfect nice big fish! but this may have to become my only option, would i loose fish in this manner

i do apologise but i am a total novice but have certainly got the bug to learn

many thanks

Member Joined: Jul 25, 2006 Posts: 52

No worries, Gota start from somewhere! :lol: Barbless hooks can be very effective and you will not always loose fish, Mustad "Tope and Ray" hooks have no barbs however they have a fairly deep hook with a long shank which makes it ideal for good hook ups on a barbless hook.

Posted: Thu Sep 07, 2006 10:00 pm

many thanks, i will get some and have a go

Member Joined: Sep 01, 2006 Posts: 26

place doggie between two bits of marine plywood,--clamp together and place in oven,--bake for two hours,--remove then separate fish from plywood,--throw away fish and eat plywood boards

Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2006 8:20 pm

mmm think ill give this one a miss !!!!!!!!

Member Joined: Sep 01, 2006 Posts: 26

the recipe i gave for dogfish came from a troon boat skipper who said it also applied to skate wings.
i must say though,--i avoid doggies like the plague due to the fact that when i am out bass fishing at night with limited number of crab you can bet that old doggie will come along and thieve my bait.
i appreciate they are bread and butter to many match anglers but to me they are the ali babas of the sea

Posted: Sun Sep 10, 2006 9:17 am

that was my main concern really, i am definately not interested in match fishing and was trying for Bass but these little blighters where raveging my bait as soon as it hit the wet stuff!!!!!!!

Member Joined: Jul 25, 2006 Posts: 52

yeah they always around can be a pain if your after a good fish. however they can be a good sport if ya catch a good sized one.

Posted: Tue Sep 12, 2006 2:03 pm

just out of interest what is a good sized doggie, the ones we caught the other day where around 2ft long at least?

Member Joined: Jul 25, 2006 Posts: 52

Erm prob around the 2ft mark is fine. You wont get tons of meat off em anyway. the bigger the better otherwise they can be quite tasteless. 1 Doggie per person i say as a rule of thumb. :lol: