Eels and the Japanese tourist.

[Whiskers]

I decided to wander down to my "Dusky Hole" this afternoon to have another go for some big Dusky Flathead.

Again they were obliging and a couple of 50cm models were soon in the ice box.

Slow twitching a pilchard fillet across the bottom was producing results when everything came up solid and whatever had taken the bait was heading off towards Marlo at a rate of knots.

I wasn't fishing heavy gear and the fight was long and drawn out until I finally beached the fish. Not a Dusky, but a very solid eel.
Once on land they're a real handful but I eventually got the better of him.

On the mat he went 112cm long and on the lip grip scales was just nudging 10lbs.

In the photo of him on the mat he looks to be striped orange and black but that's just a case of crappy camera work and the shadow of my legs!

Not long after this a Japanese family (tourists) came by and got very excited about it. Apparently eel is a great delicacy in Japan and is getting very expensive to buy. They actually have a national eel day. The eels are called Urangi and there are restaurants who specialise in serving them.

I offered the eel to the family and to my surprise they gratefully accepted it. You'd have thought I'd given them the crown jewels. I hope they have somewhere to cook it!
:water:

[Irishfisherman]

There won’t be much left of it once they have finished with it, no eyeballs, no skin, nothing. It certainly won’t go to waste. Great catch anyway must have been fun to get him in. Eels can swim backwards which means the fight pretty hard, and they can be buggers to handle as their slime is like snot and they just keep wriggling.

[skronkman]

Hey whiskers. I lived in Japan for 10 years and ate eel often. I believe the freshwater eel is on the endangered species list now but they still sell it at 7/11 in a lunch pack with rice! They smoke it/ grill it over charcoal and then coat it in teriyaki sauce. It's really nice and I want to try doing it myself but haven't caught an eel for a long time. The Japanese have different names for fresh water "unagi" and salt water eel "anago". Here is a link to what a Japanese eel meal looks like, it's called unagidon (eel with rice).



PS, the worm farm is going great, thanks again.

[smile0784]

Well done on the duskys.
Nice eel very nice you to give be it away.
I bet they will enjoy it

[bilby]

I once kept a big eel like that at Marlo, and prepared it as unagidon (Japanese style eel on rice). It was one of the best tasting fish I've ever had - very white meat and delicious flavour. There is one thing to note for the unwary, though. I had some cuts on my fingers from and earlier session of surf fishing, and I cleaned the eel with bare hands, which was in hindsight, a big mistake. Freshwater eels have a potent neurotoxin in their blood - this got into my cuts and caused immense pain and swelling over the next few days. My fingers were puffed up like little balloons! Once you cook the eel, the neurotoxin breaks down, but while fresh, its definitely something to avoid.

[Brownie]

[quote="bilby"]I once kept a big eel like that at Marlo, and prepared it as unagidon (Japanese style eel on rice). It was one of the best tasting fish I've ever had - very white meat and delicious flavour. There is one thing to note for the unwary, though. I had some cuts on my fingers from and earlier session of surf fishing, and I cleaned the eel with bare hands, which was in hindsight, a big mistake. Freshwater eels have a potent neurotoxin in their blood - this got into my cuts and caused immense pain and swelling over the next few days. My fingers were puffed up like little balloons! Once you cook the eel, the neurotoxin breaks down, but while fresh, its definitely something to avoid.[/quote]

Interesting info mate. Never knew that. Will keep it in mind.
The bit about the fingers reminded me of Pink Floyd Comfortably Numb!


[quote="Whiskers"]I decided to wander down to my "Dusky Hole" this afternoon to have another go for some big Dusky Flathead.

Again they were obliging and a couple of 50cm models were soon in the ice box.

Slow twitching a pilchard fillet across the bottom was producing results when everything came up solid and whatever had taken the bait was heading off towards Marlo at a rate of knots.

I wasn't fishing heavy gear and the fight was long and drawn out until I finally beached the fish. Not a Dusky, but a very solid eel.
Once on land they're a real handful but I eventually got the better of him.

On the mat he went 112cm long and on the lip grip scales was just nudging 10lbs.

In the photo of him on the mat he looks to be striped orange and black but that's just a case of crappy camera work and the shadow of my legs!

Not long after this a Japanese family (tourists) came by and got very excited about it. Apparently eel is a great delicacy in Japan and is getting very expensive to buy. They actually have a national eel day. The eels are called Urangi and there are restaurants who specialise in serving them.

I offered the eel to the family and to my surprise they gratefully accepted it. You'd have thought I'd given them the crown jewels. I hope they have somewhere to cook it!
:water:[/quote]
Nice eel, bet it tasted fantastic. Love a good eel. :thumbsup:

[smile0784]

Never new that about eels

[Lightningx]

Nice report and pics!
That eel is a beauty :thumbsup: