First Time Elephant Fish

Post by **FishnMiss** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 8:55 pm

Hi all,

I went down today around 11am just past Hastings, thought I'd try for whiting but that didn't work too well.
The wind was up and too many pieces of grass etc in the shallow. Anyway I hooked up a couple of Toadies with the small No 6 hook.
I think I killed one trying to get my hook out its throat (I wasnt happy about that.
Anyway I had some burley floating in the surf near me and as the waves came in from my left across to the right and out again it must have attracted more fish.
Around 12.30 I was close to packing up when I got a bite on my surf rod, I waited a bit longer and then another bite so I lifted the rod & gave a small tug and there was something on the end. I thought I had a Pinkie because there wasn't a huge amount of fight. Anyway it was good fun & as I pulled it out through the grass/weed on the shore I saw this strange silver fish with some brown markings on it.
Then :sun: the lights came on and I realised it was an elephant fish - My first one ever :woohoo:
I ummed and aaaghed for a while trying to figure out if I should keep it or let it go.
It got a covered in sand so I figured i'd rinse it off - Ummm yeah not so smart as it tried to get away and as I grabbed its tail to pick it up it turned and bit me on my arm :angryfire: Not happy
Okay so I figured I'd keep it. Anyway no one told me I'm supposed to bash it on the head then take a knife and drain it's blood there and then chuck it on ice :dontknow
Ahh well I don't know what it will taste like now???
I've filleted it and put it in the freezer (someone said they taste better if you freeze them).
If anyone has some tips/pointers to cook it please let me know???? :dinner:
Thanks

Post by **Boonanza** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 8:57 pm

Great catch well done :thumbsup:

Nude up · Post by **Nude up** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 9:05 pm

I have caught a few elephant fish in my time but I am not a fan of eating the flesh by itself. My wife cooks it in a green curry sauce with the fish cut into cubes and its ok the fish does not break down stays as cubes .

TrevKing · Post by **TrevKing** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 9:14 pm

Great fish there, I've been wanting to catch some for quite some time but haven't got around to targeting them yet. :thumbsup:

Post by **FishnMiss** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 9:15 pm

Nude up wrote:I have caught a few elephant fish in my time but I am not a fan of eating the flesh by itself. My wife cooks it in a green curry sauce with the fish cut into cubes and its ok the fish does not break down stays as cubes .

Thanks Nude,
I thought I might make Thai fish cakes with the flesh as some people seem to think it's not the nicest fish to eat on it's own?
But I do like a good curry (Love chillies too :hitit: ) so I might combine the curry n chilli and make a dish with it.
I'm a bit apprehensive to be honest as I'm not a great fish eater overall :oops:

raco09 · Post by **raco09** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 9:18 pm

A mate cubed it put it in flour and deep fried it. Tasted good apparently.

Nude up · Post by **Nude up** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 9:22 pm

Go the green curry mate its a ripper dish and its good for you because its fish , thats what I tell myself

Post by **FishnMiss** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 9:23 pm

TrevKing wrote:Great fish there, I've been wanting to catch some for quite some time but haven't got around to targeting them yet. :thumbsup:

Hi Trev,

Too be honest I wasn't even thinking of them when I baited up ( I took a large Pilchard and chopped it from the tail about 7cm long and threaded it though the hook). I knew there were toadies about etc so I also used some bait mate to keep it on and that helped for sure.

One thing I have come to realise in my short time of fishing, is that the fish will hit anything if they are in the mood even if the bait is old (not rotten but old). I had these pilchards in the freezer from over a month ago that a mate gave me after we had been down at Woolamai (they were a bit old already then and they had been thawed out).
Anyway I think I might start a thread about this and see how many toes I stand on :crazy:

garfish001 · Post by **garfish001** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 12:18 am

Next time be very careful when handling an elephant fish, the dorsal fin can be very painful,
And bleed it on the spot. Nice catch and pics....

rixter · Post by **rixter** » Sat Mar 01, 2014 12:34 am

WD, it should taste fine (regardless of bleeding it etc) if it was cleaned/filleted not long after catching it.
Good eating , put batter on it deep fried , and you wouldn't tell the difference between that and gummy , or many other sharks.
They all taste pretty much the same, and pretty much the same texture flesh / the reason why so many varieties of sharks ( including elephant fish/shark ) is legally classed and sold as flake in all fish and chip shops. Flake is Flake.

If the meat looks a bit pink when its frozen , this is a sign of a bit of blood still left in the meat. Leave it out for an hour roughly (still in the bag sealed ) , the meat will still be semi frozen , but the remaining blood will drain out of the meat with the defrosting water. Drain this out of the bag and reseal and refreeze while still semi frozen, or use it after draining any excess blood and fully defrosted.

Best to get rid of all the blood ( reason why bleeding them straight away is advised ), otherwise you end up with light greyish meat throughout the white flesh, which makes the flesh a bit sloppy and is also not a very pleasant taste, this is especially so with salmon .

Cheers , Rick

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