Quote:
Originally Posted by tombanjo
I caught a bunch of those little bones too and was greatly anticipating having them again after last year's feast. Bled and iced right away, the meat was a huge disappointment. Grayish and unsuitable for sushi/sashimi. Not sure if it's a size thing and maybe these little ones need to grow a bit to yield better meat. Last year the ones I ate were all 3lbs and up. Will throw them back next time.
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If they have teeth, they are bonito. If they have spots, they are false albacore (AKA Bonito in southern waters). If they have stripes and no teeth, they are skipjacks. Some people do eat false albacore but they are not the most desired human food fish in the ocean. However, the sharks and marlin love them.
I've never had any problem with the flesh of bonito when the fish are iced and bled immediately.
If you are a fluke fisherman, the white belly strips from the false albacore make excellent baits. The flesh and skin from the belly cavity are just the right thickness for fluke strips. Freeze them with some Kosher salt to keep them firm and package them in small bags with just enough for a single day trip. We used to use large belly strips from them when we trolled along the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida's east coast. I imagine that small pieces of belly strips would be good for seabass as well.
