Dogfish Eating Cod

[Gerry Zagorski]

Something many have thought for years now...

https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/n...3b9BG_gEh5m18Y

Was up in Gloucester a few years back Haddock fishing and the Dogs were so thick we'd have to get the bait out of the water and stop fishing for 20 mins at a clip... Drop back in and catch some Haddock and 10 mins later we'd have to stop fishing again. You'd reel them up and there was 10 others following.

Seems like you can't get past these Dogfish to get at the Sea Bass and Tog in our area too.. Meanwhile people are talking about Tog Biomass being down and imposing stricter regulations. Maybe they should be looking at the Dogfish populations and the effect they have on Tog..

Thoughts, opinions?? Seems like you can hardly drop anything, jigs, bait etc and not be invaded by them...

[wyldbillnj]

How do you cook the dogfish?

[hh52]

Marinated in Italian dressing and throw it on the grill

[hammer4reel]

Commercial guys have been catching crazy numbers of dogfish here this fall . And it hasn’t even put a dent in them .

[wyldbillnj]

How about donating the dogfish to food banks and such?

[Jigman13]

Originally Posted by wyldbillnj

How do you cook the dogfish?

You dont. They're putrid tasting. Some find them palatable. That blows my mind.

[wyldbillnj]

Lol.....

[Detour66]

They are everywhere even in the bay off of Keansburg. Is it true that they are used for fish & chips meals or is that just a urban legend? If so let the commercial guys catch them up and sell them! To me they are uneatable but they do use them down south jersey for fluke bait strips.

[Billfish715]

You are correct about their numbers. It didn’t matter if you dropped a jig to the bottom or reeled it through the water column. The doggies were on it. I caught one while reeling in a jig that wasn’t more than 10 feet down. We had one that was approaching 4’ in length. The only thing we never caught them on was an umbrella rig.

The market price has to be right for the commercial guys to harvest them. Lobster trap bait? Maybe. Again, if the price is right. Fish and chips? If that’s the case, you can feed the world.

[Jigman13]

They're skin pissers. I hear smooth doggies are the ones served as cape shark. I had it once, perfectly cleaned, bled, iced down and brined for 24 hours, dried, battered and deep fried. The taste was very unpleasant.

Spinys are vile. Sometimes they're so thick off Montauk we gun the boat thru them and it's a blood bath from so many getting chopped in the props. Slice the bellies and more come running to eat the innards. Theyll eat anything.

The only thing weve ever used them for is tilefish bait. Soaked the strips in clam juices or gulp alive juice. Stays on the hook forever. Like shoe leather