[island bound]

I must say,I am now a fan of the all mighty Bonito.

I just returned froma family getaway in San Diego,and like any other fishing addict I got out on the water.

Jumped on the Daily Double out of point loma for some AM fun.
Got into the best bonito bite I've ever seen ,these fish were all BIG in the 7-10+ lb range and fought hard on the bass rod.

05-25-2008 1/2 Day AM 36 27 Calico Bass, 1 Lingcod, 1 Barracuda, 147 Bonito, 22 Rockfish

I decided to save a few as I've heard they can be very good if treated right. Started off with one of the regulars on the boat making some bonito sashimi:tu: AWESOME.

Put the rest on ice, trimed them up at home and marinaded in soy and yoshidas sauce then into my cookshack smoker.

I've got to tell you,it was some of the best smoked fish I've had.
Anyone thinking these are junk fish or lobster bait (allthough they work quite well) needs to give them a try.

 

[Ghostboy]

Very tasty fish! The key is to bleed and ice them immediately. Cut out the bloodline during the fillet process - Ghostboy!

 

[mogandave]

They can up pretty well also. Bonita out of mason jars was the only tuna we ever had at the house when I was a kid.

 

[Sheldon]

Put the rest on ice, trimed them up at home and marinaded in soy and yoshidas sauce then into my cookshack smoker.

What do you mean by trimmed?? I want more details on what you did to them to smoke them....sounds good!!!

 

[island bound]

Put the rest on ice, trimed them up at home and marinaded in soy and yoshidas sauce then into my cookshack smoker.

What do you mean by trimmed?? I want more details on what you did to them to smoke them....sounds good!!!

When they fileted them on the boat they left the skin patialy hanging on and the filet whole. That must be done per DFG.

When I got home I removed the skin, then cut out ALL of the bloodline leaving only the lightest colored meat.

Taste very similar to smoked albacore or yellowfin, but they have to be decent size to make it worth the hastle.

 

[DockRat]

Taste good and good bait.

Maybe you all won't believe this but I have used Lobster for bait.
Working at Cat around 1980 and plenty of bugs for dinner and being the only guy on the boat that fished i would use chunks of a
raw lobster tail for bait 8* Hey Carrie, Is that legal?
As a kid in Gardena we would use Crawdad tail for bait at
Alondra Park.

DR

 

[Marley]

Yup, bonito are pretty good eatin' fish. Probably no more than fond memories, but that fresh bonito they make in the galley around 2:30 during a 3/4 day trip, then take around on a big platter is just about the best stuff.

This post edited by Marley 05/27/2008

 

[mogandave]

A while back the First String had an Asian gal working the galley and she use to cut up fresh squid and cook it up several ways and hand it out.

 

[TunaChuck]

Check out the second half of this article http://www.allcoast.com/article.cfm?i=8&e=6&s=262&a=2169&p=2
at the bottom are some ways of cooking up bonito with a picture.

 

[captn_tom]

Yup, bonito are pretty good eatin' fish. Probably no more than fond memories, but that fresh bonito they make in the galley around 2:30 during a 3/4 day trip, then take around on a big platter is just about the best stuff.

We were on a big wooden scow fishing Pt Vallarta in 1976. We caught a bunch of bonita at the point of banderas bay. Around noon, the deckhand got some oil hot and fried some strips up fresh, skin on with no batter. Man, it was really good and I would have bet against it. Maybe it was the carta blancas? LOL

 

[Oldtimer]

Finally, you youngsters start seeing the light.

For bonito (that's bonitO) threads also look at: This thread and ] and [url=http://www.allcoast.com/discussion/ViewTopic.cfm?page=1&startrow=1&topic_ID=88732&search=service&searchString=&searchNotString=&SearchMode=all&SearchNotMode=all&searchFromDate=%7Bts%20%272008%2D02%2D28%2014%3A15%3A31%27%7D&SearchUpToDate=%7Bts%20%272008%2D05%2D28%2014%3A15%3A31%27%7D]this thread In the latter thread, there is a post by a distinguished and urbane AC poster that includes the following: (recipes available upon suitable bribery) ***************************************************** However, to be candid, whereas skipjack has a pronounced taste and is quite a red f, bonitO is a milder lighter fish. Skipjack is clearly an acquired taste (IMHO), whereas anyone who likes yellowfin tuna should like properly cared for bonito. There are three tricks to make bonito great. (And actually, these 3 "tricks" work well for other fish too.) 1) Bleed it as soon as you can. The sooner the better. 2) As soon as it's bled, put it on ice (in plastic bags...don't let it sit in fresh water). 3) After you filet it, cut out the red mean along the lateral line. Too many people forget this step, and get strong tasting fish. If you have a recipe for tuna, bonito will be just as good. (Or even better! I think it's much better than albacore, except for tuna salad.) Seared bonito

Bontio sashimi

Bonito sashimi again

Bonito sashimi salad

Bonito poke

What I couldn't find is a picture of a fillet that's been sauted lightly. Yum Yum. ****************** If you like YFT and BFT, then you should like bonito. And, folks, it's BONITO (which I believe is masculine in Spanish, not bonita, which I is feminine in Spanish, which is appropriate for a fish that pulls like hell.

This post edited by Oldtimer 05/28/2008

 

[SteveT]

We all gotta be careful here, if we let the world know how really good Bonito can be it'll be just a matter of time before the DFG imposes a NO TAKE law! @(

 

[fishybuzz]

Just came back from a 3 day on the Pac Voyager....the bonito sashimi was the best sashimi I have EVER had....Mark the skipper and I must have eaten a pound each.....

The crew bled the fish as soon as they were caught then fillet and chilled them for 24 hours....the lightest sweetest pink sashimi you can imagine....

 

[island bound]

Just came back from a 3 day on the Pac Voyager....the bonito sashimi was the best sashimi I have EVER had....Mark the skipper and I must have eaten a pound each.....

The crew bled the fish as soon as they were caught then fillet and chilled them for 24 hours....the lightest sweetest pink sashimi you can imagine....

Your killing me! The wasabi and soy sauce is now in stock on my boat.

 

[Marley]

We all gotta be careful here, if we let the world know how really good Bonito can be it'll be just a matter of time before the DFG imposes a NO TAKE law! @(

OOPS! I mean, I bury the stuff under my roses.

 

[deepcolor]

indeed a junk fish-like any fish- if you don't take care of it immediately after landing it. bonita is one of those ultra time sensitive fish where it requires bled asap, iced and cutting the red strip out when filleting.other fish can tolerate a longer wait when it comes to bleeding and icing-although not recommended- but not bonita, it gets mushy and nasty real quick.

i got tired of catching and consuming bones in the 80's when they were very plentiful.

 

[Marley]

re: Finally, you youngsters start seeing the light.

For bonito (that's bonitO)
Seared bonito

Bontio sashimi

Some of your bonito looks more like skipjack, very dark-meated. I'm not sure I've ever seen bonito meat that red.

 

[island bound]

re: Finally, you youngsters start seeing the light.

For bonito (that's bonitO)
Seared bonito

Bontio sashimi

Some of your bonito looks more like skipjack, very dark-meated. I'm not sure I've ever seen bonito meat that red.

Thats NOT bonito! Way too red. Bonito is very light, little darker than albacore.