To keep or not to keep

[FishOn205]

I woukd agree with u that the big hog females don't taste so good .. Therefore I like to fish for the jacks. As for catch and release on the hogs I'm for it but that's just me just my opinion and some guys probly do that. Either way keep or release it makes no difference to me. I can understand guys coming from out of town looking for pounds to take back so I guess it's 6 to one and half dozen to another. Either way I cannot wait to get out there and just start fishing!! Good luck

[jiginitis69]

I agree also. Being a local I only want the jacks. It's fun catching a pig. But I must admit I don't catch many jigging

[wakina]

I agree also. Being a local I only want the jacks. It's fun catching a pig. But I must admit I don't catch many jigging

The fact of the matter is that you almost have to target the females in order to catch them. Jigging on the reefs is almost a 99.9% male (jack) catch, the females (hens) are hanging out in the deeper water off the reefs and when they come in to the reefs they have only one thing on their mind. By targeting females I mean slow trolling crank baits, the 2 most popular are Reef Runners and Deep Down Husky Jerks. The females that are caught jigging are few and far between. Please don't get me wrong there are some females caught on jigs on the reefs every year, just not in large numbers and each angler has to use their own judgment and conscience about whether to keep a female or not! I personally prefer the jacks myself.

[walleyewhitetailpro]

I agree with you guys on letting the females go, especially when you can easily catch a limit of jacks. Quick question though to the guys who don't like the taste of big females? Say later in the summer you catch a big female who is all spawned out and you keep her. Before you throw the fillets in the fryer, do you trim the red meat off of the fillets? I have found that by taking a little extra time to trim this meat really improves the flavor. I personally can't tell a 17" jack from a 30" female when tasting it after. I even feed it to the girlfriend who claims she only likes perch hahahaha.

[SteelEyes]

I agree with you guys on letting the females go, especially when you can easily catch a limit of jacks. Quick question though to the guys who don't like the taste of big females? Say later in the summer you catch a big female who is all spawned out and you keep her. Before you throw the fillets in the fryer, do you trim the red meat off of the fillets? I have found that by taking a little extra time to trim this meat really improves the flavor. I personally can't tell a 17" jack from a 30" female when tasting it after. I even feed it to the girlfriend who claims she only likes perch hahahaha.

I release pre-spawn females as well, but I like to jig rather than troll, so not much of a problem.
As for cookin up the late season big fish. I cut up the fillets for fying. First I cut along the length, near the rib bones, in order to seperate the thinner lower portion of the fillet from the thicker upper portion. This keeps a consistent thickness. Also trim away the lateral line / red meat. Just a small cut along the length. Takes away a lot of the overpowering fish flavor. Then I cut the long into shorter pieces which helps me fit in my pan better.

[Afishhawk]

I release pre-spawn females as well, but I like to jig rather than troll, so not much of a problem.
As for cookin up the late season big fish. I cut up the fillets for fying. First I cut along the length, near the rib bones, in order to seperate the thinner lower portion of the fillet from the thicker upper portion. This keeps a consistent thickness. Also trim away the lateral line / red meat. Just a small cut along the length. Takes away a lot of the overpowering fish flavor. Then I cut the long into shorter pieces which helps me fit in my pan better.

We strip the red vien out by slicing the tail one inch on each side of the vien.
Then pull the fillets apart, the vien normally stays with the loin meat. Pinch the vien, peel it off and throw away. We also bleed out all of our fish in the livewell before heading up. This method has always worked well for us.
Always seem to get nice clean meat and less mess on the ironing table of the hotel when filleting. lol

[BossHogg]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the 4-7 lb. Females producing way more offspring then the 9# plus fish? Thus its more important to throw back those midsize females then the big big ones. Other than the obvious reason that she may become the next 15#+ er.