Slow Fishing and Taste Test

Aftershock

Fishing has been very slow for me unless you like bonita and sharks.  Seen some nice hoos hit the deck last week but my 2.5 hour attempt yesterday only yielded 1/1/2 bonita.  Was watching a Jacki Shea video the other day, just for the fishing :-), where she caught some bonita and made sashimi.  Thought it looked pretty good on the video and I love skipjack that way so wanted to give it a try.

While edible (it won't make you gag or anything), it was not nearly as good as skipjack or BFT. was very dense and just didn't have the same flavor.  I did bleed and ice it down just like the other tuna I catch and only used the shoulder area.  Looks like our bonita and shark populations are safe for now.

It's off to Islamorada in 2 weeks to catch the good stuff off the humps down there.  Tight lines everyone!

xenia

Once you try yellow jack sashimi you won't want anything else.

Reel Mullarkey

I've ate Bonita sashimi and liked it. 
Last year we did a blind taste test between Bonita and Blackfin Tuna and 3 out of 3 thought the Bonita was better. The fish were caught almost the same time of day, similar in size and prepared the same way. The only difference was how much of the Bonita was gross bloodline. We definitely got more meat off the Tuna. 

CoastalCatch

Reel Mullarkey said:

I've ate Bonita sashimi and liked it. 
Last year we did a blind taste test between Bonita and Blackfin Tuna and 3 out of 3 thought the Bonita was better. The fish were caught almost the same time of day, similar in size and prepared the same way. The only difference was how much of the Bonita was gross bloodline. We definitely got more meat off the Tuna. 

 I've performed the same taste test on my finicky Iowa corn-fed wife and she also chose the bonito...that is a true test as she is a reluctant adventurer in fish cuisine.

Aftershock

I heard that before on this forum too which was the other reason I contemplated the try.  Maybe its just a mental thing with me as I knew it was bonita.  Oh well, I'm going to stick with my skippys and BFT.  At least it will continue to make me excited when I get one of those two species to the boat.

blakhawkdoc

Thanks for the report

Intheslot

There's a reason why there's a million niters to every tuna   

zzzzzzsplash

I've read about this and done the taste test myself...":don't knock it until you try it"...and now I can knock it.

I think it comes down to some people wanting or believing fish should taste strong, rich, oily, or have a distinct "fishy" flavor.  Select pieces of fine Japanese sashimi taste like cat food to me.  If that's your perception then you can probably slather bonita in soy sauce and love every bite.  If you prefer your fish to taste clean, sweet, slightly salty, or melt in your mouth with no aftertaste, you will not enjoy bonita.