Jimmy Lee Armel
Senior Member
Hey guys and gals. I have been getting a lot of questions on all social media and phone calls about eating cudas, so here is my take on it.
People probably have heard that they carry ciguatera. Ciguatera is a foodborne illness caused by eating certain reef fish whose flesh is contaminated with a toxin made by dinoflagellates such as Gambierdiscus toxicus which live in tropical and subtropical waters. These dinoflagellates adhere to coral, algae and seaweed, where they are eaten by herbivorous fish which in turn are eaten by larger carnivorous fish like barracudas, and even omnivorous fish like basses and other fish like mullet. This is called biomagnification. Affected fish may show no sign of infection or, in more advanced cases, will be weakened and visibly thin, with yellowish eyes. As well, fish may be pale or a different color than usual. From my understanding it is not found in our waters.
I always tell my clients that I won't send them home with anything I wouldn't feed my momma and I have fed her lots of cuda. Everyone I have had try it really does like it. I've even gone as far as slipping in tacos to some nay sayers and they loved it. It has more of a steaky feel to it like cobia and I prefer it blackened or fried.
You target these fish just like a kingfish or trophy spanish. Live bait on a stinger rig with the drag set at less that 10 pounds. Troll at idle speed and watch the air sho they put on. If you are trolling the wrecks targeting kings keep the bait on the surface, if you want cudas, drop the downrigger (unless they are spawning then the kings will be deep off the structure) and keep dragging . We were hand feeding them off the back of the boat last week. It was a blast.
I read in a thread this morning about people angry that some people can keep red snapper and others can't. Instead of crying of spilled milk, try to target what we are allowed to keep and become proficient at that. When the fish that the govt wont allow us to keep (and let's be honest thats why most are mad) open up we will have the skill set necessary to capitalizing on these no no fish. I don't see very many limits of sea bass posted on here. If you can't catch a sea bass you can't catch a snapper.
As always if you have any questions please let me know and if you get a chance give me your thoughts on the cuda video I posted. We are thinking of starting some instructional videos as well so let me know how I can make them better and what ya'll wanna see. Gearing up for fall so lets get ready for the best fishing of the year.
People probably have heard that they carry ciguatera. Ciguatera is a foodborne illness caused by eating certain reef fish whose flesh is contaminated with a toxin made by dinoflagellates such as Gambierdiscus toxicus which live in tropical and subtropical waters. These dinoflagellates adhere to coral, algae and seaweed, where they are eaten by herbivorous fish which in turn are eaten by larger carnivorous fish like barracudas, and even omnivorous fish like basses and other fish like mullet. This is called biomagnification. Affected fish may show no sign of infection or, in more advanced cases, will be weakened and visibly thin, with yellowish eyes. As well, fish may be pale or a different color than usual. From my understanding it is not found in our waters.
I always tell my clients that I won't send them home with anything I wouldn't feed my momma and I have fed her lots of cuda. Everyone I have had try it really does like it. I've even gone as far as slipping in tacos to some nay sayers and they loved it. It has more of a steaky feel to it like cobia and I prefer it blackened or fried.
You target these fish just like a kingfish or trophy spanish. Live bait on a stinger rig with the drag set at less that 10 pounds. Troll at idle speed and watch the air sho they put on. If you are trolling the wrecks targeting kings keep the bait on the surface, if you want cudas, drop the downrigger (unless they are spawning then the kings will be deep off the structure) and keep dragging . We were hand feeding them off the back of the boat last week. It was a blast.
I read in a thread this morning about people angry that some people can keep red snapper and others can't. Instead of crying of spilled milk, try to target what we are allowed to keep and become proficient at that. When the fish that the govt wont allow us to keep (and let's be honest thats why most are mad) open up we will have the skill set necessary to capitalizing on these no no fish. I don't see very many limits of sea bass posted on here. If you can't catch a sea bass you can't catch a snapper.
As always if you have any questions please let me know and if you get a chance give me your thoughts on the cuda video I posted. We are thinking of starting some instructional videos as well so let me know how I can make them better and what ya'll wanna see. Gearing up for fall so lets get ready for the best fishing of the year.
