Monduran catties; edibility rating and recipes pls

[rick_k]

We are booked into Monduran for 10 days from end of October. I would like to eat some fish, in part because I am not 100% on pure catch and release.

First and last Monduran barra was 114 cm caught mid Jan this year. Edibility was right up there with mack tuna. In fact, prefer the tuna.

I looked after it, more or less, caught at around 7:00a.m. too big for esky, filleted and on ice by 8:30 (yes I normally do better, but the tinny is only 4.3m)

This eat or not eat freshwater barra stuff has me bamboozled.

Some reckon they are ok, some (including me based on a sample of 1) reckon not. And I happily eat Sommerset bass, and yellowbelly to 4.5 kg- but I know how to deal with them.

Do the Monduran catties eat better, or will we be letting them go along with the barra? I'm not a real fan of eel tail catties/jew; taste like bream to me, and I don't like eating them, either.

Rick k

[SeekingBarradise]

Hi Rick we have been trying to get those mighty Barra from our great Impoundments to taste better but how hard is it :) ????

First go was in 2004 at Wuruma and we had them on ice right away but the bite was so hot we didn't bleed them fast enough (mistake) and the mud was too much for us when it came to eating them.

Second go was to Bleed asap even if the bite is on at Awoonga - a mate who fished Canada got some tips for us from a guide- put the fillets on ice and with a strong salt- immediately we saw all the junk releasing from the fillets - this made the fillets taste better.
However the mud taste was still there.

Third go! Some grey nomads told us to all vinegar and a strong salt mix of 1 cup of salt to 4 cups of water. We have just tried this on a nice 93cm Barra we got last week at Monduran and gave the fish to our parents - not sure how it tasted - give it a go and see how it tastes and if it works let us know please. We also cut out all blood lines and fat from all the fillets and nex time we will try a Barra around 60ish cm as they might not be so muddy.

Mark Griggs from B&B had some late winter barra and i think he said they tasted better - check out the last couple of issues and good luck chasing those fish!!:)

[rick_k]

yep, buy every copy of B&B.

Think I'd rather eat something that eats grass than freshwater barra.

The two problems are
1. apparently some taste ok, need to work out which ones, and
2 I'm ok with catch to eat, but not so ok with catch to let go. Just my values, not looking for one moment to inflict them elsewhere. And I have fish in tanks at home, and did have a parrot that died at the ripe old age of 19; a quarrion/cockatiel b4 anyone tells me sulphurs live to 100+

[Freeeedom]

To make the impoundment barra taste better soak the fillets overnight in milk. If they are big thick slabs slice them diagonally to let the milk penetrate better. At least it makes them edible. The catfish are a much better eating fish and there are millions of them in Monduran - these are the river catfish or blue catfish, not the eel-tailed catfish or Tandanus. So my advice would be have a ball catching barra and big bass, then put a flesh bait out for about 5 seconds and catch a couple of catfish for dinner.
Cheers Freeeedom

[timbacutta]

Catties make excellent mud crab bait. ;D ;D
I suspect bass would be the best thing to eat out of Monduran. As far as dam barra, I'm yet to taste one that will change my mind about catch and release of these fish.

Jeff.

[Freeeedom]

Catties make excellent mud crab bait. ;D ;D
I suspect bass would be the best thing to eat out of Monduran. As far as dam barra, I'm yet to taste one that will change my mind about catch and release of these fish.

Jeff.

Don't you believe it Bundylundy - the bass I caught and tried to eat from Monduran were the muddiest fish I've ever eaten. Even the milk trick couldn't remove the muddy taste after 24 hours. Never again - I'll take a pic and let them all go in future. It'll be catfish, garfish or barra in that order for tea next time
Cheers Freeeedom