Poor Mans Lobster & GC Fishing

[Aussie_Angler]

G'day fisho's

Ive been fishin out from the GC recently and have been catching some scorpion cod (Poor mans Lobster) and ive heard there supposed to tast good when boiled, has anyone given it ago? Also any other info such as leagal size and bag limit or even anything else to help a newby to fish out from the GC in 6.2m platey have tried Murmaid and One mile but am lookin fwd to headin out further. Idealy chasing reds, but who isnt!!

Cheers
Aussie_Angler

[Nowhere Bob]

BITEY BITEY BITEY.

Similar neuro toxin as stonefish.
Anything that hurts so bad that dipping affected part in boiling water helps, needs to be treated with uber care.

That said, I've always been facinated by the beautiful little beggars & would be keen to have one in a tank. Care to share any more info - where & what rig /bait?

As to tips & spots, If you were on the Sunny coast I might be able to help, but about the Gold Coast I Know Nutink except;
A walk into Casino
B Hand nice man at door contents of wallet.
C walk out.

[samson]

Eaten red rockys plenty of times good chewing but never boiled them, they don't have a size limit or possession limit but not worth keeping unless 30cm plus or so mind you nice plump white fillets on them, just don't get spiked or you'll wish you'de never heard of them.

[Aussie_Angler]

Mate, i dont rekon theres a rig out there that dosent catch the buggers, ive had them on floating pillies, squidgies, strip baits and even bait jigs there like the offshore version of a grinner. Had a word to the DPI and they say no size limit but dont hold me to it. One Mile reef seemed to produce the best sized ones where as Murmaid reef was full of tiny ones.

Cheers
Aussie_Angler

[Roo]

i've got them on paternoster rigs and on soft plastics!! I've kept small ones to use for bait, great strip bait as the skin is tough and the flesh is firm, caught more bloody rockies with them. Kept a big one for a feed. my tip is to use leather gloves and pliers to hold the thing while you take the fillets off. and them skin the fillets and fry in a little butter.......beaut flavour and firm white flesh. If you could catch big ones all day I'd say they are worth targeting but I seem to get a lot of smaller models around the reefs off tweed. do not get spiked by them as it can be very painful.

[Noelm]

any one who said they taste like Lobster has never eaten Lobster, end of story, although they are edible, when cooked the flesh curls up like buggery and is next to useless, my thoughts only, but I have cooked, boiled, fried, BBQ all sorts of ways, and they are still Red Rock Cod and in no way taste like even a dodgey frozen Lobster.

[bballfisho]

Despite their appearance they are worth considering if there is not much biting. I've only ever kept the biggest ones as they have a alot of head and not much meat. still they are really white and tasty

be careful when filleting and handling as well- those spikes are spose to hurt a fair bit

[tunaticer]

These are the best fish i know of for cubing up and deep frying in batter for sweet and sour fish. Bloody marvelous. I've eaten them many ways but as bite sized nuggets is by far the best.

Jack.

[cdg81]

the best way to cook them is put them in a pot of boiling water along with a tennis ball sized rock. bring back to the boil and cook for a further 11 minutes. drain water out put on seperate plates, give the fish to the dog and you eat the rock,

[roz]

I've caught plenty, the further south you go the more there are of the bloody things.

they are in the 'HANDLE WITH CARE' class,, but becuase they have such big mouths dehooking is easy.

As for the lobster part...well the comparison not good, but if you catch a keeper try gently poaching (on the bone), let it cool in the fridge, then lift the flesh off the bone and dress with a light mayonaise.

The sort of thing for water crackers etc etc.. worked for me.

You will be pleasantly surprised.

r.

[Chas & Clarry]

We caught them off Sunshine Beach...delicious just fried in butter!!

[Aussie_Angler]

Cheers fellas

ill be puttin a few in the esky for taste next time i head out, Anybody got some pointers on fishing that area in general? (Weather to avoid, besides the obvious )
Any help much appreciated !!

Aussie_Angler

[onerabbit]

I prefer them as fish cocktails, but when I was a kid mum would boil them, put them on a plate & leave them in the fridge. Really nice just picked off the bones.

Muzz

[Derek Bullock]

I've caught plenty, the further south you go the more there are of the bloody things.

they are in the 'HANDLE WITH CARE' class,, but becuase they have such big mouths dehooking is easy.

As for the lobster part...well the comparison not good, but if you catch a keeper try gently poaching (on the bone), let it cool in the fridge, then lift the flesh off the bone and dress with a light mayonaise.

The sort of thing for water crackers etc etc.. worked for me.

You will be pleasantly surprised.

r.

Way to go Roz.

As someone who likes to cook differently, the red rock cod is definately a well worthwhile fish to eat.

Poach it on the bone, let it cool, flake it off the bone, dress with a light seafood dressing, place on a bed of shredded lettuce in an entree dish, tell your guests it's lobster, see what sort of comments you get.

If they are not regular lobster eaters they will most likely agree that it was a nice lobster.

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.


Derek

[Noelm]

you could probably cover any sort of fresh fish or Seafood extender (or cardboard) in dressing and stuff and it would be OK, to get back to the start, the old Red Rocky is an OK fish to eat, but still a very long way from Lobster, and be sure to only keep the really huge one's other wise you will end up with bugger all meat when it is deheaded and filleted