And I hear they will get up to 30 pounds.

I’m with you on that. I’ve caught yellowfin tuna, black fin tuna, wahoo and AJ’s and they all put up a great fight but not pound for pound like the jack cravelle puts up. First time I caught one I said to my buddy “I must have a 30 lb fish” the way my rod was bending. And it was a heavy duty rod and reel I was using. It turned out to be a 7 pound Jack.

Largest on record is 44 pounds.

Lb for lb I think it’s a hard to beat a jack crevalle. Yes, smallies are fun to catch. They are good fighters and often jump. If you hook onto a 5 lb jack you will swear you got a 20 lb fish on and their stamina is unbelievable. Too bad they’re not better eating. Sure, the big fish out in the blue water are fun to catch and great fighters but look at the size.

Yes. I usually just put on a half of a shrimp and fish right on the bottom but I have seen guys using floats and fishing just off the bottom. A piece of cut bait works well too.

As far as taste, I will take either one. Hard to beat baked northern pike or musky or pan fried walleye or perch or bluegill but Mahi mahi, grouper, red snapper, yellowtail, flounder, cobia and many more are just as great. I do agree though that the fight of salt water fish is much better. A 5 pound jack feels about like a 15 pound largemouth. Walleyes taste good but are lousy fighters. White bass and crappies and bluegill are good fighters for their size but a salt water fish of the same size is stronger. Anyway, most all of them are fun to catch and most all are great eating. And as you say, “ when you fish in salt water you never know what you will catch next”. Most every time I go out I catch something new.

Looks like a lot of salt water in your area. Why not find a couple of good fishing piers and get some shrimp and learn how to catch mangrove snapper. Fun to catch and very good eating. In summer you will catch sheepshead around the same piers. Also good eating. You may also catch an occasional pompano or grouper.

I guess you’ve never eaten walleye, yellow perch, bluegill, white bass, sturgeon, or northern pike.

Have not tried nutria. May be the next new “ Hot” restraunt dish.

Muskrat. Up in Wi there are a few bars along the Wolf River that have “marsh rabbit” feeds. They are vegetarian and usually in clean water. They are a rodent and I thought they taste pretty much like a wild rabbit.

No, a hard head and a sail cat are two different fish. I have caught many of each. I just never caught what you call a flathead salt water catfish. I think in your earlier post when you said flathead saltwater catfish you meant hardhead saltwater catfish. Check your earlier post.

I know all about hardhead salt water catfish. I have caught plenty of them, and I know gafftopsail catfish. It is the one you call a “flathead “ salt water catfish that I have never heard of.

Sorry, I never heard of a saltwater flathead catfish. Only hardhead sand topsail.

Throw the hard heads back. Not worth cleaning but the gaftopsail is worth keeping and good eating...

Really good pickled.