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Luderick on the menu


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After not trying for luddies for a while  weather has stopped me from workin  so i hit one of my fave spots and bagged out in 3hrs  cabbage for bait  swansea channel loco

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7 minutes ago, ireallylovefishies22 said:

Nice fish! I haven't really enjoyed eating the luderick that I catch, I dislike the weedy/muddy flavour that some seem to take on. Any tips on how to cook them?

It’s likely the handling more than the cooking. Bleed and then straight onto ice. Clean as soon as possible. I’ve done this and it’s resulted in divine meals and friends and family asking for more.

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Just now, Little_Flatty said:

It’s likely the handling more than the cooking. Bleed and then straight onto ice. Clean as soon as possible. I’ve done this and it’s resulted in divine meals and friends and family asking for more.

yeah that could def be the case, didn't have ice with me. Will remember next time 👍

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Follow what @Little_Flatty said with all your catch for a better chew experience. I’ll add specific to blackfish (luderick) take time to scrape out the black stomach lining - sharp edge of your knife or a stiff brush gets the job done. You won’t get that weedy muddy taste. 
cheers Zoran 

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A trick I have used in the past is to take two buckets and a frozen 1.25lt bottle of water with me , one bucket has the berley mix in it and the other is to keep the fish in . 1/3 fill this bucket with salt water and put the frozen bottle of water in the centre of the bucket , as I catch fish I brain spike and bleed them then put them in the bucket head down around the bottle . It doesn’t take long for that bottle to cool the water down and at the end of the session the fish are filleted and skinned . It sounds like a lot of effort but believe me it is worth it ! Also don’t bleed them in the water you are fishing in , do it over the bucket you are keeping them in . An old timer taught me this when I was a kid - he said it will turn them off if they smell the blood .

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I will add that if I want to take a feed, I’ll be intentional about it and bring ice packs, a cooler and a knife. I always have ice packs (or ice like @XD351’s idea) and a cheap backpack cooler on the ready with a knife and clean garbage bag to hold fish) don’t like the idea of turning my backpack cooler fishy). That way it’s not actually a lot of effort.

If I don’t have ice, knife and a cooler with me, all fish go back, doesn’t matter if it’s a trophy or a delicacy.

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23 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

I will add that if I want to take a feed, I’ll be intentional about it and bring ice packs, a cooler and a knife. I always have ice packs (or ice like @XD351’s idea) and a cheap backpack cooler on the ready with a knife and clean garbage bag to hold fish) don’t like the idea of turning my backpack cooler fishy). That way it’s not actually a lot of effort.

If I don’t have ice, knife and a cooler with me, all fish go back, doesn’t matter if it’s a trophy or a delicacy.

I use one of these hard coolers as a tackle bag , that goes over my shoulder , the buckets fit inside one another and I use some rod wraps to tie the rod and net together . I gave up on the soft cooler after I had a bag of pillies leak into one - no way of recovering one from that - it was a bin job ! If something does leak into this cooler I can take the plastic tub out and wash it .

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15 hours ago, ireallylovefishies22 said:

Nice fish! I haven't really enjoyed eating the luderick that I catch, I dislike the weedy/muddy flavour that some seem to take on. Any tips on how to cook them?

IMO, Luderick from more remote areas have a more delicate flavour than their city cousins and are better than Bream. BUT the flavour deteriorates relatively quickly if you don't look after them well (not good as a commercial species, but very good for us).  ASAP after humane killing, bleed, fillet, skin and remove black stomach lining. Keep the fillets cold. Alternative to carrying a cooler, retain them in a large keeper net (which is not the same as a scaler net) in constantly refreshed water (e.g. large, deep rock pool regularly refreshed by waves, and not 'roughed up' by wave action) and complete the killing bleeding, etc at the end of session.

Enjoy them cooked the same ways as you would Bream. I used to share the catch at work occasionally, where we'd wrap them with butter and herbs in foil and cook them in the oven. Minimum fuss; good result; eaten straight from the foil there was no mess to clean up. I forget the recipe we used. Search the web for foil baked fish to get the general idea.    

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1 hour ago, Steve0 said:

IMO, Luderick from more remote areas have a more delicate flavour than their city cousins and are better than Bream. BUT the flavour deteriorates relatively quickly if you don't look after them well (not good as a commercial species, but very good for us).  ASAP after humane killing, bleed, fillet, skin and remove black stomach lining. Keep the fillets cold. Alternative to carrying a cooler, retain them in a large keeper net (which is not the same as a scaler net) in constantly refreshed water (e.g. large, deep rock pool regularly refreshed by waves, and not 'roughed up' by wave action) and complete the killing bleeding, etc at the end of session.

Enjoy them cooked the same ways as you would Bream. I used to share the catch at work occasionally, where we'd wrap them with butter and herbs in foil and cook them in the oven. Minimum fuss; good result; eaten straight from the foil there was no mess to clean up. I forget the recipe we used. Search the web for foil baked fish to get the general idea.    

Steve0 I completely agree with you regarding how to look after luderick for best eating.  Keep them alive till you are ready to go then bleed and break the neck and wipe out all the black lining in the stomach area with a piece of hessian bag.  We never used to skin the fillets - just batter and shallow fry and then YUM!!!

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Brilliant bag of Lud’s Rick - where it all started for me, and loooove the pull and fight on light gear. Loved the report mate 👍👍 Would love to get out with you some time if it ever works (and ledges not too tricky to get to)

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