What's the weirdest thing you've ever caught?

[keepitreel]

Most people reel in normal fish, but once in awhile I've been known to reel in something different. We were deep sea fishing once and I released my line with a lure on it, so that it dropped all the way to the bottom. I ended up reeling up a starfish. The workers on the boat seemed to love that one. I sort of wish I could have kept it.

One of our favorite spots to fish is at the lagoon. We fish from shore and can wade in and fish in the water if the tide is right. One time I knew I had caught something, and it put up quite a fight. I reeled it in and it freaked me out when I was looking towards the water and I saw all these tentacles coming towards the surface. It was an octopus!! Now THAT was cool! No, we didn't keep it, but it's one of those fun stories to tell people.

Have you ever caught anything besides your typical fish?

 

[Profit5500]

Too bad you did get a squid because you can eat that fried. I had fried squid at a Chinese buffet it was really good. I do not know if you can eat octopus or not.

 

[Ellyn]

Too bad you did get a squid because you can eat that fried. I had fried squid at a Chinese buffet it was really good. I do not know if you can eat octopus or not.

Yes, you can eat octopus. But if it's a venomous species such as a blue ring, then you might want to be careful.

Octopus and squid flesh tend to be rubbery unless they're cooked properly. I have a friend who managed to cook all the rubberiness out of the meat, she said that her secret was essentially high heat and a short cooking time but I never managed to replicate that. Another culinary secret, if you're making octopus soup, is to put a cork in the water--that does something good to the meat, I forgot what, it was on an episode of Top Chef.

A favorite Japanese festival food is called takoyaki, which is essentially an herby, spiced, octopus and dough ball.

 

[Profit5500]

Yes, you can eat octopus. But if it's a venomous species such as a blue ring, then you might want to be careful.

Octopus and squid flesh tend to be rubbery unless they're cooked properly. I have a friend who managed to cook all the rubberiness out of the meat, she said that her secret was essentially high heat and a short cooking time but I never managed to replicate that. Another culinary secret, if you're making octopus soup, is to put a cork in the water--that does something good to the meat, I forgot what, it was on an episode of Top Chef.

A favorite Japanese festival food is called takoyaki, which is essentially an herby, spiced, octopus and dough ball.

That sounds interesting I would wonder if the octopus would be fried or grilled. I mean when I had the squid fried over at an Asian buffet which that was a first for me. I did not think a cork in water would take out the rubber in the squid and octopus.

 

[cbrigges]

The strangest thing i ever caught was a Sea Slug. At least that's what I was told it was. Ugly looking thing. About 1.5 pounds, brownish in color, and looked like a giant snail, without the shell. Honestly, I didn't want to touch it, but i had to get my hook back.
Never seen one since.

 

[CLCharms]

The weirdest thing I ever caught while fishing was an eel.

 

[spikerfreelancer]

I was fishing in MO, casting out off the pier over and over again. I was on canned pork chop 5 of 6 when as I was reeling in and a copperhead lunged after my lure and hooked itself.

 

[cyberpuppet]

I have not caught anything weirder than a couple of bull heads - weird looking nasty spiky things and I have caught weever fish. The weirdest thing I have seen someone else catch is a John Dorey with its long mouth tube - now that was weird.

 

[Arthnel]

The strangest thing i ever caught was a Sea Slug. At least that's what I was told it was. Ugly looking thing. About 1.5 pounds, brownish in color, and looked like a giant snail, without the shell. Honestly, I didn't want to touch it, but i had to get my hook back.
Never seen one since.

Sea slugs never get a good reputation, especially after you see one up close like that. Just imagining one gives me the creeps too. I've never caught one of those, happy to say. I have caught a small stingray while fishing at night though and it was a scary episode. So scary that when I realized what it was I simply cut the line to get it away from me. Iwas not going to try to get my hook from its mouth while I was worried about its tail.