Florida & Georgia - Big Cuda and pile of macs a few days ago

Had a charter guys wanted to troll on a 1/2 day (4) hours so I said sweet lets roll. I had found a few mac's flipping around a couple days prior right off the beach and thought hum... wonder if they are still home. YEP.. they were home alright. Then as an added bonus this monster came up and ate a small mac we had on a #2 drone spoon.. He took another bite and got the spoon's hook and he stayed on. I could not believe it I thought for sure we were going to lose it but he stayed hooked up and to the box he went. I think we had 40 or 50 macs to boot.

Good trip!!

i spun them and they are still sideways.. just cock your head :)

Do people eat cuda?

people eat bonita ;? I actually like cuda.. believe it or not it is good. I was fooled into eating is once and then was told what it was. Could not believe it. You gotta do a lot of cutting to get the good meat out but this one had pleanty of meat to eat :grin:

They took one side to eat we kept a side for bait :rofl: too big for me to eat. Sharks love cuda meat

Do people eat cuda?


They eat roaches and rats too, in China.

They eat roaches and rats too, in China.

Great answer lol..... I have heard they are good as well but I have also heard they can cayse ciguetara* poisoning

Great answer lol..... I have heard they are good as well but I have also heard they can cayse ciguetara* poisoning
I don't think we have that issue here on the gulf coast as everyone I know eats them. Bonita not so much, but I have a Asian dude that is always at the dock collecting the bonita to eat. He takes as many as he can get. There is a very, very ,very small back strap on them that is like tuna I guess but I am NOT eating that crap.

We had so many bonita this year a few deck hands ate some and said it was not that bad, again I am not eating that shit. If my clients want to I will cut them up and bag the meat for them.. their fish they can do as they please.

I don't think we have that issue here on the gulf coast as everyone I know eats them. Bonita not so much, but I have a Asian dude that is always at the dock collecting the bonita to eat. He takes as many as he can get. There is a very, very ,very small back strap on them that is like tuna I guess but I am NOT eating that crap.

We had so many bonita this year a few deck hands ate some and said it was not that bad, again I am not eating that shit. If my clients want to I will cut them up and bag the meat for them.. their fish they can do as they please.

I will probably try the cuda then...... I will hold off on the Bonita though

I was talking to a guy at the St Pete Open (spearfishing tournament) two years ago that was collecting all the fish people didn't want ( mostly barracuda, AJ, mackeral) to feed tot he homeless. I stopped and talked to him about the fish they were collecting, what they did with them, etc and we spoke about barracuda and ciguatera. He said when the barracuda is from the east coast, they are fine up to 3' in length and become suspect after that due to their extensive reef system. He said on the west coast they are safe to eat up to the 6'. I'm on the west coast and one of the guys I spear with all the time always picks up one in the 3' range and says he loves them that size. I figured why not and cooked one for myself....it was good and now I shoot them as well. Won't replace hog fish, snapper or grouper as my preferred fish, but it is good. I view them like large triggers and sheepshead, not my target species but if one makes itself available, I'm not going to pass on it.

Be sure to throw that smelly stinkin Cuda in thew chest with the rest of your catch, so your whole catch can smell like cuda....sorry I will pass, Cudas smell rancid just picking them out of the water...

when the rest of the catch is mac's we do.... nice layer of ice between.
don't be scared give it a shot...