took 2 hours yesterday and went fishing for blowfish with the boys..

 

caught 15 keepers and about 10-15 throw backs..

 

 

That's awesome!

 

This might sound kinda stupid but...I didn't even know we had blowfish off NJ shores!? But I am not a huge fisherman so I'm not too knowledgeable about this stuff.

 

Also, keepers? Do you eat them?

I'm in the same boat with Filter. I knew we had them around but can't quite fathom why you would want to keep them. I always thought that the meat was poisonous. How do you even catch them? What do you use as bait? Please enlighten us. Inquiring minds want to know.

Haha yes true that, Joeski!

 

I've always heard that they were poisonous as well and you can't eat them. Or at least only people who knew what they were doing (japanese sushi chef's?) could prepare them correctly without you getting sick.

 

+1 to enlighten us!

I think it's more like dying. But that could be a different breed of exotic blowfish. I'm not a blowfishologist so I digress to Tony.

 

 

Edit: Just looked it up online and aparently the northern puffer, which is what those are, aren't poisonous.

Maybe he wants to make one of these?

Do they fight or just kinda float there?

Good eating fish. They garnered the nickname "chicken of the sea" because they make great table fare.

I've caught them at Shark River inlet behind the tennis courts. I call them puffer fish and threw them back in the water. Other people around me said they nicknamed them chicken of the sea. They eat a small edible part of the fish which they say tastes great. I never knew there were size limits on these fish.

Pretty cool, I'm with some of the others and didn't know they were in our area.

 

I guess they make a good choice for Fishing Stories.

 

Harry

There are no limits on blowfish. But, there is a size that is worth cleaning vs. tossing one back into the sea to grow for another day.

 

NJ Min. Size, Possession and Seasons

blowfish have been makeing a comeback for years.i have caught them in nj and ny for the past 20 years or so. they are great to eat.just make sure you skin them and remove the liver properly this is where the toxins are but not the same as the japanese fugu which are the deadly ones. And i know this will sound crazy but the best bait for blow fish i have found is power bait, the stuff people use for trout.

yes the northern puffer is nontoxic..haha..

 

The little ones you do not want to keep, around 8 inches is a fairley good one.

 

They do put up a little fight, and be carful unhooking one they have sharp teeth that look like a beak..

 

very good eating fish.

 

To clean you cut behind the head on an angle towards the back do not cut all the way through leave the belly intact, use plyers to grab the spine and skin where you made the cut and pull back and down while holding the head, you will have a drumstick piece of meat.

 

I will check you tube for a vid..

Hi Toni,

Where in NJ were you fishing for Blowfish was it anywhere in South Jersey? Also are they a salt water or freshwater fish?

Hi Toni,

Where in NJ were you fishing for Blowfish was it anywhere in South Jersey? Also are they a salt water or freshwater fish?

 

Saltwater fish, we fished the great bay region. The blowfish are gone now they are migrating south..

Iv caught a few of these in central Nj. Keyport and Lawrence harbor

That looks like fun. I also never knew we had blowfish in the area

I've caught several of them over the last couple of years on the Keyport pier and in the Manasquan Inlet in Pt. Pleasant. Always drew a little bit of a crowd when I unhooked them. Good to see they are in decent numbers in the open water.

When I was a kid spending summers in L.B.I., we would catch blowfish all day long. We used 2 hooks and many times caught 2 at a time. My brother didn't like fish so my mother would bread his blowfish and tell him he was eating chicken. As a typical kid, he would laugh at us because he was eating chicken and we were eating fish.

I have caught them in Shark River while fishing for fluke and flounder. Never thought to eat them but i have never had the oppertunity to catch a bunch either.

Barnegat bay is loaded with blowfish right now for anyone that wants to get out and have some fun.