Gaftopsail Catfish Fishing

The subject today is Gaffies, or Gaftopsail Catfish, or Sailcats, as they are referred to. 

Gaftopsail Catfish (courtesy to Florida Wildlife Commission)

They are an interesting fish to catch.   They're pretty staunch fighters and hit fast and hard.  Their fighting style is very similar to Channel Cats in fresh water.  They are regarded down here in Florida as an undesirable fish if you're fishing for table fare, though.  They have 2 barbels on the chin, and enormous, serrated spikes in their dorsal and pectoral fins and if you get horned by one, you're going to be visiting your doctor for some antibiotics and a tetanus shot, I'm afraid. 

Their skin, like their smaller, more common cousin in salt water, the Hardhead Cat, is covered with a slimy mucus.  I wear gripping gloves when I handle them to reduce getting horned, and help me hang on to the fish a lot more easily.

note the gripping gloves as I remove the fish from the landing net (Photo:  Earlena Leonard,

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Gaftopsail Cats get their name from the way that their dorsal fin looks like the topsail on a sailing ship.  They don't get to be huge fish, with the world record being a hair over 10 pounds.  The Florida State Record is 8 pounds, 14 oz, and mine missed that by weighing in at 8 pounds, 6 oz.

Still, record fish or not, they are a nice fight when you get one hooked.  You'll know when you have a hit because you'll start spooling out line fast fast enough to make the drag ratchet clicker sing until you tighten down the drag and set the hook.  Personally, I use Kahle hooks, because like the circle hook, they are essentially a self setting hook, unlike the J Hook.

Kahle Hook

Octopus Circle Hook

Now, there is an ethical debate on Kahle ves Circle hooks surrounding "gut hooking" a fish.  Here's the deal....if you're going to catch and release, the circle hook is less likely to be swallowed by the fish and gut hook them.  The Hahle hooks I use are equally effective, I've found, and are easier to bait with live shrimp.  The other thing:  I'm not a catch and release fisherman with most of the fish I catch......I harvest and eat them.  For me, the Kahle hook suits my needs better, to put it simply.  Both are self setters as the fish spins away to take off, but the Kahle just does it better, especially with catfish, either fresh or salt water varieties.  The reason is because the circle barb points inward toward the back of the hook shaft and the kahle points at the eye of the hook.

So, what bait works for Sailcats?  Well, I've caught 'em on both live and frozen shrimp, frozen white shrimp from the grocery freezer, cut bait from various baitfish such as Pinfish, Finger mullet, Croakers I've caught, Greenies from cast netting.  I've also caught them on freezer burned fish from the stuff I may have lost in the freezer, and of course, squid works, as well.  They are a predator fish, much like their freshwater cousins, Channel and Blue Cats.\

The habitat of the sailcat is inshore and continental waters, estuaries, and lagoons.  They will enter brackish water, as well.  Their diet is small crustaceans, smaller fish and minnows, and the opportunistic bits of floating fish from larger fish predation.

Note the sail like appearance of the dorsal fin, and the really big barbs on both the dorsal and pectoral fins

Now, you've caught a mess of Sailcats, what do you do with them?  Well, you clean them, fillet them and fry 'em up in cornmeal, or you can make this recipe below.....but before we get into that, let's talk about cleaning them.  Fact is, you aren't going to get as much meat as you will, from a Flathead, Blue, or Channel Cat from fresh water.

Step 1:  Wash the catfish down in a vinegar and water solution to get the slime off of the fish and remove the head and split the belly and clean the cavity, so far, so good.  I like top cut the barbs off before I start cleaning the cats, though, because I really don't want to get stuck!

Step 2:  Skin the fish.  Salt water cats skins are a bit harder to pull off using the score and plier method, but it works.

Step 3:  Fillet the fish and cut out the red meat.  That's where the gamey and oily taste comes from, and leave that nice firm, pretty white fish meat.

Step 4:  Blanch the fish fillets in cold water with some citrus like lime or lemon juice in it.  I like to use Ponzu Sauce, myself for the nice flavor it gives the fish.

A nice recipe for sailcats

Personally, I fillet the fish rather than cook it whole.  I'll put the ginger in small slits in the fillets and serve this with a side of brown rice and drizzle Ponzu on the rice as well as the fish.  If you do cook the fish whole, the meat will come right off the bones, though, and either way you are in for a taste treat!  Bon appetite, and keep wetting those lines!

My Day Without a Wheelchair

Yesterday was at the Jensen Beach Causeway.  The weather was windy, but generally very nice  The high was in the upper 80's and mostly sunny.  We arrived at the causeway at about 8:00 AM after stopping for shrimp at the Snook Nook.

The Snook Nook

Fishing wasn/\'t great for me, but they were hitting.  The lady next to me was hitting on Spanish Mackerels like they were lining up for her hook at the Golden Corral.  About every 3 minutes, she'd get a strike.  She was using shiner minnows for bait.

After an hour streaming out on a bobber with no hits other than bait thieves, I cut back to a single pole and started freeline bottom fishing with a 4 oz weight at the top of the leader and I finally got a little action.  I caught a Guitarfish.  This is an ugly fish, and a member of the Ray family.  It has no whip tail or stinger and essentially lives on sandy flats and bottom feeds.

Guitarfish

You can see why it's called a Guitarfish!

Later, I took a monster strike, which I wasn't able to land, but did get close enough in to the pier to see that it was a 7 foot Bull Shark.

I thought I was going to be pulled off the pier with this one!

A little later, I did land a small Hammerhead Shark.

My wife even managed to wet a line yesterday and had a nice relaxing day, herself.  This was a day we both really needed.

All in all, though, it was a fun day.  The best part of the whole day is that I didn't have to use my wheelchair.  This is huge progress, after my strokes in September. I may get back to my catfish holes yet!

While we live........

"Dum vivimus, vivamus! -- 'While we live, let us live!' To live, we must follow our dreams, and let no man dissuade us, even if those dreams put us potentially in harms way. Living life in bubble wrap is merely existing, and I choose to experience my life to its fullest.


That's part of why I fish.  Aside from the tasty goodness that I catch, I find fishing to be meditative, and it centers me.  Since my strokes in September, I haven't been able to fish nearly as much as I'd like to, and haven't been able to hit my secret holes for the big cats.  This is changing, though.  

My next big fishing agenda, though, is to do a charter.  I'd like to go after some of the big Pelagic fish, and since Martin County and the Treasure Coast is the Sailfish and Marlin capitol of Florida, who knows?  Maybe I'll get a monster.

Catfishing on the St Lucie Canal

Prized among catfish, the St Lucie Canal offers some really good channel cat action.  My average fish is 18-24 inches, and provide some quite tasty meals.  They are also pretty good fighters and hit like a freight train on various baits from chicken liver, to minnows and even on leftover squid from salt water fishing.

l Cats from the St Lucie Canal

The besty times for catfishing are right as the sun is coming up, or around sunset.  They also hit at night, but you have to compete with the alligators in the canal, so I don't really bother with night fishing, since my lights attract the gators.  I'm safe enough, where I fish in my secret catfish hole, because of a vertical 4 foot concrete wall the gators can't climb, but they keep eati g the fish before I can get them landed. 

Also, in the canal, is a veritable panoply of panfish, from big sunfish to bluegills that make a midwestern boy like myself, as happy as a clam with their sizes.

Bluegill and Redear Sunfish from the St Lucie Canal and Port Mayaca Retention basin

From my experiences up north and down here in Florida as well, nothing fights like a Bluegill.  I'd love to see what a 10 or 15 pound bbluegill would be like, I'm not sure you could land it on light tackle, actually. 

Fishing Plans for Tomorrow

Jensen Beach Causeway and hopefully, Sailfish Point.  If I get out to Sailfish, I'll definitely post an accessibility report for wheelchair, etc.  Upcoming plans also include Hobe Sound and down around Jupiter.

Meanwhile, my wife just got her salt water license as well and will get some fishing in herself!  Booyah!  Also, given the werakness ofg my left arm after my strokes, if I hook a huge fish, she can help me land it if necessary.

Current Tide Table for Jensen Beach Causeway

2014-02-18 06:55 AM EST   Sunrise
2014-02-18 07:03 AM EST  -0.14 feet  Low Tide
2014-02-18 08:49 AM EST   Moonset
2014-02-18 12:53 PM EST   1.05 feet  High Tide
2014-02-18 06:14 PM EST   Sunset
2014-02-18 07:22 PM EST  -0.23 feet  Low Tide
2014-02-18 09:41 PM EST   Moonrise
2014-02-19 01:19 AM EST   1.05 feet  High Tide
2014-02-19 06:54 AM EST   Sunrise
2014-02-19 07:41 AM EST  -0.07 feet  Low Tide
2014-02-19 09:26 AM EST   Moonset
2014-02-19 01:30 PM EST   1.02 feet  High Tide
2014-02-19 06:15 PM EST   Sunset
2014-02-19 08:02 PM EST  -0.23 feet  Low Tide
2014-02-19 10:37 PM EST   Moonrise
2014-02-20 02:02 AM EST   1.02 feet  High Tide
2014-02-20 06:53 AM EST   Sunrise
2014-02-20 08:24 AM EST   0.01 feet  Low Tide
2014-02-20 10:07 AM EST   Moonset
2014-02-20 02:11 PM EST   0.99 feet  High Tide
2014-02-20 06:16 PM EST   Sunset
2014-02-20 08:48 PM EST  -0.21 feet  Low Tide
2014-02-20 11:34 PM EST   Moonrise
2014-02-21 02:51 AM EST   1.00 feet  High Tide
2014-02-21 06:52 AM EST   Sunrise
2014-02-21 09:15 AM EST   0.09 feet  Low Tide
2014-02-21 10:51 AM EST   Moonset
2014-02-21 02:57 PM EST   0.96 feet  High Tide
2014-02-21 06:16 PM EST   Sunset
2014-02-21 09:43 PM EST  -0.19 feet  Low Tide
2014-02-22 12:32 AM EST   Moonrise

Thought for the Day

And it's so true!

 And another truism with some fishing humor......

Ad so it goes.....time to grab a pole and go fishing!