Always wear gloves when handling this catfish. Do not touch the toxic slim that is emitted from the fish and rinse off your fishing gear that has been slimed. You can prevent getting stung by avoiding the pectoral and dorsal fin spines. This video is a little slow, you can move ahead to the 2 minute mark where he starts filleting the catfish. If you are interested in trying this fish, here is a video that shows you how in detail.
The gafftopsail is said to be good eating after cutting out the lateral red line but most anglers toss the fish back due to the slimy mess the fish creates after being reeled in.
CAT GOES FISHING TIGER SHARK SKIN
This species is difficult to handle as it excretes a toxic slim coating from its skin when caught - always wear gloves when removing your hook and watch out for the spines. Hatchlings emerge at about 2 inches long and they will stay with the male until they are almost double this size.Ĭaution: the pectoral and dorsal fins are poisonous, a sting from this catfish can cause horrible pain that lasts a long time. The male does not eat until the eggs hatch in about 65 days.
The gafftopsail is a mouthbreeding species with the male holding the 1 inch diameter eggs in its mouth until they hatch. These babies wereĬaught off the beach in Fort Myers by some children with a hand net. Juvenile gafftopsails can be found in the surf. It takes a big fish to even consider tackling this toxic fish! The only predators we found of the gafftopsail are bull and tiger sharks. The only good thing about catching this species is the angler will experience a good fight from this species, especially large specimens. Rarely targeted by anglers, this fish is considered a nuisance species, biting any bait in it's path then presenting the angler with a challenge getting the fish off their line without getting poisoned or stung. The largest gafftopsail ever recorded was 27 inches and 9 pounds. The average gafftopsail is around 12 inches and 1 pound but it is not uncommon in Florida to catch one in the 20 inch range weighing 2 pounds. The chin has 2 barbels and there is a very long barbel on each side of its mouth. The gafftopsail also differs from the hardhead in its feeding habits the gafftopsail feed throughout the water column on crabs, shrimp and crustaceans where the hardhead feeds off the bottom.
Often confused with the hardhead catfish because they are the same silvery-grey color and often found in the same schools, this species is easily identified by its unique large, serrated dorsal fin that stands tall on its back like a sail. The pictures above are of a 21 inch specimen caught on Ochlokonee Bay in November 2013. Under docks, just about anywhere inshore and sometimes found in brackish waters. The gafftopsail catfish is very common in Florida, especially on the gulf side of the state, inhabiting beaches, canals, mangroves,
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