Guess what floated by me today in the canal...
 

So Cute!

To give you an idea of the size, it was about 2' or so and heavy as hell.

http://stigmata.home.attbi.com/monk.jpg

supposed to be good eatin.... kind of fugly though

DANG! That is one fugly Bstd'! :eek:

what is it
 

a big skate:confused:

monkfish.. i think

Goosefish ?

that sounds right...
i am not sure.. first one I have ever seen not in books.

Monk Fish also called Goose Fish.
Mouth is hinged so it can open with lower jaw out and draws the upper lip towards eyes. If you step in it on deck you be in trouble with a capital "T".
Cut the two fillets off the tail up into the body. Behind the fins. You will feel the muscle structure. Cut into chunks and sautte in butter. Taste like Lobster.
Many good recipes.
When I was a kid they were considered as Trash Fish and were pitchforked over board from the draggers decks. Now they are controlled catch by the NMFS because they been over fished.
They can swim up to the surface and come under a Goose or Duck and swallow it whole. Some Teeth!

Whoa! That's a dam ugly fish. It doesn't look like a goosefish to me. Goosefish is supposed to have some kind of spiny objects on it's skin, right?

And imagine it goes under you while wading on the canal's mussel bed...then *CRUNCH*!!! Ooohh, ouch, damn, son, that gotta hurt so bad.:eek:

Thank you nor-easter,

I had only known it as the goose. I bet Bjs had quite a surprise when he saw this come to the surface.
Is that a built- in lure dangling from above his upper jaw ?

I haven't seen one of these since I was a kid (1970's).
My they are knarley looking !

monk fish
 

When I had this on the screen at work this evening, a customer saw me lookin' at it and said it looked like his ex-mother-in-law! :laughs:
My neighbor loves eating these, swears they are good eating. He says like Nor'easter says, eats like lobster.

they make GREAT chowder meat

and i do mean GREAT

i'll swear by em next to cod (alot cheaper than cod too)

my old man used to catch them off and on when floating chunks off red balloons... they'd go after the balloon... not the chunk :p

goosefish/monkfish one in the same

sold in stores as "monkfish" because of the name/looks

on the south shore of LI, they were called ''Anglers''. have caught them up to 40 pounds years ago

anyway u slice it,, we called it poor man's lobster. yummy!

Poor mans lobster...

Lobster used to be considered paupers and prisoners food!!!
They used to wash up in great piles on the coast.

prisoners revolted on account that they were fed lobster more that twice a week!!!

yes,, I said poor....only owned one pr.a undies, those got durty I'd just turnum inside out for a clean pr.:rolleyes:

capesams, I thought everone did that anyways!:laughs: Poor or not.:angel: :bshake:

didn't realy have ta worry about it much tho, when I went clamin they got rinced out, only problem was they got alittle crusty when they dryed out:smash:

Looks like the canal is not the place to go skinny dippin! Can you imagine dragging that thing home between your legs? Might be worth a photo. :D

CS, Gold Bond powder helps with the chaffing!:eek5:

Found one of those in a tidal pool at Bass River about 20 yrs ago. I'll never forget that ugly mug.

that things is scary looking!!!:smash: :smash: :smash: :D

Toadfish
 

Mikey, as kids about 35 years ago we also used to catch the occasional toadfish in Bass River. At least that's what we used to call them, no more than half the size of that one. I remember they'd clamp down on a stick and hold on like a pitt bull. At low water you could usually see them backed into a cave like cluster of rocks. Most of the time we left them alone because they scared the bejezus out of us.

And they don't bite you?

I don't know. I never wanted to get close enough to find out. My impression is they looked sort of territorial so if you stayed away from that hole you were fine. Don't know if it's the same toadfish I read that they're also known as oysterfish because they hang out around oyster beds) I knew as a kid, but I read this:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s475797.htm

Im headed back to the canal right now.. Gonna see what other wonders float by me today....

..Notaro ,,, any fish will bite if you put your finger in it's mouth ;)

no picture... forgot i had my camera... but i pulled up a spider crab with the body about the size of a softball...

it was pretty scary looking...

Mikey never saw one of those goosefish up close...
Blatant Lie, you stupid monkey!!!
I on the othe hand used to date a molecular boilogist that followed these things around like crazy.
Anne Everly...Howard Head's grandaughter .
Mikey you remember this?
The real reason that I started fishing again was because of her...
That's how I started fishing Nahant in 96.
Anyhow, Later,
Rick