Tournament?

Brian, How about a Garbagefish.com tourny? All of my fishing partners think it is a good idea.

Had skate last Friday at Pisces in Toms River and it was great.

-Dan

Did you cook them up?

I think Pisces in Toms River did

I went to Pisces for dinner. Great fish market but also a great restaurant. They had skate wings on the menu in a lemon caper sauce and they were really, really good.

What about a tourny?

-Dan

A tourney would be pretty cool. We could be a weigh station if ya want...

Tourny is already in the works. Just trying to figure out how we are going to do it. Do we do the tape measure thing and mail out a tape measure to everyone who enters the tourny? Or, do we do a weigh in thing where you can go to any bait shop? Or do we do a garbage fish fry at Dan's house after the tourny? Ha ha.

Seriously though, we are trying to consider everything. I want it to be fun, most importantly, but secondly, we'd like to put on a good tournament. (despite the fact that it's for garbage fish)

Any ideas would be welcome. The tentative date is July 18th. That's the third Saturday in July. Does anyone know if that conflicts with any other widely fished tournaments? (not sure it matters)

Brian
garbagefish.com

Hey, that a great idea. My buddy Pat (aka Skate King) will get a kick out of that.

That's a good weekend because the flukin' at that time last year sucked in the bay and was non-existent in the ocean.

another idea...
on an icefishing website that i'm on, they have a yearlong online tournament. heres how they do it. they give you a card to print out, which is different every year, and you have to put the fish with a yellow tape stretched out next to it with the card, and take a picture, then take a picture of your self holding the fish on the ice (in this case it would be on the water). then submit it on the online forum. this works great for people who want to release a fish. maybe you can make a printable or mail out tape like you said and just have people take pictures of the fish with your tape. the only problem with doing it this way is, everyone has to have a digital camera and know how to upload pictures, also whoever is the weighmaster, or judge, will have to spend alot of time figuring out which fish won because it will take a long time to look at all the tape measures in pictures, with crooked angle's and people who dont put the tape exaclty at the fishs mouth. the fish will have to win by length also. there will be a delay in results.

heres how the icefishing website does it.
i didnt enter it this year so heres one of my friends.




how ever you decide to do it good luck!

Sounds like a good weekend, no other tourneys in my calendar yet and the Bertram Rendezvous is the following week.

Thanks Joe. That weekend looks like a go.

Question is, and feel free to shoot any feedback on this as we are trying to figure it out: would people be more for a tape measure/photo submittion or an official weigh in deal? I think the tape measure thing would open it up to people all over the place and the weigh in might limit us to less participants. On the other hand, the weigh in would be a lot more fun and personal.

Brian
garbagefish.com

I hope this is my weekend off from the store!

I think weigh in is cool, but if someone could not make it then they could also submit a photo.

Both? interesting. If we do weigh in, I don't think I want to order tape measures because most places have a 250 tape minimum order. What about photos of your fish on the scale? Meaning, if you can't make the official weigh in spot, you could snap a pic of your fish on the scale - wherever it is that you choose to go? I imagine that's not IGFA kosher but this is garbage fish after all. I want to keep the tourny cheap and fun. Cash prizes. Novelty prizes. Etc. and if possible - a garbage fish fry.

Brian
garbagefish.com

Why would you have to order tape measures? Everyone should have one. They snap a picture and email it. This way a winner can be determined that evening.

I say stick with the weigh in. The fish fry is a awesome idea. would love to try some skate.

sounds like something i would go for,only thing missing is a cold beer,

The tape measure idea was so we could have a picture of a garbage fish on the it and people would always think of garbage whenever they measure something. Tournaments sometimes use those as a way to avoid the weigh ins and get some promotional value out it as well. Def. not necessary, though.

Fish fry and beer do go hand in hand.

brian
garbagefish.com

I could use a new stick on tape measure. The one on the boat is broken it always reads 40". Any idea the cost of the tape measures?

We have them at the store and they are free...

Now that's a great deal! I have to stop in for some Trilux anyway.

We have them behind the counter, jsut make sure to ask for one.

If I had a vote it would be for a weigh in. I'm usual fishing by myself and I know you guys don't want me to take a picture of myself that close.
On another note I have heard great things about skate wings and will be trying them this year.

Finally a tournament I have a chance at winning. Sounds like it would be a fun venture for a change.

Joe- I just got back from Wegman's and they had skate. $10.99/lb- maybe we are missing something here! Does anyone know if all skates are edible?

242AB,

Tell me about it! I don't think i've actually ever got one in the boat because the tail scares the crap out of me. I know when handling them you definitely need gloves.

10.99 LB!

Yeah - I got a call from Wegmans and they asked if you can really eat that stuff. After consulting with them, they decided to carry fresh skate wings. kidding.

Was talking to a neighbor who volunteers for reclamthebay.org and he said that a couple weeks ago, he defrosted some striper, blue fish, skate and dogfish and cooked it up. Said that by far the skate froze the best. Wasn't sure what surprised me more - that he ate 6 month old thawed bluefish or that the Skate tasted better than thawed striper. I don't freeze fish, but I might try it with skate.

brian
garbagefish.com

I only had a small piece of striper left for dinner last week so I also defrosted some bluefish from last November. I expected to end up throwing out bluefish but it actually was excellent. Tasted like it was caught yesterday. Only seasoning was some Old Bay sprinked on it. Couldn't believe it; go figure!

Was told by a commercial fishing friend of mine that if you buy "sea scallops", they are skate wings processed with the equivalent of a cookie cutter.

Re: Bluefish. My experience is that 1# to 1.5# blues fresh caught are among the best eating fish I've ever had (the "white meat only"). If bled and iced immediately, they freeze well.

I hope that's not true! By the looks of them, I'd say that it's impossible.

While checking them out, I nearly stuck my nose through the glass. The meat is very white, but not as translucent as a scallop. The texture is also something to see. The best way that I can explain it is like if you opened an old personal fan that was made out of cylindrical objects like cigarettes. (You know, the ones that open like a buck knife and that you would see in some famous French artist's portrait of a fat lady from the 1600's)

Skate wings have a cartilage network similar to veins in a maple leaf. It is very difficult to remove from a raw wing, making it virtually impossible to pass as a scallop. As stated before the texture is completely different and most skate wings you see in fish counters are not nearly as white as a scallop. Not to mention the size of the skate needed to make a 1" thick sea scallop with a cookie cutter! I am sure they exist, just never seen one on TV or in real life. I think you have a better chance of giant squid being used to punch out sea scallops than a skate wing.

I agree with Joe. I have no idea where the claim to this rumor started but the skate wing meat is striated and I have no clue how this could be passed off as a sea scallop or bay scallop. When you pull a part a scallop - cooked - it does segment or striate but not like a skate. It's a completely different look and feel in both taste and texture. It's a very popular rumor that they are used as scallop but I can't see how it's possible. I cook the meat on the cartiledge, much like you'd cook a whole trout because fileting the fish would sacrifice a lot of meat - and once cooked, it comes right off. Difference is, the cartiledge doesn't come off and try to kill you.

Anyway, you'd have to have a monster skate to even duplicate the size of a scallop. I've never believed that myth. Still, if it's true, more power to them and I'm wrong and who cares? Pass the beer nuts.

By the way - Retriever, I totally agree with you about blue fish. Those small blues that come into the bay and hang from mid spring through much of summer are delicious. They get a bad rap in terms of taste. Cleaned properly and cooked up almost any way...awesome. No doubt. Especially the early guys that are feeding on a lot of shrimp - before the oily baits get very prolific. You are what you eat and shrimp are good! Still, I have a recipe on my site for fried spearing so go figure.

brian
garbagefish.com

I'm with you guys on the smaller blues. We eat them all summer long and my kids actually prefer them to some of the more "desired" species. We usually prepare them with a little butter, fresh herbs, lemon and a sprinkle of breadcrumbs and bake in the oven...John

Just throwing my two cents in...I think the tape measure would be the best way to go. It worked really well for the Brownie Troop Sh*t Fish Derby last year. The margin of error is slim and if it came down to it, you could figure the length out pretty acurately based on a picture. I'm sure by now, most everyone has some sort of digital picture taking device whether its on their cell phone or point and shoot camera. It's about time New Jersey shows it's tried and true with a Garbage Fish Tournament! Thanks Brian.

I like both ideas - tape measure and weigh ins. But I think to keep out any controversy, we are going to go with the weighins. If that doesn't work out, next year we'll go to tape measures.
brian
garbagefish.com

Getting a good amount of signups via the participating bait shops and online through the website. (garbagefish.com) I've decided, as per a good suggestion from Roger at fishbonz bait and tackle in Forked River to set up a regularly updated leader board. The tourny starts July 17th and runs through the 26th of July (2009) but you can check each day and get an idea of what is placing - that way you don't necesarrily have to kill a fish that won't place. Not to say that you can't keep it and enjoy it for the table.

This is going to be a fun tourny.

Brian
garbagefish.com

what shops are a weigh station so far?

sorry. you can see the weigh stations at http://www.garbagefish.com/weighstations.htm

Brian
garbagefish.com

Only one month left til the first Garbage Fish Trash tourny. 9 total cash prizes - and lots of merchandise prizes. Tourny runs 10 days with weigh stations all over the place. All details are on the site. You can sign up easily on the website http://www.garbagefish.com - or see locations where you can also sign up. (also listed at the site) Tournament runs 10 days so you have 10 full days to catch a trophy garbage fish and win some dough.

Brian
garbagefish.com

We talked about it this weekend, we will be fishing it! Although we have not had a lot of 'garbage fish' yet this year. Only two small smooth dogs, two sea robins and four tiny skates. Guess we need to start honing our skills. Guess I will have to make a custom chrome spinner blade daisy chain to deadstick for monster skates!

Nice, Joe. Glad to hear you're on board. No shortage of skates down this way and you know the Searobin bite is going to be heating up soon. Ha ha.

Brian
garbagefish.com