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How to tell apart an [Atlantic] Bonito from a False Albacore

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James3shin

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10 hours ago, levari said:

So simple, you fillet both, dip the meat in soya sauce.. The one that taste bad is false albacore..

You don't have to go that far. If the meat is pink, it's a bonito. If it's a bloody red mess, it's an albie.

I'm wondering if you smeared some wasabi on an albie chunk, would your eyes and nasal passages start running so hard that you couldn't taste the fish? :laugh: 

"…if catching fish is your only objective, you are either new to the game or too narrowly focused on measurable results.” - D. Stuver

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12 hours ago, levari said:

So simple, you fillet both, dip the meat in soya sauce.. The one that taste bad is false albacore..

I was gonna say, cut it open and if you don't blow chunks that's the Bonito.

 

About 25 years ago we used to fish the eastern shore of Virginia all the time. We went a little bit offshore with another couple. They got into a school of Albies . Chris' damn cat wouldn't even eat those Albacore, lol. I thought I was gonna loose my cookies a couple of times when they were cleaning them.

"The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before,
the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat."
Jacques Cousteau

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4 hours ago, EliasA said:

If it’s properly taken care of, I actually prefer false albacore to bonito

I remember when I ate my 1st albie.

 

I was fishing for skipjacks with my trout rod to use for fluke bait when this little train that could hit.  Took me for about a 20 minute ride.  It died obviously when I landed it.

 

I didnt know what it was, thought I caught a baby bluefin.  100 photos later while fermenting in the sun, finally walked off that bridge To head home.  Shownig off my harvest in pride.

 

My buddy and I decided to celebrate by firing up the grill and pop open a bottle of whiskey for dinner.  We steaked that albie up and threw it on the grill. 

 

It was delicious . We feasted.

 

The next morning, decided to have a piece for breakfast.  It was disgusting.  My pet rats wouldnt even touch it.

 

Booze makes everything better I guess lol :shrug:

 

I'd try it again if properly bled and iced. But then i'm throwing up in my mouth thinking about it...

Edited by DEM Parking Lot
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For either species, if you catch one and you want to eat it, 1) Put down the rod. Now. 2) Bleed the fish aggressively, a minute or so. 3) Saltwater ice slush IMMEDIATELY. 4) Remove the fillets, and Immediately remove the dark meat under the lateral line. 5) Dispose of the lateral line meat where the dog and the cat can't get at it. It's full of carbohydrates, if not rancid they'll eat it, and they'll get sick as hell. 6) Save the skin, esp. with a little meat on it, and use for strip baits. Casual strips for fluke, but it was once commonplace to sew them, light side to dark, and troll them offshore.

 

I like bonito, but I haven't caught a false albacore (with ice on hand, that would justify keeping it) in a long, long time).,

Edited by BrianBM
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22 hours ago, BrianBM said:

For either species, if you catch one and you want to eat it, 1) Put down the rod. Now. 2) Bleed the fish aggressively, a minute or so. 3) Saltwater ice slush IMMEDIATELY. 4) Remove the fillets, and Immediately remove the dark meat under the lateral line. 5) Dispose of the lateral line meat where the dog and the cat can't get at it. It's full of carbohydrates, if not rancid they'll eat it, and they'll get sick as hell. 6) Save the skin, esp. with a little meat on it, and use for strip baits. Casual strips for fluke, but it was once commonplace to sew them, light side to dark, and troll them offshore.

 

I like bonito, but I haven't caught a false albacore (with ice on hand, that would justify keeping it) in a long, long time).,

The only time I’ve kept a false albacore was when it inhaled an epoxy jig and tore its gills out fighting.

 

I killed and bled the fish immediately, I used the ike jime method to remove the spinal cord for the tail then got it in saltwater ice slurry. 
 

i fileted it just like you would a tuna, cut off the dark lateral line and kept it on ice. When home I seared it like bluefin and it was amazing, it was firm and pink, not bloody and tasted similar to bluefin but a bit leaner. It was excellent and if I thought it was worth the work I’d do it again

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On 9/27/2022 at 6:35 PM, EliasA said:

The only time I’ve kept a false albacore was when it inhaled an epoxy jig and tore its gills out fighting.

 

I killed and bled the fish immediately, I used the ike jime method to remove the spinal cord for the tail then got it in saltwater ice slurry. 
 

i fileted it just like you would a tuna, cut off the dark lateral line and kept it on ice. When home I seared it like bluefin and it was amazing, it was firm and pink, not bloody and tasted similar to bluefin but a bit leaner. It was excellent and if I thought it was worth the work I’d do it again

"Ike jime," a spike to the brain and immediate bleeding. Do you mean that you ran a length of stiff mono down the length of the spine, as is sometimes done for the bigger tunas?

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1 hour ago, BrianBM said:

"Ike jime," a spike to the brain and immediate bleeding. Do you mean that you ran a length of stiff mono down the length of the spine, as is sometimes done for the bigger tunas?

Yeah, icepick in the brain and then cut the gills to bleed.

 

the next step is shinkei jime, which is running a rough wire (think like piano wire) up the spine and then ripping it out to tear out the spinal cord

 

It’s basically a 2 step process, the ike jime is the bare minimum and the shinkei jime is to go above and beyond for meat quality.

 

i have the aftco circuit breaker kit, which is basically am icepick and a loop of piano wire. It works great, and IMO it makes a noticeable difference for how the meat tastes, it’s even noticeably better than fish that has been killed and bled immediately

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