Questions for mikechell and Capt Bob LeMay

[vicrider 0]

I read a lot about the exotic fish available in the FL canals and in the Keys. What I wonder is which of these various exotics are edible to the extent they are decent table fare and which are not. I think of various Cichlads, Snakeheads, and whatever is available in the canals.

I also have watched several Youtube videos of high power air rifle shooting of Iguana. I have read or heard these are edible and "taste like chicken". I guess what I'm wondering is what the exotics taking over so many waters and lands down there add to the culinary skills of the good old boys. I know that there are people who eat gators and crocs, snakes (I've had rattlesnake meat), and other strange to me things but I'd be game to try almost anything that is listed as safe to eat. A lot of the things I've eaten or sampled over the years would make some people cringe but one thing I won't do is raw fish (sushi is out).

[Swamp Fly 0]

Short answer is yes.  Slightly longer answer is that there are elevated mercury levels in the Glades so there are official guidelines as to how often you should eat fish (of any kind) here in S, Florida. Suggestions are only once or twice a week depending on your age, health, or reproductive condition. If I recall those numbers correctly that is.  Regardless of geographic location  the normal common sense of not eating anything out of cesspool like water applies just like everywhere else in the world.

Having said that, I've eaten a whole lot of Mayan Chiclids, Oscars, and even some Jaguar Guapotes.  They taste great and have medium firm meat as compared to tuna. Snakeheads are tasty from what I hear.  Clown Knife Fish are commonly eaten by people in the native waters of the fish (SE Asia). I don't see any reason they can't be eaten here as well. Officially the only exotic fish you are not supposed to summarily keep/kill are peacock bass that are officially game fish and are regulated for size and numbers.  Unfortunately a lot of fishermen feed them to gators (the animal not the University of Florida fan ). Ultimately that is a death sentence for the gator since they will eventually start approaching humans begging for food.

Yes, I've heard iguana tastes like chicken.  Depending on the local laws, discharging an air rifle (or even a bow and arrow) is treated the same a discharging a firearm.  Check with the locals etc.  Removal of Iguanas by legal means is encouraged by the state.  Fun fact, years ago there was a cold snap and iguanas started falling out of the trees. An adventurous/opportunistic Miami area resident drove around to town collecting "dead" iguanas to eat.  Iguanas like most reptiles are "cold blooded". Those iguanas weren't dead, just in a stupor from the cold. Once the temperature warmed up they all woke up in the guys backseat.  An iguana is nothing but muscle, teeth, and claws. They also have a long tail that they use as an effective weapon, getting whipped even through jeans can leave welts (been there, done that).  So our ardent adventurer is driving along and all of those big 6ft iguanas suddenly woke up grouchy.  I mean who wouldn't be grouchy waking up stacked up like cord wood in the back seat of a car instead of in the safety of some nice tree?  Mayhem ensued...

 

Swamp

[vicrider 0]

Thanks for a great answer Swamp Fly. I would have included you in title but wasn't familiar with your name or location. That's because I mainly spend time in and out of the swapping section where you should join in with us. Sounds like most of the fish are okay to eat and it's a shame that mercury and other pollutants have damaged the eating safety of so many fish in so many rivers and lakes in our country. Now it's found tire runoff from a compound used to inhibit UV damage is killing salmon and trout around the salmonid areas of the states.

"Unfortunately a lot of fishermen feed them to gators (the animal not the University of Florida fan  ). Ultimately that is a death sentence for the gator since they will eventually start approaching humans begging for food." I was reading an article about exotics in FL and the article finished with "You must learn to land fish quickly since the splashing of you catch by the bank is like a dinner bell for gators who hear an easy meal". This kind of discouraged me from making that bucket list to FL exotics since gators, crocs, sharks, grizzlies, and venomous snakes are high on my "To be avoided" list.

Most of the shows I've watched with the air rifles and Iguana shooting were hired and licensed teams working in golf courses and private residences. They had lots of shooting and getting paid for it to boot. 

If health allows this old man one more major trip FL exotics are high on my list and would love a chance to meet some of the members on here from FL if I went down there. Having COPD and limited lung capacity I need oxygen if air this out so most of the western and mountain trips I'd love to make are out but OK to FL with stops in some of the bayous along the way to fish for sac-a-lait and trip to the shore for redfish. Maybe someday...

[Swamp Fly 0]

Mercury poisoning is a planetary issue.  Apparently what goes up a smoke stack comes down again somewhere, go figure.

Like everywhere, being mindful of your surroundings is key.  Going for a stroll down a dark back ally can get you mugged even in a small town.  1000s of people fish from shore here in S. FL every day without issue, both in town and out in the sticks.  Look around and see if there are any gators first.  If they are a reasonable distance away and minding their own business go ahead and fish, how close is to close depends on experience and personal comfort.  If a gator starts slowly moving towards you keep an eye on it, if it really starts moving then back up and find another spot.  Just about every mud puddle holds fish down here, plenty of places to fish.  There are also plenty of elevated places to fish from like a concrete seawall of bridge.  A gator can't really "jump" out of the water anymore than we can.  Sure they can thrust up a little in the same way a person treading water can. Now if they can get their tail under themselves against the bottom then yes they can trust/spring up a fair way.  Perhaps a 1/4 to 1/3 of their torso at a guess.  This is what the tourist gator farms have trained their gators to do.  Water depth needs to be just right though.  Some spots are just unfishable, the gators come rushing over immediately.  In my opinion even those gators aren't just going to try and get a hold of you.  I feel the danger is greater from a gator that sees someone catching fish and then watches the fish getting thrown back of reach of the gator.  Gators will get pissed off, no joke, you can really tell if a gator is mad or not.  They have a certain posture that just screams attitude.  Those are the ones I get away from, they can get really aggressive (just like people).  If you are fighting a fish and a gator comes shooting over, break the fish off or give the fish flying lessons to land behind you.  Get away from the bank and deal with the fish away from the water. Don't go back.  At worst let the gator have the fish and then break it off, a fish isn't worth it.   I'm not saying that it's all sunshine and rainbows but you aren't taking your life in your hands if you step off the sidewalk.  Honestly I walk and wade waist deep in creeks and ponds a lot.  I pay attention and don't go farting around in really obvious ambush spots.  I'm not recommending that just everyone does that, and certainly not without learning some things about these animal's behavior.  At the end of the day it's a calculated risk, like everything in life.  like walking around in any woods anywhere.  Be aware you aren't the tippy top of the food chain anymore.  Nature isn't "safe", nor should it be. BTW if you see 12" to 18" baby gators find someplace else to be, mama is already watching you.  I've actually called a whole nest worth of fresh hatched babies right to my feet.  Mom is a resident on my property and knows me.  I still didn't hang around long. It was cool thing to see but I left mom in peace to raise her young.  Respect is key.

Snakes?  I haven't seen any more venomous snakes here that anywhere else in the USA.  Watch where you step.  Don't go grabbing "roots" on the bank. It's a non-issue for me.

Sharks?  Well we do have a bunch of lawyers down here so enter the state at your own risk.  In seriousness don't go wading/swimming in the middle of a baitfish blitz or during the annual baitfish run.  Nope not me.  Otherwise not a problem.  Drag your feet, stingrays are a much bigger hazard if you step on one squarely. That is called doing the "stingray shuffle". They shoot out of the way if you just bump them on the edge of their body.  You might still poop yourself though.

Insects/spiders?  Okay we do have more than our fair share of those but we don't have any more venomous varieties than anyone else.  I've seen less than a half dozen black widows in 30+ years.  Try not walk into banana spider webs, it'll give you the creeps.  Those webs can be 20' across and a bit stronger that your average web.  Not fun to look up and see a not so small spider 6" in front of your face even if they are "harmless".  Yes they do actually look to be the size of a racoon up close.

I had a friend that had COPD, back when I lived in East Central Florida. In light of that I would suggest a visit in March/April/May-sh.  The heat is not so horrible (< 90*F) but it's unusual too late to get a cold snap which puts the fish down.  More importantly the humidity won't make you want to Scotchguard your shirt on the inside. Seriously my friend suffered in the humidity as far as the COPD was concerned but that might not be an issue for you(?).  The hotter it is the better the freshwater exotic bite gets,  It gets better and better until the rainy season spreads the fish out.  During our "spring" it's a gentleman's sport, fishing is better at noon than at 6 am.

 

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Swamp covered most of the basics... I'd add that we only get two seasons down here, a wet and a dry, each lasting six months.  The fishing in our freshwater areas is best during the dry season when all the wet prairies dry up out in the Everglades and our local freshwater fish are forced down into all the canals here (south Florida).  The dry season gets going right after Halloween each year but varies a bit about when it ends (in a wet year we're getting rained on towards the end of April, in a dry year maybe not until sometime in June...).  Our dry season is a winter time treat and locals start needing jackets and complaining about cold weather when the air temps fall below seventy degrees (yep, we're spoiled...).  The dry season is when the vast majority of our visitors show up since during the dry season the mosquitoes are mostly absent... and when every fishing guide stays busy in either fresh or saltwater areas.

Any of our freshwater canals will hold fish and unless you have to trespass to gain access are pretty much open to anyone wanting to wet a line (even the horrible ones behind some shopping center with shopping carts sticking out of them as well as other urban debris).  I must note, of course, that we do have a serious problem with herbicide spraying, meant to control weed growth, that also kills off the fish population in urban and suburban areas.  Canals along the edge of the Everglades (west of the Miami to Palm Beach coastline) are never sprayed, thank heavens, so their fish populations (along with every kind of wildlife) are still in great shape... Spraying for weed control is simply much cheaper than actually harvesting out weeded canals so we're in an uphill struggle trying to get local governments to quit that very damaging practice... Wish it weren't so.  Residues from herbicides in our canals always finally end up in our coastal areas where they're a problem as well....

I divide my charters during daytimes to either trips along the coast of the Everglades where the saltwaters transition very slowly (and over miles and miles of "backcountry" into brackish then finally freshwaters, mostly mangrove jungle country... Starting about seventy miles from downtown Miami, to local freshwater trips west of Ft Lauderdale back into the edges of the 'glades.  Night trips in Biscayne bay or up in Jupiter (just north of the Palm Beaches) are also a specialty.  Anyone wanting more info... an email request to [email protected] will get you a brochure by return mail that same day, mostly... 

"Be a hero.... take a kid fishing"

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Should clarify something - herbicide does not "kill off" our target fish population - it ends most of the habitat all the small forage species need so their numbers greatly diminish to the point of just "no food" for the fish we like to catch.  As a result they  all go elsewhere and you end up with the same result as if they were killed off...  Since all of our canals are there for flood control - eventually all of their waters end up out in Biscayne Bay and other coastal areas - then our local governments wonder why the seagrasses in those areas are disappearing... Just a bad scene all around..