Many times when you head out into Alabama’s fertile estuaries and Gulf waters on a fishing trip, your initial plan to catch the more popular species like speckled trout and redfish may go awry.
That’s when you adjust and take advantage of what you can discover, which could be anything from ladyfish and bull croakers to gafftopsail catfish and jack crevalle.
Sometimes, the schooling fish will be Spanish mackerel, which is a popular fish species along the Alabama Gulf Coast. However, just as common, it could be a school of the hard-charging jack crevalle, which is one of the underutilized species when it comes to consuming after catching.
Experienced anglers on the Alabama coast know always to have at least one rod in the boat that will handle one of the larger species that roam the coastal waters. A heavier spinning rod and reel loaded with at least a 20-pound test line will usually do the trick.
Gafftopsail catfish, aka gafftops, also are considered trash fish by many people but don’t tell that to Maurice Ryan, one of my buddies who has lived on the Alabama coast all his life. He treats every gafftop he catches just like any other species. He filets the fish and fries it in 350-degree oil. Tastes just like freshwater catfish.
Most of the time, catching a gafftop is incidental while fishing for specks and red with some type of live bait. You’ll know pretty quickly if you’ve hooked a gafftop from the way it fights and from the slime on the line near the hook.
If you’re hungry for fish, don’t hesitate to throw one or two of these underutilized species into the ice chest. Take it home and give it a try. You’ll be surprised.