“If we told you we’d have to kill you! Was the grinning answer to my curiosity,. And then my incursion changed from precarious to hilarious as my day merged with the bending poles and splashing tails of the “Gaff-Top Men!”
Rollover Pass was in total “brown-out” and my assignment of writing a fishing story was in danger of not happening, so with my final day yawning into a repeat of yesterdays run of hardhead catfish, I decided to check the nearby inland waterway to see if the water was clearer and the action was better….. BINGO!
A.J. “Woah-Whoah” Martin and John “Leroy” Bailey were having a time of it fishing for and catching Gaff-Top (Sail) Catfish in the much clearer waters of the Inland Waterway, which feeds the tidal basin of Rollover Bay, and in doing so managed to rescue my effort of finding a story from this Rollover Pass fishing trip.
Hardhead Catfish, the scourge of saltwater bait anglers, are, for the most part, scavenger fish that will bite anything and everything that is chunked in front of them. Hardheads have dorsal and pectoral fins with sharp, slime-covered barbed spines which can penetrate a shoe, hand, or even flatten a vehicle tire when left on the bank by disgruntled anglers. The pain of having a hardhead barb penetrate your hand, finger, or body can be extremely excruciating, and in some cases will require medical treatment. I’ve seen grown men faint when stuck and I’ve actually suffered a hardhead barb breaking off in my thumb where it had to be cut out. The pain was awful! Although some people do eat hardheads it is not very tasty and is not recommended for the supper table. Texas regulations for hardheads are no limits with a state record of 3.3 pounds.
Gaff-Top, or Sail-Cat, are, however, extremely tasty and much sought after by anglers who enjoy fishing for them. But these saltwater catfish also have extremely sharp fins with toxic barbs and must also be handled carefully. They also exude a protective slime that can be hard to handle when caught. Another name for the gaff-top is the Crucifix catfish. The reason for this can be seen when the catfish is boiled of all flesh leaving a bone replica of Christ on the Cross. Texas regulations require 14 inches minimum with no creel limits and the state record Gaff-Top is set at 13.33 lbs.
“One thing we’ll do when a puncture accident occurs, stated Bailey, is to rub some of the slime from the catfish on the effected area where it will then soothe the pain. You can also do this with hardhead spine punctures as well, A.J. added as he flung another cast out into the gaff-top hole. We use fishing towels when landing them and don’t have any problems when handling them as long as we’re careful.” Another way to avoid those toxic spines is to PINCH the catfish’s lower lip with pliers. This will cause the fish to freeze, allowing you to de-hook it. But I’ve had many years of practice with this method and recommend this de-hooking technique to experienced anglers only.
“Gaff-top get their name from their dorsal fins that rise from their back like a streaming sail, A.J. informed, along with their pectoral fins that have sail-like streamers coming off their tips. We started fishing together as a team about 4 years ago, stated A.J. , a retired truck driver, and we developed our own system of catching these fish, added small engine repairman, John Bailey. And we do catch our share of them. Asked as to what they do with gaff-top catfish, both grinned like sheep eating grass through barbwire, answering, well, we EAT THEM DUMBY! And with that comical retort echoing in my notebook, A.J. suddenly answers my next curiosity about his nick name when his rod suddenly bends to the bite of a large fish. The action is intense and the comedy is keystone when whoah, whoah’s begin reverberating up and down the bank as he tries to land a hard fighting gaff-top along the rocks. With the catfish finally iced, and our bellies aching from delirious laughter, A.J. opts to switch to squid rather than the cut eel that has been so successful for catching gaff-top. “I’m going to try for stingray now, he growls at his partner who chides him about his decision to change baits. I’ve heard that stingrays are supposed to be good eating and I want to try one, was his reason for doing so!
(Writers note) I’ve often heard stingray was good to eat but due to a personal stigma about them I’ve always turned down any options of cleaning them for the supper table, ESPECIALLY after being stuck by one when wade-fishing where I had to get the barb medically cutout. My only thoughts after that painful stingray experience were “expletive deletives”!!! So, with my invitation to enjoy a meal with them of fried gaff-top and stingray accepted, It was more so out of curiosity rather than from actual hunger.
“This area always has much clearer water than Rollover Pass, stated John, and the holes we are fishing are about 15 to 20ft deep where they’ll hold to feed. The incoming tide provides the slowest bite with the outgoing tide being the best. We usually fish with shrimp at first to hopefully catch an eel, (or snake as they call them) where we’ll then cut the eel up in one inch chunks for bait. Both eel and squid are best baits for the gaff-tops, but squid will always attract stingray bites. The gaff-top will be here from May through September and should provide some excellent fishing action all summer long”
With this information freshly exposed to my notes, “Whoah-Whoah’s rod suddenly bows to the bank rocks with John managing to grab the rod first for a ‘toe-to-toe’ battle of stingray -vs- angler. Straining muscle and a BIG rod finally over powers the big fish as John finally wrestles a large winged flatfish to the bank. Our culinary experiment of stingray being either seafood cuisine or crab-bait fodder is now resting on ice for the chef.
“I make my own terminal tackle for this type of fishing, explained John, as he displayed a multi-colored beaded rig. The beads attract the fish with its reflective colors and clicking sounds and we use a flat 3oz sinker to avoid rolling with the tidal currents or river barge wakes of the boats that use the intra-coastal waterway. We see ‘tons’ of boat traffic navigating these waters from just about every state and country from freight barge traffic, to shrimp boats, to passing yachts and fishing boats of all sizes, they informed, so even when the fishing bite slows we’re still entertained by the passing boat traffic.”
My day with the Gaff-Top Men finalized with a heaping plate of golden fried gaff-top, filets, which I found to be very tasty, along with fried chunks of stingray wings that had a surprisingly delicate sweet, flavor that reminded me of scallops. Our chef, A.J. Martin, used his special “Whoah-Whoah” Cajun seasoning that added tasteful spices to our feast that included fried taters and cucumber & tomato salad.
Gaff-Top catfish and Stingray have definitely found a place on my menu of choice seafood cuisine ESPECIALLY after being plated with Whoah-Whoah’s Special Cajun seasoning of herbs and spices. Hopefully, A.J. will heed my advice and start marketing his special fish fry seasoning to the public. Both anglers are Louisiana transplants who reside in Houston now.
(Writers Note; The recommended way to clean gaff-top is to filet them with a sharp filet knife, but don’t throw away the ribcage as it too can be seasoned and deep fried with an exceptional flavor. Stingray requires more care. Using a small 1inch cookie cutter, cut through the wing skin for small circles of meat. Then filet off the top and bottom skins before rolling in a seasoned Tempura flour mix before deep-frying. As soon as the stingray chunks rise to the surface they’re done. Enjoy!)
For more info on what’s happening at Rollover Pass contact; North End Bait & Tackle at (409)-286-5067.
This Ed Snyder/Outdoors report sponsored by; Fishing World.com- LSRPA- The Stump Restaurant & Club-North End Bait & Tackle- Whoah-Whoah’s Cajun seasoning.By: Ed Snyder / Ed Snyder Outdoors
