Not the biggest fish in the ocean. Not the prettiest. But darn good eating and they can save the day, as they have in the past. A two pound fish is a nice fish—they only have to be 9” long to be a keeper. Most are at least that big. They are easy to fillet and are boneless, and I tell people to sauté the fillets in butter, coated with an egg-parmesan cheese batter. Amazing taste. We get them in deep water north of Stellwagen and in the deep waters west of Stellwagen. Only rarely do we get them on our “usual” cod grounds. They're a lot of fun to catch, but be careful as their spines are very poisonous! We catch them as a bycatch of trying to fish for cod. When they're around, it's common to really catch them at will.
