# African Pompano Good to Eat?



## Pescado Fritos (Aug 22, 2005)

Last week I gave away an African Pompano that we caught out by baker rock to some folks at the dock.

Reason;

I remembered an article I read some years ago in Saltwater Sportsman that they are part of the jack family and are in no relation to the great eating Pompano found mainly in Florida.It also said the fish is very oily and did not make for good eating.

My friend now thinks I gave away the best eating fish in the gulf.Please help clear this small matter b/t friends.


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## Lumberjack93 (Jun 15, 2004)

*A little knowledge about African pompano*

By Vince Stiglich Jr.
The Daily News Published February 9, 2006

There's an old saying that fits individuals who are totally knowledgeable in regard to certain topics, and it goes something like this: "When (name of the person) speaks, people listen."

Well, where offshore fishing is concerned, when Patrick Lemire is involved in a tête-à-tête, especially among offshore enthusiasts, folks within earshot not only listen, but they also do a little watching.

Patrick has been Reel Report's spokesman for William's Partyboats for quite a while now, and when I contacted him Wednesday, my need was a photograph of an African pompano. And true to his ways, that piece of art arrived by e-mail in a short time. And not only that, the longtime Gulf of Mexico offshore fishing guru added some worthwhile information on the fish you've probably noted on the right.

Here's what Patrick had to say:

"Here's a little information about the African pompano. They are not a true pompano; they're a member of the jack family. They are the finest eating of the jacks, along with the Florida pompano.

"The African pompano's advantage is simply that they are larger. That translates into more excellent eating. The African pompano is an offshore species taken around various deep-water structures in our area of the Gulf. They are strong fighters who, like the jack, will get sideways to you after the hookup.

"Their chrome-like skin looks its most brilliant when they are fresh out of the water. They are truly a taxidermist's nightmare since it's virtually impossible to duplicate their skin's almost mirror-like condition.

"Mike Decuir caught three on the last 36-hour trip run by the party boat Capt. John out of Pier 19. They hit a butterfly rigged Braid Slammer Jig, worked about 10 feet off the bottom.

"While African pompano aren't rare but just occasional catches, an individual decking three in one day is indeed a rarity. Those two in the photo weighed 23 pounds and 15 pounds."

See, I said that you'd listen (in this case, read), but as for "watching" as noted at the onset, well, the photograph is compliments of Patrick.

In related news, on Tuesday I asked for images from readers of great catches to be submitted to Reel Report that are not only sharp (in focus), but that the fish was caught fairly recently and is legal.

Other information should also be included with the photo such as the name of angler, where the fish was caught, bait used, time of day the fish was taken, how long the battle lasted, and any other pertinent information that might be available.

Just don't get too wordy.

Simply e-mail the photo to stigpig(at)aol.com or vince.stiglich(at)galvnews.com, including info, or snail mail it to Reel Report at P. O. Box 628, Galveston, TX 77554.

And finally, I'm going to lead off Friday's column with a West Beach tale where a "Yankee" totally thumped a local fisherman. Hmmm, sounds kind of intriguing, doesn't it?

+++

To get your catch in the Reel Report, phone Stiglich at (409) 683-5273. There's no charge for this service.


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## k1902 (May 24, 2004)

Hate to tell you, those fish are excellent eating, your friend was right!

kg


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## Crossroads (May 21, 2004)

They are good to eat. Don't mix them with snapper, amberjack, and other species at the same meal because they will not complete well side by side. However, they make excellent gilled or pan-fried filets.


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## Argo (May 21, 2004)

They are excellent on the grill.


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## Pescado Fritos (Aug 22, 2005)

*Hmmm*

Well looks like I need to find another African for dinner,Thx for the comments.


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## CoastalOutfitters (Aug 20, 2004)

they are extremely poisonous , filet them , pack them well in dry ice and mail them to me and i will destroy them properly for you., i just might have saved your life. you can thank me later................


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## [email protected] (Apr 4, 2006)

I caught a 21 lb african pompano off Freeport about 3 yrs ago and we asked the same question if they were edible. Well when we got back to Capt. Ron's house and we fillet it ( first I took a pic, of course ) with a whole of garlic butter and a couple of brews, we had our answer....DELISH!!!!!!...


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## Milkjug (Apr 12, 2006)

*...*

We caught two of those on hook and line during a spearing trip last summer. Captain threw the first one back, saying it was no good. The second one was caught by a buddy who was skunked spearing, so he kept it. When we had some cooked side by side with AJ and snapper caught, it easily beat the AJ, and was right up there with the snapper.

EAT AWAY!

Also, a big AJ I speared had a baby african pompano in it's stomach. Anyone seen these? They look alot different from the adults, they have multiple long trailing threads from the dorsal fin. Kinda cool.


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## dr9shark (Aug 16, 2004)

*Pompano*

We used to catch them in the surf all the time in Destin. They are Hell to clean and only so so to eat if you did the cleaning. Drshark


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## Bluewater Dawg (Apr 25, 2006)

The one in the aj's stomach could have been a Look Down very simular looking fish only smaller.



Milkjug said:


> We caught two of those on hook and line during a spearing trip last summer. Captain threw the first one back, saying it was no good. The second one was caught by a buddy who was skunked spearing, so he kept it. When we had some cooked side by side with AJ and snapper caught, it easily beat the AJ, and was right up there with the snapper.
> 
> EAT AWAY!
> 
> Also, a big AJ I speared had a baby african pompano in it's stomach. Anyone seen these? They look alot different from the adults, they have multiple long trailing threads from the dorsal fin. Kinda cool.


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