# Hardheads really good to eat?



## bobber (May 12, 2005)

*Scientific Name: *​_Arius felis _*Common Names: *​Sea Cat, Tourist Trout *Range & Habitat:*​Gulfwide, in all nearshore waters and saline and brackish estuarine waters. It is also occasionally found in fresh water. It tends to move from shallower to deeper waters in the winter months. *Identification & Biology:*​The hardhead catfish is colored dirty gray with a white underside. No scales are present on the skin. Four barbels are found under the chin and two more at the corners of the mouth. It does not have the elongated extensions on the dorsal and pectoral fins that the gafftopsail catfish has. The hardhead catfish has hard, sharp, venomous spines in its dorsal and pectoral fins and should be handled with care.

Hardhead catfish eat virtually anything, including algae, pieces of plants, worms, snails, clams, microscopic zooplankton, marine shrimp, grass shrimp, blue crabs, mud crabs, insects, spiders, small fish, smaller hardhead catfish, hermit crabs, fish bones, mud, sand, and even scales actively taken from living fish. Because they are so common, it is often assumed that they produce a lot of eggs. Actually, each female produces only 14 to 64 mature eggs each season. After the male fertilizes the eggs, he holds them in his mouth until they hatch, and for a time thereafter. Spawning takes place from May to September in shallow marine bays and lakes.*Size:*​Usually 1 pound or less, but may reach 3 pounds. *Food Value:*​Seldom eaten, but it is very good table fare, better than the gafftopsail catfish.​
Huh? Perhaps we need to thin this species through eating some. I have had Gafs maney a time, and they are pretty good, just a pain to mess with.


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

bobber said:


> Huh? Perhaps we need to thin this species through eating some. I have had Gafs maney a time, and they are pretty good, just a pain to mess with.


If you like the taste of spoil bank mud, then I'm sure you will enjoy hardheads. :spineyes:


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## Jolly Roger (May 21, 2004)

Yes they are good, but a pain to clean. All head, takes lots of them to get much meat. Have had friends go catch hundereds of them for fish frys. No one knew the difference. Wish more people would target them for food.

Shrimp and crabs diets are much worst then hardheads and people eat them all the time.


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## NurseD-bait (Oct 2, 2004)

I've often wondered the same thing..get the dark meat off and there ya go..hubby wouldn't be bothered though....


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## Gorda Fisher (Aug 19, 2005)

Id grill em on a cedar plank, put all the good spices and such on it, take the fish off, throw it away and eat the board. IMO


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## Jolly Roger (May 21, 2004)

Gorda Fisher said:


> Id grill em on a cedar plank, put all the good spices and such on it, take the fish off, throw it away and eat the board. IMO


Have you ever ate one?? They taste just like farm raised catfish, maybe a little better.


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## Gorda Fisher (Aug 19, 2005)

Jolly Roger said:


> Have you ever ate one?? They taste just like farm raised catfish, maybe a little better.


Yes actually i think i did eat one a long time ago and dont remember it being bad. It just dont seem right eating a Tee aRa.


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## Jolly Roger (May 21, 2004)

Gorda Fisher said:


> Yes actually i think i did eat one a long time ago and dont remember it being bad. It just dont seem right eating a Tee aRa.


They are just like any other catfish. In fact there diet is much better then most blue cats or flatheads caught out of rivers if you think about it. Hardheads fry up just like any other catfish, only problem is that they have very little meat compared to body size, and are slimy. Can get rid eof the slime by dragiing them in the sand after they die. Gafftops can be done the same way to get the slime off.


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## Bleed~Fish (Mar 4, 2005)

*mmmmm!*

i have eatten a couple of the bigger hardheads and i have to say they were good,not much meat though; the guys that were eaten the fish at my fish fry a while back prefered the hardheads over the catfish, and were shocked when i said what it was.

only problem is there isnt alot of meat,their slimmy and them dang barbs


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## RedXCross (Aug 7, 2005)

Taste like chicken ,,,, j/k lol


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## TimOub007 (Jun 10, 2005)

I don't like any catfish. It's all **** in my opinion.

Give me snapper, redfish, flounder, tripletail or anything else I've got in my freezer. But hold the catfish. 

Tim


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## saltyoperator (May 6, 2006)

Put those slimey boogers in a burlap sack and it'll take off the slime so I remember my dad telling me!!


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

I tried them once, and IMHO they should be gently released into the surf so no one can step on them, and so that people who like to eat them can catch them. Give me a bluecat about 3lbs anyday,or better yet, a pompano!


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## jwslaw (Jan 31, 2006)

there was an article in a salt water fishing magazine within the last ten years that covered a florida town that specialized in frying up hardheads. keep in mind though that they also eat mullet in fla!


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## TomCat (Jan 6, 2006)

Some folks in Galveston refer to hardheads as tourist trout.


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## GHSmacker (Feb 27, 2006)

They might be good and yada, yada, yada, but i can never see myself eating one. I think i only would if i was either:

A) Tricked by someone 
or
B) Deserted on an island with nothing else to eat


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## justletmein (Feb 11, 2006)

I'd love to try it some time, but fear of being made fun of by the locals scares me off.


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## Salty Dog (Jan 29, 2005)

I have hacked a fillet off a couple prior to dumping them in the crab traps for crab bait out of curiosity from reading an article like the above one. The meat was real white. I never ate one though. There just ain't much on them. You'd have to catch some monster TR's to get enough fillets to make a meal. I bet they would be very similar to gaftops and plenty folks like them. I don't care to mess with gaftops either but I have eaten gaftops in the past.


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## texasrhino (Feb 16, 2006)

A guy I work with said they grew in Mississippi eating hardheads and mullet.He said he liked mullet over trout.


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## dumbstick (May 16, 2006)

Rhino, thats just nasty to even think about.


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## bobber (May 12, 2005)

We cut one in half to use for shark baits. Unfortunately it held eggs. Funky Green grapes, in a freeze dried honeycomb like material. Tried the cut bait for bait, no luck, then tried the eggs to try and catch good bait, no luck they kept falling off. Really gross cutting a hardhead. Don't beleive I will ever want to try hardheads, I would keep thinking about the grapes!


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## haparks (Apr 12, 2006)

im sorry--but--it goes against every thing i have ever known-- your probably right---but just the thought of eatin a hard head justttttttttttt--well freaks me out--makes my stomack turn u name it--i dont think i could do it-- not unless i was for real --(starvin)--but if u saw me u would say i could live off that hump for a year--lol


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## freespool (Oct 1, 2005)

Fed a mess of them to some inlaws I didn't care for to much. They loved it. As I ate my fried trout watching them I had to wonder?


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