# Worms in AMBERJACKS??



## ALLBEEF

Do they get worms in there meat?? I cut one open this weekend and there was worm like "things" in the meat - not the guts - in the meat itself. They were about the size of a large speghetti noodle and were about that same color. Was this worms or just part of the fish??


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## Lthomas

Yep.. They are worms.. 
Here is a tip.. Discard the fish and eat the worms.. Reef donkeys taste like puke.


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## BME013

AJ do get worms.  Dont eat them.  If you eat the fish besure to cut out the worms!


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## Doyle

You'll find that worms in AJ are much more prevalent on the Atlantic coast than in the Gulf.   On the Gulf side, they ususally don't start appearing until the  AJ gets up past about 45 or so inches. 

I love eating amberjacks.  Blackening seasoning on the grill.  Yum.


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## hevishot

Rubba lips shoudnt be eatin' to begin with...nasy! Yep, Jacks are very prone to parasites...


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## Mechanicaldawg

AJ is fine table fare!

Cut the parasite out and enjoy!


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## ALLBEEF

Man I cleaned these thangs for three hrs. Sat night - I sure was hoping that was some type of ligaments of fat deposits or something!! 
This is just terrible - to have to throw away this nice mess of fish!!


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## hevishot

some folks just cook 'em anyway...worms and all. Not me though.


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## capt stan

Yes they get worms( mostly on the atlantic side). No it don't hurt the meat. Normally the worm will be concentrated in the tail sections of the AJ(last 1/3 of the fish). You can cut that out and discard it or pull the worm out of the meat. It won't hurt a thing.

Most of the time I won't keep um. But they do eat good.Great battered and fried also hard to beat on a smoker.


I got news for folks Most fish get worms. I have seen them in trout, reds , Sheephead, flounder and all the rest.  In AJ's they are just bigger and they are much more noticable.


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## ALLBEEF

MAN !! and I just gave a bunch to both of my bosses and my grandpa -- anybody got any job openings?


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## Gadget

ALLBEEF said:


> MAN !! and I just gave a bunch to both of my bosses and my grandpa -- anybody got any job openings?







AJ's are good eaten! I've cut around the worms in AJ's and Mackerel, never seen it so bad where I couldn't get any meat.


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## MudDucker

Worms might be an improvement...nasty fish!


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## FishingAddict

Nasty fish?  Sounds like you had a bad cook!  

I cooked AJ, Tuna, and Mahi for a group of 6 last summer.  1/2 liked the AJ the best.  Just coat in olive oil and salt- then grill!

Just cook the worms and eat them.  I promise- if you have eaten fish before, you have eaten worms.


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## dawg2

FishingAddict said:


> Nasty fish?  Sounds like you had a bad cook!
> 
> I cooked AJ, Tuna, and Mahi for a group of 6 last summer.  1/2 liked the AJ the best.  Just coat in olive oil and salt- then grill!
> 
> Just cook the worms and eat them.  I promise- if you have eaten fish before, you have eaten worms.



X2.  Talked to a biologist about them and he said they are no problem.  Just cook them.  I guarantee you have eaten them before


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## ALLBEEF

Just cook the worms and eat them.  I promise- if you have eaten fish before, you have eaten worms.[/QUOTE]


Thats what I figured - I don't think the regular old commercial fisherman is going to set around and pick the worms out of every fish he catches or even chek the fish he catches for worms.


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## Doyle

Allbeef, many of the commercial fish houses will harvest the shoulder/back area for human consumption and use the tail section (with the most worms) for other uses like crab trap bait/ground chum/etc.


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## XTREME HUNTER

ALLBEEF said:


> MAN !! and I just gave a bunch to both of my bosses and my grandpa -- anybody got any job openings?



Thats funny


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## captbrian

most people probably don't know,  but nearly all red grouper have worms. you don't hear too many people talking about throwing that out, or how bad it tastes.  just cut them out, and fry it up.


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## Lthomas

captbrian said:


> most people probably don't know,  but nearly all red grouper have worms. you don't hear too many people talking about throwing that out, or how bad it tastes.  just cut them out, and fry it up.



Most folks I know dont even bother cutting them out.


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## StriperAddict

I'd go and show this thread to my wife for information purposes, but I doubt she'd eat fish ever again


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## MudDucker

FishingAddict said:


> Nasty fish?  Sounds like you had a bad cook!
> 
> I cooked AJ, Tuna, and Mahi for a group of 6 last summer.  1/2 liked the AJ the best.  Just coat in olive oil and salt- then grill!
> 
> Just cook the worms and eat them.  I promise- if you have eaten fish before, you have eaten worms.



I ain't skeered of no worms, but I ain't gonna kiss no dogs butt to get that nasty taste out of my mouth.


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## rhbama3

deworm, skin, and cut the lateral line(red meat) out. Mighty fine on the grill with Old Bay seasoning and lemon juice!


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## Southbound

dude 

cut around them and the meat is still good OR leave them in and they look like vermicelli noodles when they are cooked


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## larpyn

when the fishin gets so bad that i have got to keep reef donkeys i'll quit fishing. 
get off the artificial reefs and catch some grouper, snapper, sea bass etc. i will clean a cooler full of grunts b4 i will mess with an aj.
there are a lot of other better tasting fish in the sea to keep. when they start biting i move somewhere else. i'm not wasting time on aj's. 
jmo.....


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## grim

I personally like AJs as table fair.  They have some flavor, where as snapper and grouper are pretty tastless.  I wont turn my nose up at white fish, but I like fish meat with a little color more.

I know I am in the minority, but its my preference.


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## ALLBEEF

I don't eat any of em' - I'm allergic to all seafood - I know one thing - I ain't never had something that pulled so hard on the other end of a line before in my life! The largest one was 40"!! I thought he was going to pull his head off!!


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## grim

Pound for pound, AJs shame the bottom feeders in a fight.


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## Lthomas

grim said:


> Pound for pound, AJs shame the bottom feeders in a fight.



Pound for pound.. AJs shame any fish in a fight.. They still taste like dirt.


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## Bucky T

I've run into worms w/AJ's too.

I just removed them and kept right on going.

I like AJ, fried or grilled.

BuckyT


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## Redbow

Most fish have parasites, you just can't see them in the smaller species! Red Drum, Black Drum, I have seen them eat up with worms also, depends on how long they have been around as to how bad the parasites are!

As long as its cooked properly the worms won't hurt you, its mostly the thought of eating worms I suppose!


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## Doyle

Lthomas said:


> Pound for pound.. AJs shame any fish in a fight.. They still taste like dirt.



I don't know where you've been getting your AJ from, but I have NEVER had a bad tasting one.   Granted, it isn't red snapper, but I think it is just as good as grouper.


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## win280

Hey Allbeef,I here Moebirds might be needing a driver if your boss thing doesn't work out.


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## Lthomas

Doyle said:


> I think it is just as good as grouper.



Now that is funny.


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## Mechanicaldawg

Doyle said:


> I don't know where you've been getting your AJ from, but I have NEVER had a bad tasting one.   Granted, it isn't red snapper, but I think it is just as good as grouper.



Doyle,

For my taste, I'd say you've got things bass akwards.

I like AJ. 

I really like snapper. 

Ain't much better than grouper!


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## Mechanicaldawg

BTW, here is a recipe I tried last week and liked pretty well:

Cheese-Crusted Amberjack

Ingredients 	 
2 	pounds Florida amberjack fillets
1/2 	cup herb and garlic salad dressing
1/2 	cup corn flake crumbs
1/2 	cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
6 	  thin Florida orange slices

Preparation
Cut fish into serving-size portions. Place fish, single layer, in a shallow baking dish. Pour dressing over fillets; cover and marinate in the refrigerator for several hours, turning fish 3-4 times. Combine corn flake crumbs and cheese; mix well. Roll fish in crumb mixture. Arrange fish in lightly-oiled baking dish; sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. Bake at 450 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Garnish with orange slices.


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## hevishot

eatin' rubba lips must be a gulf coast thing because when I worked on boats in SC they were nothing more than bycatch or something to salvage a bad day with...they ended up released or as chum.....


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## grim

hevishot said:


> eatin' rubba lips must be a gulf coast thing because when I worked on boats in SC they were nothing more than bycatch or something to salvage a bad day with...they ended up released or as chum.....



I think everyone considered them trash fish up until the early 90's when AJ sandwiches became regular items on bar and grill menus.  Many still do as demonstrated by this thread.   I like smoking them on the grill.


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## hevishot

smoking can make any fish edible....still considered a trash fish by most on the Atlantic side.


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## WarrenCo

I see them in seatrout I catch, most of the time in earlier in the year, march, april.


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## FishingAddict

Lobsters used to be considered junk as well.

In fact, you can find 100 year old servant contracts in Maine where the contract states that the servent "will never be feed lobster more than three times a week"....


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## Doyle

Down here, snook were called soapfish because their skin tastes like soap.   The old crackers used to net them for hog food.   Somewhere along the way, people discovered that if you skin them, they are fantastic eating. 

Redfish also used to be a "poor mans fish" until Paul Prudhomme made them famous by blackening them in his New Orleans restaurant.


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## MudDucker

larpyn said:


> when the fishin gets so bad that i have got to keep reef donkeys i'll quit fishing.
> get off the artificial reefs and catch some grouper, snapper, sea bass etc. i will clean a cooler full of grunts b4 i will mess with an aj.
> there are a lot of other better tasting fish in the sea to keep. when they start biting i move somewhere else. i'm not wasting time on aj's.
> jmo.....



You and me both


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## Ta-ton-ka chips

FishingAddict said:


> Lobsters used to be considered junk as well.
> 
> In fact, you can find 100 year old servant contracts in Maine where the contract states that the servent "will never be feed lobster more than three times a week"....



So now we're talking about "underwater cockroaches"?


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## jyramie

AJ VERY GOOD FISH TO EAT YOU CAN COOK IT ANY WAY YOU WANT IT WILL BE GREAT TRY CARRIBEAN JERK AJ    JUST PULL OUT THE WORMS . oFFSHORE MY BUDDIES CAN HAVE ALL THE SEABASS BLINERS AND TRIGGERS JUST GIVE ME ONE AJ.


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## GAnaturalist

Doyle said:


> Allbeef, many of the commercial fish houses will harvest the shoulder/back area for human consumption and use the tail section (with the most worms) for other uses like crab trap bait/ground chum/etc.



I heard the same thing, I caught some AJ's outside Charleston, SC, after the 1 1/2 hour ride to some clear water. The owner of the boat said he was going to sell the meat to a local restuarant, and they would put it on the menu as "grouper", funny.


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## saltysenior

the overall opinion on the taste of fish is reflected on the price per lb. .[except tuna]


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## ALLBEEF

win280 said:


> Hey Allbeef,I here Moebirds might be needing a driver if your boss thing doesn't work out.




I ain't got that bad off yet


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## deadend

I think AJ eats as good as all the rest except for triggerfish which is my favorite.  I never cut out the worms.  I just cook them and don't worry about it.  Extra protein.  You can't taste them, and they won't hurt you.  I've never had anyone complain about them because they are usually stuffing their face with it and telling me how good it is!


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## boohoo222

if youve ever ate at long john silvers certin times of the year your eatin aj WITH WORMS


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## gotta biggn

Aj's are on every seafood menu on the Gulf side. I am a choosy fish eater. They actually are a good firm meat. The taste is better than average. Actually much better than a fishy tasting red snapper or b liner. A lot of fish are over rated like the red snapper and the Mahi mahi. The word Mahi mahi sound glamorous on the menu and is a very pretty fish, like the red snapper. On a platter fried with people who simply judge taste not species, the AJ would be the most enjoyed with tese 3 fish. People use to throw trigger fish and sheepshead back as junk fish. I have done surveys on other sights, where all the people were fishermen, and sheeps head won on best overall eating fish. grouper , flounder ranked up high too.


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## caught

Your the first person Ive ever heard rank an aj over a red snapper. 
aj=hog food at my house!


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## Gadget

AJ is served in a lot of restaurants and the way they substitute fish all the time you don't know what your eating, wonder how many times AJ has been served as Grouper..................


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## Mechanicaldawg

Gadget said:


> AJ is served in a lot of restaurants and the way they substitute fish all the time you don't know what your eating, wonder how many times AJ has been served as Grouper..................



I know of one chain that sells AJ in fish sammiches as "Grouper's Cousin".


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## MudDucker

AJ better than Snapper


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## caught

Jeff Young said:


> I know of one chain that sells AJ in fish sammiches as "Grouper's Cousin".



HOOTERS WOULDNT DO A THING LIKE THAT WOULD THEY?


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## larpyn

caught said:


> Your the first person Ive ever heard rank an aj over a red snapper.
> aj=hog food at my house!



amen brotha!
...... besides that they are the dumbest fish in the sea. i have had hundreds of aj's swim around me daring me to ruin a dive by shooting one and not stoning it 
at least a cobia makes the fight worth while by tasting good, but an aj?.....naaaaaaa




MudDucker said:


> AJ better than Snapper



i second that thought. i only rank a couple of fish higher than a snapper for my tastes.


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