Oyster Toad?

[Tyson]

So... Everytime i ask someone about eating a mud toad everyone says the same thing "No! you dont eat them, they are posionous,"(not true) or "They taste like mud," or "they are too ugly to eat,"(like tog) or "They eat dead things/ slime off the bottom" ( like catfish) Then i ask if they have EVER tried one.. To which they all answer.. NO.. No. NO. No..

Has ANYONE ever tried one? And if so.... How was it? LoL PM me if you dont want everyone to know about your lobster like fish of gold called the oystertoad..

Tyson

[27 sailfish]

Never heard of anyone eating them.Might be like Goosefish/Monkfish-ugly as sin but good to eat.If you are that curious-why not try one this summer and let us know.Some huge ones hang out at the western rockpile at the bay bridge-put a chunk of cut spot down and you'll catch some almost 12'' long . Skip

[Good Chance]

One of my charter guys eats them. Cut off the head and eat the meat in the tail section. Says it's excellent.

[done workin]

I ground one up for chum when I was a kid one time and it made the Essex Sh--t Plant in August smell good.

Couldn't imagine eating one.

[Crabslayer]

Family: Batrachoididae

Species: Opsanus tau (Linnaeus, 1766)

Range: western Atlantic from Maine to the West Indies.

Habitat: found on mud, oyster shell, rock, along sand bottoms and garbage dumps in shallow water.

Food: preys on crustaceans, mollusks, fish, and just about anything else it can get its mouth on.

Characters useful in identification: bulging eyes; fleshy flaps (whiskers) on cheeks and jaws; broad, flat heads.

Color: skin is yellowish to brown with dark brown oblique bars and brown reticulations.


Image courtesy: Fisherman's Guide: Fishes of the Southeastern United States.
Charles Manooch, III, author. Duane Raver, Jr. , illustrator.

Reproduction: toadfish are known for producing vocalizations, accomplished by rapid muscle contractions. The male produces a "foghorn" sound which may attract females to a nesting site. The spawning season lasts from April to October.

Maximum size: 38 cm TL (1.25 ft.)

Other interesting tidbits:

The toadfish has no commercial value and is generally considered a nuisance due to its powerful and potentially dangerous jaws which make it tough to remove from fishing hooks; however, it is edible.
It can survive out of water for extended periods.
This fish is also plays an important role in medical research.
NASA and the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole just completed experiments in which toadfish were sent to space. To read about this research, go here.
References:

Murdy, E.O., R.S. Birdsong, and J.A. Musick. 1997. Fishes of Chesapeake Bay. Smithsonian Institution Press, 324 pp.

[wetaline]

Thats funny. I just told my brother that he could catch a toad fish in a mud puddle on the moon. He's a "brown trout" catchin fool.

[ekim22]

I'm curious if anyone ever got bit by one....would it really mess you up?

[redcat]

I killed one on a fishing pier when I was a kid and the seagull would not even try to eat it .I think I am at least as smart as a seagull!

[redcat]

My dad used to call them Gorilla Fish.
I always smile when I think of Him trying to show my daughter how they were harmless and stuck his finger in the mouth of a small toad and got nipped ,

[college fund]

I had a crabber tell me once that he could get more money for oyster toads than he could for croaker. He even said he had special pots for them.

[gus]

aka mother in law fish

[Double Haul]

I've seen them on sale at a seafood shop near Whitestone, and when I asked he said it was tough to keep them in stock because the demand was high.
They advertise them as "sugar toads"

One of the high end restauraunts in DC is said to periodically serve them. I scream, you scream, we all scream for sugar toads - Side Dishes - Brief Article Nation's Restaurant News - Find Articles (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_21_37/ai_102659655)

[Capt.Nick]

Evereybody throws them back overboard because they're too ugly to want to eat.As long as you're serving them to someone else,it doesn't matter as long as you don't have to eat them.

[BUDC]

I've seen them on sale at a seafood shop near Whitestone, and when I asked he said it was tough to keep them in stock because the demand was high.
They advertise them as "sugar toads"

One of the high end restauraunts in DC is said to periodically serve them. I scream, you scream, we all scream for sugar toads - Side Dishes - Brief Article Nation's Restaurant News - Find Articles (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_21_37/ai_102659655)


The Northern Neck area refers to Swell Toads(Puffers) as Sugar Toads. They have a gritty skin and a small mouth with Vee'd front teeth which makes the Vee's in your plastic baits when lead-head fishing on the flats. Years ago, I bought Swell Toads labeled as Cole Fish at Amory's Seafood in Hampton. I've also heard them referred to as Chicken of the Bay because when they are headed, skinned, battered and fried, they very much resemble Chicken Legs.
Other than fins, there is nearly no resemblance to Oyster Toads and I will never be able to attest to the flavor of Oyster Toads---Too much good stuff to eat already.
budc

[kendall]

I ate a few...only becuase my dad was told they were like eel......which i wasn't that impressed with....but my grandmother and mom from chincoteague loved fried eel so we did fry some and eel together....couldn't tell them apart ecept for the shape and size....
but like the others said....to many other things to eat ....if your broke,lost or starving it can be eaten with no problems.....
I bet we could sell those to the lymes.....the english love gelled eel in the morning.....and that is not on my list of things to do either.....

[puppy drum]

they are very good.you just have to know how to clean and fillet them.courtney's restaurant in point lookout , md sells them as appetizer fried. no bs here they always ran out of them!

[runnin late]

I think I'm gonna puke!:eek:

[River Lizard]

Next West Point trip I'll keep a few of them and try them once. Where I'm catchin' Croaker at I can get a half dozen of them in a day with no problem.
Who knows.....they might just taste good. Might have to get a T-shirt made up.....
"Save an Oyster.... Eat a Toad!" :thumbup:

[sbieshelt]

Next time I am at Courtneys I am going to have to see if they have any. We usually take folks that are here visiting from San Diego to local places like that.

Steve

[shellfish]

Love the blowtoad all white meat but the mudtoad i never have tryed one and cant see me trying one i havent been able to catch any blowtaods aka sugertoad in years are people still catching blowtoads and if so where?

[Popster]

I've had puffers. My understanding is that at one time they were commercially important. They used to set pots for them on the edge of the shipping channel and in the channel itself. The current would drag the corks under due to the long lines. They would have to fish them when the current wasn't running. I use to see them occasionally in the fall in the crab pots. Haven't seem one for years.

Am seeing seahorses now due to salinity.

[RKOCH]

Dude look @ a oyster toad are you nuts.

[hippie]

Gentlemen, While fishing from a pier in Atlantic Beach, N.C. I caught some that were 5 to 6" long. When I went to toss it back or cut it up for bait (what ever) the resident fishermen came running to me shouting not to waste the fish. Then the ladies all started to tell me that your "toads" are a delacacy called "chicken of the sea". They cut the tail and took a peice of meat from each side that was 3" long. They then fry it with bread crumbs. Every one there was keeping these fish. Bob

[Baybreeze]

Those are blow toads,,,,,mudtoads have the wide mouth and jaws that crush oysters/clams..... blow toads have buckteeth....

[AIK68J]

from www.fishbase.org
" Frequently occurs among litter and tolerates polluted water." so most animals taste like what they eat and the toxins in the bay and the occasional sewage spill ICKY

[metalkingdom]

Oyster toads resemble the Pacific fish Ling Cod and Sculpin (and Awado in Mexico) - and all of those are highly regarded for their meat. I caught one of those toads last year and the tail looked really yummy...But I couldn't get over that ugly mouth.

[dboyd351]

"I've seen them on sale at a seafood shop near Whitestone, and when I asked he said it was tough to keep them in stock because the demand was high.
They advertise them as "sugar toads"

The swell toad or sugar toad is actually a northern puffer. It is related to the puffers they serve in Japan (Family Tetradontidae) that have to be carefully prepared lest you get badly poisoned. Fortuneately, the northern puffer isn't toxic like it's japanese cousins and is delicious.
The Oyster Toad (Opsanus tau) is no relation to either of the puffers.

[jhe]

I've tried the Oyster Cracker or Oyster Toad and to me it tasted much like the Blow Fish and they were said to be poison.

[OSS]

I caught about 25 toads at the M and M tunnel last week. Maybe I will keep a few next time and fry them up. Anything tastes good fried.

[SALTRODDER]

My Dad grew up in Georgetown, DC and spent his time fishing Potomac and Chesapeake Bay. He told me that during the Depression they called them "Hoover Trout". He swears that the white meat tasted pretty much like catfish.

However, when I was growing up and fished with him, we caught plenty of those nasty looking things. And he never offered to cook one and serve it for dinner.

Saltrodder
Annapolis

[mosgo]

I got bit by one working on the Jil Carrie once.. Bad day that was, they really live up to the name OYESTER CRACKER !! or finger cracker


moses

[Butthead]

my dad cooked a couple when I was a kid...I remember them having the consistency of catfish. Not as tasty though.

I guess if you were starving and needed a meal, they would be just fine...but the bottom is covered in delectable white perch...I would recommend just eating them.