Myth
Banjo shark tastes like crap?
Description
There have been many reports, my friends, internet, fishermen, boat ramp spotters and banjo sharks - that the best thing to do when you catch one, it to just throw it back. That, it tastes like crap, is tough, smells of amonia, balh blah blah....
Believing this myth, I have been throwing back these annoying critters far too long. Not only have they got me falsely excited when the reel goes off (thinking its a snapper), the thought that I have caught a snag or caught the bottom is an anti-climax. I decided to test that myth today, here are my findings.
Method
I started to try and catch a Banjo.
I used a RJAYZ burley bottom feeder gizmo. Since using this I tend to always get a banjo. I also have caught snapper, gummy sharks and the trusted flathead using this apparatus. Since I didnt really want to catch a nice meaty yummy snapper, I packed a banana for lunch.
Strike
Needless to say, the banana worked wonders and the first fish encountered was a baby gummy. 10 mins later the RJAYZ (1/2 a chunky, but I threw in a pilchard from the last trip), worked its magic and a banjo popped up. Bait used was a whole silver whiting.
I got the beast into the boat and begun by deciding I need to kill this critter quickly. I got out my wiltshire stay sharp and thought that a jab between the eyes ought to do it. It was really hard to even get the wiltshite between the eyes. Not sure what would be better, perhaps a hole punch? 1 hour later, there were still several flaps from its wings.
Myth test 1.1: Wings attached make the flavour amonia flavoured?
Surgery
Reading that the only good bit of the Banjo is the tail, decided to ditch the body and amputate the tail. If you have never done that before, its hard to determine where the tail actually meets the body. I severed the tail roughly where I thought was right but I reckon I was a good 6cm short of the max width that would be optimum. The wiltshire knife was not used for this purpose as it was still stuck in the head. So I had to use another knife, tis time one that had a serrated blade. The serated blade is really needed because that skin is like leather. Tail off, and rest of fish discarded. That was rather distressing, the eyes of the banjo seem to look at you as you toss it overboard; You sort of hope it will swim away, but it doesnt. I'd rather eat the whole thing (minus the eyes), but that might be set for a subsequent myth.
Cleaning
Back home now, minus any snapper. I began to prepare my potential delicious meal. I start by filleting the bugger and find its exactly like filleting a flathead tail, except when removing the skin. The banjo skin is super tough and hard to remove, not impossible, just hard. 2 Nice fillets pop off. The colour is nice but unlike flatheads, there is some red meat mixed in, not a lot, but a little. The flesh is extraordinarily firm. I begin to think that this fish will be very rubbery.
Cooking / Recipe
Decided that a beer batter might be the safest option. The thought of beer sends me a warm feeling, so I crack open a Boags Premium and mix it with sifted flour, corn flour, and beaten egg. I deep fry the fillets and serve it (to myself) with lemon, salt and a wasabi mayonaisse. Apprehensive at first, I decide that I better try the fish without batter.
The texture is soft, somewhat firm, very white (little grey bits where the red stuff used to be), actually I thought, this is flake!
Summary
If you like Flake, you will like Banjo.
I think its perfectly suited for deep frying (especially in a beer batter).
Kids will love it, but clean before you serve and hide the prying eyes.
There was no bones, its an easy to fillet fish and I would severe the tail again.
MYTHBUSTED
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