Congers!!

[greendiver]

OK... I am abit confused here... DO YOU EAT THEM OR NOT.... their blood is poison,thanks to their eating habbit?

So, when you fry it, what should you watch out for? What bodyparts should you remove when cooking any eel?Just so i know for once and for all.

Thank you!

Congers or murray eals are not poisoness!!
The bite of a murray can infect due to some bacterias on his teeth!
In Spain, and Italy people eat is as normal fish.

Ps. last month with my french buddy...thought it was a fish, only the tale moving...this was the result!!...the french....;-)

 

[Huw]

Guys,

Cheers for all of this imput.
Greendiver that conger sounds like there has to be a story behind it? what happened? did it put up a fight? how did you kill it? I have eaten conger many times before and found the meat very tasty, I gutted the fish, cut off the head and the tail, and then cut the middle section up into steaks, and then fried just like green diver said.VERY NICE.

As far as i know, a conger eel has no poisonous parts to its body at all, and that the only danger that they pose, is their teeth when they are alive!!! (correct me if i am wrong people!)

Huw

 

[Huw]

Greendiver....
i take it that you have speared both murenas and congers? If so is there much difference in hunting technique with the two species? which is more aggressive, and which puts up more of a fight? Are you wary of one species more than the other? which would you prefer to hunt?


oh and more importantly which tastes better ????

Huw

 

[greendiver]

Guys,

Cheers for all of this imput.
Greendiver that conger sounds like there has to be a story behind it? what happened? did it put up a fight? how did you kill it? I have eaten conger many times before and found the meat very tasty, I gutted the fish, cut off the head and the tail, and then cut the middle section up into steaks, and then fried just like green diver said.VERY NICE.

As far as i know, a conger eel has no poisonous parts to its body at all, and that the only danger that they pose, is their teeth when they are alive!!! (correct me if i am wrong people!)

Huw

Hey Huw,..yep...a funny story....
My friend and buddy started spearfishing not to long ago, he was looking in a couple of holes in a very good spot in little bay; gibraltar.
Anyways..he was using a Commanche 75, not a very powerful gun and saw something moving in the hole, he thought it was the tail of somekind of rockfish...he fired and shot the conger in the tale, he started to pull, not aware what was on the tip of the spear, he really had to pull....then he saw the conger, hanging on the spear, its mouth free, moving wildly on his spear:martial ...he put the gun om his buoy and swam to the shore, probably the best thing he could do..he told me the conger was going for him..

I saw him standing ashore, and he says....Mike...kill the beast!!...I had no idea he caught a conger....

We gave it to the restaurant next to my place, they served it in the paella that day!!

 

[greendiver]

Greendiver....
i take it that you have speared both murenas and congers? If so is there much difference in hunting technique with the two species? which is more aggressive, and which puts up more of a fight? Are you wary of one species more than the other? which would you prefer to hunt?


oh and more importantly which tastes better ????

Huw

I usually leave them alone but I have caught a couple of murrays, last weekend I caught a nice one, I was camping with some friends...in olive oil, fried....very tasty!!!
The other people were very surprised, because of the murray´s look people usually do not like to try it.
Everybody agreed on it!! delicious!!I like them more then the conger, ofcourse the taste is similar.
About the hunting technique, well..I only spear them occasionally, if I spot one...shoot them in the head, otherwise they can bend your spear!

 

[spaghetti]

Yes i have caught many congers on a rod and line and have eaten them - and loved them! I have never wasted one.... and never will
is there much difference between congers and murenas when it comes to eating or hunting (out of curiousity)

Cheers
Huw

For hunting I can't see any noticeable difference: side shot with trident, or on the head from above with trident, or with tahitian shaft into the mouth (difficult) if they crawl back deep in the cave.
For cooking, congers are generally fat, thus the best way is cut them in thick wheel-shaped slices and cook on grill, so that the fat melts. Murenas are more bony (many little bones). Fried in olive oil is a classic, but also grilled or "in umido" (stoved in wet tomato sauce) are appreciated. A very ancient recipe for murenas is "alla lucullus", that's the way the ancient romans enjoyed them: marinated in vinegar, salt and pepper for a night, then covered with flour and fried in olive oil.

 

[Huw]

Greendiver..... Great story! My buddy and me were spearing last year and were overwhelmed with large pollack, and owing a favour to the owner of a local resturant, we provided him with the nights fish for his goujons!

Also cheers for the technique tips and cooking ideas spaghetti and greendiver, i cant wait to try the "in umido" recipie! In fact i work in an aquarium and we just got a conger eel in today, so if it doesnt behave, i shall know what to do with it! rofl

cheers again

Huw

 

[Terry Fickett]

Greetings!
One concern with eating eels (especially large ones) is ciguatera poisoning. It's evidently more of a problem in tropical, semi-tropical waters and also occurs in large barraccuda, grouper, snapper. Guess some people feed some of the eel to their cat to make sure it's safe before eating the eel themselves. You can find more info about this by doing a web search for "ciguatera fish poisoning."

Good luck!

Terry

 

[Huw]

Terry,

Thanks alot, this is something that i had never heard of before since i only ever fish, or spear around english waters. Is this poison fatal, or life threatening, or is it like food poisoning? Are we at any risk here in the uk? Have you had any first hand experiences from this "ciguatera fish poisoning"?


Thanks again Huw

 

[HUN73R]

Yes ciguatera can be fatal. I know some people who have had a dose of it and on doctors orders, no fish for 18mnths another guy was told never to eat fish again. Aparently it can damage your liver and a repeat dose can be very serious.
Most fish on the reef around my area are belived to have at least some of the toxin in there system, which when eaten can give no symptoms but can affect you badly if you have had a recent poisoning by it.

 

[dave]

ciguatera is a tropical issue, it is not a problem in the UK
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk
www.c-ski.co.uk
www.eliossub.co.uk

 

[Old Man Dave]

Ciguatera! I think this is how it goes but this is from memory so shoot me down if I'm wrong.

Small tropical fish eat a poisonous blue/green algae. It doesn't kill them but does accumulate in their bodies. Larger fish predate on the small algae eaters and thus accumulate the toxin in larger quantities. These fish are further predated upon and so on. So certain top predators can accumulate the toxin causing ciguatera poisoning. Depends on their diet. Barracuda are known to be one of the worse. An old adage is if a 'cuda is longer than your arm don't eat it. This is based on the largest fish having eaten the most and thus accumulated the most toxin.

In the UK we don't have the base poison algae so our small fish don't eat it and thus it's not in our food chain.

The main problem with this type of poisoning is the fact that it remains in the body system. If you follow the above you'll see that's the case. So if humans get it they can recover but if they get it again then the top up effect can kill them.

Most famous spearo Carlos Eyles got it and can no longer risk eating any seafood. Thus he has given up spearing as he no longer can eat what he kills - sad. :waterwork

Sometimes I'm glad I spear in the UK rather than some tropical paradise - but not often.

Dave

 

[Huw]

Cheers guys

 

[spaghetti]

Cheers guys

Cheers, Huw, welcome back. Are you expressing your "territorial instinct" as a permanent resident of this thread?
(I hope my humour wont' be lost in translation...):t

 

[Huw]

Cheers, Huw, welcome back. Are you expressing your "territorial instinct" as a permanent resident of this thread?
(I hope my humour wont' be lost in translation...):t

rofl rofl rofl lol

Spaghetti, sorry i have taken a while to get back to you, since this thread has provided so many answers to questions that i have had, i think i may be developing maternal feelings towards it rofl ( i hope my humour is also not lost in translation!) lol. But joking aside, thanks alot to all of you that have answered my novice like questions

cheers again! huw

 

[spaghetti]

3 shots, one got
I had my hard earned morning dive today and not much time to play around: half an hour or so. My fault I had to go skin diving (!) (wetsuit, float and weightbelt forgotten home), just with the essential gear: fins, gloves, mask, tube and Comanche 60 with a large 5 prongs trident. I was there for eels.
I started all around swimming with 5-8 meters dives to investigate under rocks. Nothing, nothing, until I saw it. Bad position: all inside the hole, I just saw his face peeping into, no chanche to shoot from above or from sides. I could have tried to attract his curiosity to creep the head a bit outside, but I wasn't so smart to mind this chance at that moment.
I tried any way to shoot straight to his face deep into the hole: first shot, THUMP, only rock. Bad idea turns to bad shot.
The snake didn't react in any manner, just stood in the same position inside. I reloaded, went down and tried again the same way. Second shot: HIT! But badly, just with one of the side prongs in the skin of the neck. I pulled it out but couldn't hold it, loosing it, loosing it (will it try to bite me?), LOST! The eel shook himself, broke the trapped skin and rushed fast as hell to the closest rock. I tried not to loose the view on him escaping: he just slipped under another rock, and there I seized him again.
Reloaded, third shot but this time from above/behind straight to the neck: GOT IT: spine cracked, feeble reaction, back home with the eel in a shopper and bruises on my belly from skin gun loading. Pity I have no pics (of the bruises).

 

[Huw]

rofl rofl

Good story spaghetti, sounds like great fun. How large was the eel? I have had those bruises before from loading so i know how it feels! I have just come across lots of free time and so i am really hoping to get into the water again soon, this year i really think i may try and find a small conger and then decide what i shall do from there. I am also having a shaft threaded so that i may attach a trident. How many prongs do you advise? I notice you said that you used a 5 pronger, but what are the advantages of that over a 3, 4 or 6?

Cheers,
Huw

P.S. shame about the photos!

 

[spaghetti]

rofl rofl

Good story spaghetti, sounds like great fun. How large was the eel? I have had those bruises before from loading so i know how it feels! I have just come across lots of free time and so i am really hoping to get into the water again soon, this year i really think i may try and find a small conger and then decide what i shall do from there. I am also having a shaft threaded so that i may attach a trident. How many prongs do you advise? I notice you said that you used a 5 pronger, but what are the advantages of that over a 3, 4 or 6?

Cheers,
Huw

P.S. shame about the photos!

Huw, I knew you were here! :t Happy to read from you :inlove
Lucky as I am, the snake just about 2 kilos or a little more: a bigger one would have certainly eaten my bare white butts (speedo pants make a curious "brazilian tanga" effect when I swim) rofl
(Seriuosly, I dont' think that aggressiveness of congers depends on the size: AFAIK, they all act like fishes, they just escape, or at worse try to bite your hands in the post-shot wrestling).
---My advise is 4 prongs: 4 is big enough to provide a good "hit and hold" capability (better than 3) and are small enough to be shot into narrow holes or cracks (rather than a larger 5 prongs). I'm using the 5 presently, but 4 is better.
---Pics: I got a digital camera as a wedding present when I got married, but it's still in the box. This is a shame on me!

 

[Huw]

Huw, I knew you were here! :t Happy to read from you :inlove
Lucky as I am, the snake just about 2 kilos or a little more: a bigger one would have certainly eaten my bare white butts (speedo pants make a curious "brazilian tanga" effect when I swim) rofl
QUOTE]

rofl rofl sounds like you certainly were lucky there spaghetti!

I also agree with your principle that agressiveness does not depend on size, since the most agressive lobster that i have ever come across was about 10cm long!!! rofl

Thanks for your help on trident size, was going to pm you with that question anyway, but seems like it is dealt with already!

Cheers,
Huw

 

[marginatus]

i'm also thinking of getting a prong (mainly for smaler fish) but for eals is it better the nylon ones or the ss ones (aren't the ss ones to heavy making the spear go down)
I could never let a toy like a camera in the box...:rcard :t
thanks for the help