Sea Robin Appreciation Day

 I'm back folks, and now wellll behind. For the next week or two this blog will still be stuck in summer. And one of my favorite things about summer is goofy orange fish with wings. I didn't spend as much time this summer getting rods bent by casting at sea robs as I sometimes do, but I did have a couple crazy bites. 

Sea robins get a lot of dislike, and frankly I am sick of it. More and more anglers are coming around, but I still find dead striped sea robins left on jetties and dumped on the side of the road regularly. It's disgusting and unacceptable, and as with any fish that meets a similar fate the reasons many anglers treat sea robins in such a manor are based in ignorance and silly entrenched misconceptions. Fluke anglers often hate sea robins as they are frequently the fish they catch most. Perhaps they have no idea that the fish they are releasing is every bit as good eating as the fluke they are after, and a far more sustainable fish to utilize?

Cleaning sea robins is intimidating, I can certainly confirm that. Filleting them is difficult, but well executed it does utilize enough of the meat. Perhaps a better way to do it is to basically turn the fish into a drumstick. This is the video, put out my "The Fisherman" magazine, that I used to learn how to clean sea robins: HOW TO: FILLET A SEA ROBIN.

If you like keeping and eating saltwater species and don't already eat sea robins perhaps you should! Diversifying our take and easing pressure off of over-harvested species like winter flounder, fluke, stripers, bluefish, and tautog can only benefit things. I've found that fresh sea robin bled and kept on ice tastes every bit as good as fluke, and there are certainly a lot more sea robins around. The species spawn repeatedly throughout the season, leading to their high abundance. However, responsible and conscious angler should release the very fat, large individuals. These are almost always egg filled females, and they'll bear no more meat than a male of the same length but lesser weight anyway. As with an fish holding onto a strong spawning stock is important; I'm promoting harvest not depletion. 

Another critique I hear about sea robins is that the are ugly. And, frankly, what!? That's just dumb. Look at these things. Look at the colors, look at their wings! Look at those cool little legs! I'll never understand the beauty standards anglers hold for fish. I think sea robins are one of the wildest, prettiest, coolest looking fish we have around here!

We should all learn to be a bit more appreciative of the fish species that aren't popular. Man of them fight hard, some of them taste good, some of them are just really really cool. All fish are important both as species and as individuals when present within their native range, and it's about time more anglers learned to know and respect ALL of the species the catch. 

Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, C, Franky, Geof, Luke, Streamer Swinger, and Noah for making Connecticut Fly Angler possible. If you want to support this blog, look for the Patreon link at the top of the right side-bar in web version.