Wahoo is a premium white fish that's incredible raw, especially in ceviche, and it also grills up amazingly well like tuna does. Probably one of the funnest fish to catch as well.
anyway - this is regional, but the best in the Bay is rockfish (which is different from west coast rockfish and I think technically a striped bass)
This is an impossible question. Depends on so many things. I'll just add one that hasnt been mentioned Mahi-Mahi. Also for you elites living the Costco life - the smoked whitefish spread is incredible. Perfect for an indulgent bagel or as a dip
Disagree. I like Striped Bass and caught/ate loads of it growing up, but I think Tautog and Sheepshead are superior Chesapeake Bay fish
tuna/salmon for something pretty much always available. Fresh Pompano is god tier and my no doubt favorite. Fresh RIVER CAUGHT channel catfish is great. About the only fish I have had and didn't somewhat like was king/Spanish Mackerel. Nope don't want anymore of that.
I agree with a lot of tylerdolphin 's list but unagi and oysters would be closer to my elite tier than my trash tier (even though oysters are literal filtration vessels). Otoro Turbot Sole Chutoro Lupe de Mer Monkfish buri (young amberjack) Those would be some of my elite tier but I'm still not hesitating to eat some fried catfish at any point in life.
Yeah, unpopular opinion for sure. Honestly I only tried oysters once and that once wasn't for me...but I should probably give them another shot done a different way or something. Probably would have by now but I really only get a chance to try them if I'm in the US somewhere
This would be one of the easiest "guess which poster said this" in a blind test You or the guy that posted crazy designer shoes for warehouse jobs
To me, elite crustaceans/bivalves/shellfish are right up there with elite fish, to me. Clams and mussels in a really good green curry is so elite.
Voted seabass because every time I get it, I really enjoy it. We made some ourselves for NYE one year and it turned out really well.
OP's edit of the thread title makes me extra relieved I didn't tag user fish in here in the first few posts like I was planning on
Louisiana then Ole Miss so both - I thought you were just going the pretentious list factor but yea I guess the oyster and catfish defense makes it pretty obvious.
Raw oysters > cooked oysters For me the magic is in the fresh minerally taste and you lose some of that in the cooking process. Oyster Rockefeller is fucking delicious though, too.
Was about to get pissed if that or pompano wasn't mentioned. Also, to summarize... 1) Nug is great, but implying we can pick one is shit and he should feel bad. 2) Top-tier tuna is really hard to beat, not sure why (sorry posted who said this) 2a) should be more halibut votes 3) With all due respect to the board's top naturalist/biologist Owsley , if you have to fry a fish to make it not taste like shit, it's not the best tasting fish. Good fried catfish is great (but even Top of the River is slipping lately WTF) 4) You could erase sigs/fans of/posting history/avatars and tell which part of the country people are from by this thread, which slightly redeems 1)
In fairness, Tuna would be leader in the clubhouse if he didn't give it two categories Edit: I thought the last category was otoro not otro smh
Maryland blue crab is my favorite overall. Whole crabs, crab cakes, crab meat pasta dishes, basically any way you want to prepare it.
I feel like shellfish doesn't count here. Has to be fin fish vs crustaceans. But a real lump crab cake with no filler is elite.
Of all seafood, oysters are my number one. Made some West Indies salad for some west coast liberal hippie elites and it was gone within 30 minutes. Nobody could believe how good it was for being so simple.
Salmon and most fin fish are pretty highly affected by worms, too. Unless you're eating amberjack ceviche, it's not an issue. And even then, stomach acid or some shots of your favorite booze will take care of that.