Are Hard Heads Edible?

It seems that Hardheads are easy to catch! But i never hear of any people eat them. Any of you eat them? What if they are big?

If my dog won't eat something, it's gotta be off the chart nasty, and she won't eat hardhead.

I read, in a species I.D. book, from TP&W, that they are good to eat. They said that people usually don't eat them because they're small. I caught a 3lb. one, so I tried it. Tasted just like any other catfish.
On another note; Stingray is good also. Just fillet the wings.

I've tried them twice. First and last.

Go ahead and catch you a bucketful and report back.

"Edible" depends on how hungry you are generally. Have been told that they cook up just fine, but I haven't been hungry enough to find out for myself.

3 lb hardhead is a big one

you can catch them at the fish cleaning station at goose island state park, big ones.


I don't eat them but I know some guys do. Apparently the smaller ones make good bait for bull reds and tarpon

I have heard of people eating Gafftop and they can get in the 3 lb range...not for me though

Gafftops are reputed to be good table fare. Hardheads are not. I know that some people do eat them, but I, sadly -- or gladly, depending on one's outlook -- am not a member of that fraternity. And I hate it when they slime my flies.

I've had gafftop. It's not bad, but nothing to get excited over (but I certainly won't turn my nose up at them!)

I'm just not hungry enough to drop a snot rocket in my cooler.

I really like gafftop. If they are fresh, they taste just like any catfish. Hardheads, I wouldn't know. Never tried em.

I've had guys take gafftops and hardheads from me when they saw me catch them. I've never tried either.

Gaftop eat fine they fry a lot better than redfish does. Never eaten hardheads, but talked to people who have and say there is no difference.

I have eaten bullheads out of fresh water and despite the similar reputation they have to hardheads, they ate fine. I think the majority of it is just a stigma people have. If they were well prepared and people didn't know what it was I bet a lot of people would like them.

I have heard they have more slime than a Blue cat. People won't put them in their boat because of it.
Never ate one but I would try it.

The world record hardhead is 3 lbs. 5 oz. You sure you didn't catch a gafftopsail?

Have caught them bigger I believe. I would bet not too many people catch a big old hardhead and think to run to the record books, too busy cussing because what they thought may have been a trout red or flounder turned out to be a hardhead.

I used to eat Gafftops a lot, but the Wife doesn't like them, so I abstain, they are good eating IMO. Hardheads aren't bad if you clean them and get the mud line and dark meat / fat off of them. Soak them for a minimum of an hour in milk, or better yet buttermilk, and they taste like catfish. Most hardheads that I catch are smaller and are too much work for the amount of meat I get out of them, so I don't mess around with them much.

Hardheads and gafftops are good to eat. It just depends on if you know how to cook or not.

You come across like an experience cook of both...tell us.

Same here.

I've heard you can use them for bait???? is it foreal???

A ling will scarf a hardhead down in a flash. I don't know anything else that gets after them that fast.

You can catch sharks on hardheads as well.

i don't eat hardheads, but i also hear people say they wouldn't eat a croaker. the speckled seatrout is in the croaker family, so you may be eating croaker and claim you don't. as for gafftop, they are very slimmy, but after you cut out the red meat like you do on a redfish they are very good eating.

Tarpon like 'em too.

What's a hardhead? You talking about Gaff tops?

Not the same fish. Sane people catch gaff tops
Hardheads are nasty little catfish with poison in their fins. I still have knots in my fingers from the little buggers stabbing me when I was eight years old.

Eat all you want but if a Seadrift crabber won't use them in their traps I don't want to mess with it.

Gaff top are good to eat!!! It makes for a great gumbo.
Listen to me and trust me.

A HARDHEAD is like eating a mud cat......Makes for great sushi once the bottle of Jack is half gone

As a kid I ate them down in Louisiana. Made into a fish stew. Don't remember liking it much. They would eat anything down there though. We use to catch choupique in the ditches and sell them to people for fifty cents. I tend to shy away from Gaftop as well. Just too much slime. Someone mentioned Croaker though. Give me some nice golden croakers over a speck any day of the week. Cut the head off and scale them. Fry them whole. that's some good eating.

Old timer I knew told me to take a small hardhead,cut its side fins off with pliers and drop it to the bottom

It would crawl on the bottom grunting and a big red will snatch it up quick

But how would you hook them whole or slice them up???

I would stick to Reds or flounder.. Just ask yourself, Would you eat snot and dirt?? Then you will find your answer..

did you know that in your name if you switch some letters you can spell gaff top. watch the transformation!!
Pat Goff
Gaff top

Oh jeesh...
Now that's funny, especially anyone that knows me and what a fit I raise to keep a snot rocket off my scooter.

Who'd have thought we'd get this much mileage out of a thread about eating hardheads................

We should start bowfshing for them......

Now thats a good idea!!

You can also use hard-head for shark-bait Ive heard

Ask Mikey he likes everything.

You'd have to be Robin Hood to harpoon a Hardhead.

I was flounder gigging one time and saw a hardhead before he saw me and i gigged him real quick!

You would be surprised how many we would kill

it would be a good way to get rid of the nasty suckers

If im stranded on an Island and im starving to death then they MAY be edible. Other than that... I will stick to my trout, flounder, etc..

you could eat anything but i would go after tastier species

You can also use hard-head for shark-bait Ive heard- Shark bait? cut off the fins and barbs and then drop em in the ocean?

Leave the fins on. Sharks eat stingrays. They ain't skeered of a catfish.

it would be a good way to get rid of the nasty suckers# I have seen people deliberately kill hard heads on purpose. Is this good practice? if we keep throwing them back then they will be the only fish left in the ocean?

hardheads are a PITA but I'm sure just another food source/clean up fish like pinfish and piggy perch

Everything serves a purpose. Hardheads have a reason for being here.
Mosquitoes, on the other hand...............................

If I ever get to the point where I have to eat hardheads I'm taking up golf.

i've eaten hardhead court buillion and it was great. didn't know what it was till after eating it. decent meat, just a pita to clean and very little meat for your effort.

Leave the fins on. Sharks eat stingrays. They ain't skeered of a catfish.** The shark may not be skeered but I am scared of getting a barb stuck in my belly on my way to drop the hardhead for shark bait! I wonder if they live along time on the hook with their barbs cut.

Never tried them

What i do to make them fried roll the filets in spicey or regular mustard then put the corn meal or other seasoning you use on them and fry them up.

Shark dont eat them if that tells you anything. Yes Ive tried.

Years ago I brought some home for fertilizer in the flower beds. One of the neighborhood cats dug one up and chewed on it for a minute, then committed suicide.

That was funny.

First rule for eating a hardhead is to catch it and get it home without anyone else seeing you. Kind of like a slow duck hunting morning in East Texas that I had years ago when I decided to shoot 7 or 8 coots for gumbo (they are really good that way). On the way in I saw the warden checking hunters at the ramp. So,I piled my decoy bags on top of the coots, pulled in, and started loading up. I thought I was getting away when he finally walked over. "Get any ducks?" he asked. I truthfully answered "No." But he walked over to the boat, moved the decoy bags, saw the coots, turned and walked away. I heard him mumble "Oh my god."

funny

My dad told me one time that he went to a bar that was frying fish and serving their customers. He went out back and said it was all hardheads. Said people were going around bragging about how great the fish was. Guess maybe soaking yourself in whiskey for a couple hours would help.

Booze generally makes everything better.

True fact

I have always tossed hard heads back Why because dad said too. .

Tastes like catfish, if you cut the red meat off, it tastes great.

Do hardheads make good crab bait?

The crabbers in seadrift won't use them.

Wow even a crab wont eat hardheads? I know they are dangerous to mess with because of the spines and may not be worth the risk but surely if presented itself a crab will gnaw on a hardhead?

Just wanted to say that I caught lots of hard heads on my last fishing trip.

So,
We get you caught them, did you fillet them up and give it a go?

Buncha "Hard Heads" on this forum...

I did try some fried up. Not too bad but not delicious. They are good depending on how hungry you are and considering they are the only thing I caught that day... I think I am going to stick to freshwater fishing.

That's really too bad, but not the first person to go that route.
When you throw the bait bucket away, and fish in the bay like you fish for bass in the lake, it gets way more interesting, and you won't be bothered with stuff you don't want to be bothered with.

If you are basing your decision to stick to freshwater based on eating hardheads, I don't blame you, hardheads are awful. But, IMHO, trout reds, & flounder are better than any freshwater species, and more fun to catch. Although crappie & catfish is pretty good tablefare.

Tried it once.... ehh, but will try again if I cook it to be sure. Didn't like how it was prepared.

Snot rocket... That's just too funny. Ha! Never considerred it though.

Cajuns could make one taste Good with enough Seasoning , as for everybody else , throw it back and don't touch it . Snot fish !!