I guess the definition of panfish is any fish that can fit in a standard size frying pan. Being a fat southern guy, my favorite way to cook fish is to deep fry them with panko crumbs. I like to dip my filets in scrambled eggs and then dip them in the panko breadcrumbs and fry them. My second favorite way to cook fish is in an old iron skillet with garlic, butter and Key lime. Below are the panfish of the Florida Keys that I prefer to eat.
- Hogfish: A lot of people call them hog snapper, but they re not even a member of the snapper family. Only recently have we figured out how to consistently catch hogfish on a hook and line; in the past, hogfish were mainly harvested by spear.
- Mangrove snapper: Also called gray snapper. We catch them a lot in shallow water using live shrimp or cut ballyhoo on a jig head. They re open year-round.
- Yellowtail snapper: Very plentiful year-round at the reef. About 95% of the time we catch yellowtail using the flat line method of letting the line out and making your bait resemble a piece of chum floating out of your chum bag and into the chum line.
- Blackbelly rosefish: When we bring these fish up from over 1,000 feet deep with our electric reels, people automatically wonder why we call these fish blackbelly rosies. They are as red as red snapper on the outside. It s only when we go to clean them and people see their jet-black interior bellies that they realize how the fish got its name.
- Queen snapper: A deep-water fish caught in around 1,000 feet of water on electric reels. The smaller keeper size would be considered a panfish. We have caught several that were too big to be considered panfish.
- Blueline tilefish: We catch them with electric reels at around 650 feet. We typically bring up three or four at a time.
- Porgy: Very prevalent around bridges and ledges. The owner of Castaway Restaurant, John Mirabella, told me he would rather eat a porgy than any other panfish available.
- Sheepshead: I m hesitant to even call this fish a Florida Keys species because we catch so few of them in our crystal-clear water. However, when we do catch them, they always make it to the dinner table. Not to be mistaken for a freshwater trash fish up in northern waters called a sheephead.
- Flounder: Rare to catch in the Keys, but we do occasionally catch them. Normally, when we do catch one down here, it s a fat doormat.
- Schoolmaster snapper: We catch these on concrete bridges, pylons and concrete dock pylons. There s something about concrete that these fish are attracted to.
The limits and seasons vary on all the fish mentioned here, but other than being awesome-tasting fish, they have something else in common: When hooked, they are a great fight, and fish most clients can t catch every day anywhere. Here in the Keys we are blessed with a large quantity and large variety of tasty fish. It may be the number one quality that keeps anglers from all around the world flocking to us year-round.To book a charter with Ana Banana, call or text Capt. Joel at 813-267-4401 or Capt. Jojo at 305-879-0564, or visitanabananafishing.com.
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