Octopus bait question
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: The Briny Bar
Forum Description: The place for general chat on saltwater fishing!
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12513
Printed Date: 23 Jun 2026 at 10:22pm
Topic: Octopus bait question
Posted By: 3rnzir
Subject: Octopus bait question
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2006 at 2:52pm
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What`s the best way to skin an octopus? Cheerz ------------- Peace.Via superior firepower.. |
Replies:
Posted By: Major
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2006 at 2:54pm
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Drag it along behind your car for 500 meters. Softens it up and makes it easier to peel the skin off. ------------- One of the ORIGINALS |
Posted By: KeenAs
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2006 at 3:07pm
| Bit gritty . . . but it works! Major . . . wheres that photo mate? |
Posted By: scotch mist
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2006 at 4:06pm
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portion octi in to day size bags.ziplock and freeze. do the skinning while the pieces are thawing. best done while still almost frozen!!nick your wifes sharpest knive for this. fish only bite on the white. dale ------------- EARTH FIRST we,ll fish another planet later! |
Posted By: 3rnzir
Date Posted: 18 Jan 2006 at 5:57pm
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Does rubbing the skin of the octi with salt help? ------------- Peace.Via superior firepower.. |
Posted By: tobez
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2006 at 8:09am
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hang it up and skin it like a sheep...small white bits as dale says ------------- Waikato North Harbourmaster...Got a Nav Safety question for the Waikato region?...call me 021705642 or download the app Marine Mate! |
Posted By: Akinghi
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2006 at 9:47pm
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I know someone who used burn't octopus for bait and caught a very large snapper ( 25 lb's ) . They burnt it on a open fire ( threw it on a piece of corragated iron ) . Must have released some natural oils i guess |
Posted By: smudge
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2006 at 10:26pm
| Gidday 3thingy, where you been hiding? Have tried heaps of times ... well ok 2 or 3 times to turn the things inside I dunno how to do that either. |
Posted By: Keith C
Date Posted: 19 Jan 2006 at 11:00pm
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Depends on where you are and what you intend doing with the octopus. At beach, cut legs off head and rub with sea sand. Takes off tentacles and skin. If you want to eat as opposed to use as bait, wash well to remove sand. If you want to tenderise, hold by head and beat against rocks before skinning. You may look like an idiot flogging with a dead octopus, but the result is good. At home, blanche in boiling water. When pink, tentacles and skin peel off easily. Keith |
Posted By: tobez
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2006 at 6:38am
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akingithingy...we use it for bait on the long line as often as we could, 60% of the time we got nothing but the fish we did get were solid indeed, alot of terakihi, gurnard and snot eels also but a bait the little pickers couldnt get off... ------------- Waikato North Harbourmaster...Got a Nav Safety question for the Waikato region?...call me 021705642 or download the app Marine Mate! |
Posted By: 3rnzir
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2006 at 7:59am
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Thanx guyz.KC,intend using the octi for bait at the Snapper Classic.Read that alot of the non target fish in this comp tend to leave the octi alone.Many winners of the comp have used octi over the years.As mentioned above,not so many fish,but bigger ones when it happpens.Who knows?I`ll give it a crack anyways.Good luck during the Shark Hunt Smudge.That`s a boomer comp Counties runs.Will try that blanching advice KC for eating octi.Have eating octi before,and enjoyed it.May have been baby octi though.How can one catch baby octi?Saw a docco about fishermen in the Med.They went out each evening and laid smallish clay pots on a rope on the sandy seabed.Next morning,most of the pots were occupied by octi.The octi are nocturnal mostly in this area,and inhabit the pots as a new home.Clever eh. Cheerz ------------- Peace.Via superior firepower.. |
Posted By: Jaapie
Date Posted: 20 Jan 2006 at 1:14pm
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Keith is spot on what he said. We have always thrashed the thing against the rocks as this both tenderises and cleans the skin off. Good Portugese mates used to zing it in a pressure cooker for a few minutes to tenderise the octopus and the pressure inside made it a cinch to get the skin off. Prepare the octopus with a tomato based sauce and peri-peri. It's the closest one came come to heaven. |
Posted By: Mr.zip
Date Posted: 25 Apr 2025 at 2:07pm
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Here in Alaska, when get great pacific octopus, up to 150 pounds. tough as shoe leather and they have a lot of iodine in them.. The best thing we have come up with to soften them up is a pressure cooker for one hour and fifteen minutes and then boil them in rock salt water for another 30 minutes they cut like butter and it removes the high concentrates of Iodine. Same for the giant squid we get too much iodine you can't eat them, what a waste it makes your mouth water to see them, but they are simply too iodined to eat. Pressure cooker does away with the pounding the poor beasts on a large rock on the beach and stops one from looking like a fool doing it. |
Posted By: Mc Tool
Date Posted: 26 Apr 2025 at 8:48am
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Why do you have to skin them for bait? Has anyone tried a few seconds in the microwave to tenderise them for the table , works good for Paua . ------------- I wish I was young again .... Id be heaps smarter than this time |
Posted By: Fish Addict
Date Posted: 26 Apr 2025 at 5:32pm
| Mc Tool - if you don't remove the skin the occy bait just bloats and swells up. Remove the skin, leave the tentacles. |
Posted By: Mc Tool
Date Posted: 26 Apr 2025 at 6:16pm
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Cool , thanks Fish Addict , learn something every day. I have never used occy for bait , seen it frozen in the shops tho, wouldnt mind eating one either , actually I have a list of critters Id like to eat. There is something appealing about chewin down on something with way more teeth than me that would kick my arse if it wasnt already dead when I found it 😆. ------------- I wish I was young again .... Id be heaps smarter than this time |
Posted By: Pcj
Date Posted: 26 Apr 2025 at 6:22pm
------------- "Times up" |
Mc Tool wrote:Posted By: Fish Addict
Date Posted: 26 Apr 2025 at 7:08pm
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In my part of the world pickling occy is popular among those who catch fresh occy. Here is a cut a paste, how to, from my local fishing site. The author is a guy who would have caught more occy than most. Smash the crap out of them (throw on pavers). Boil
hard for hour in a 50/50 mix of white malt vinegar and water. Turn off let them sit for an hour in boil mix. While waiting make
your pickle jars up. I use spicey malt vinegar or white malt vinegar once
again 50/50. Fat free French dressing, salt and pepper garlic. I also like to
add chilly and Cajun spice. Taste your mix if happy gently lift occy out of pot.
It will fall to bits. I have water on tap gentle flow. In between fingers I
gently run occy legs down to remove suckers and skin. Then you can use bread
and butter knife to cut into bite size chunks and put in jars. Comes out really tender and can be eaten instantly. Italians like to freeze to make muscles
break down (I like fresh) paver idea. If done this way you can also batter legs
and drop in deep fryer once you have removed skin and suckers. That is really
nice, crispy on outside tender on inside. Done it this way for over 30 years
never fails. |
Posted By: Mc Tool
Date Posted: 26 Apr 2025 at 7:17pm
Oh yeah ,the Scottish ,nothing would surprise me ....I mean Haggis ?? ffs. My Mother and three Grandparents were/are Scottish ,but Im not ,nah , just because Im Hamish and born on Burns day dont mean nothin 😆 ------------- I wish I was young again .... Id be heaps smarter than this time |