This is my post for #freewriters 2667 prompt not to scale hosted by @mariannewest
When you clean a mullet you have to decide if you want it scaled or not to scale it. I grew up eating them scaled and with the skin on, also Dad did not believe in wasting food by cutting the bones out. At a young age, we learned to pick around the bones and if you accidentally swallowed one and it got stuck in your throat you ate a piece of bread and somehow the bread grabbed the bone and you can swallow the bread with the bone.
When our kids were home my husband would not scale the fish, he took the skin off with the scales and then deboned the fish, he still does this.
Sailcats are the only saltwater catfish you want to eat, the other catfish we call turd cats, you could eat if you pleased. But sailcats have a white meat that does not taste fishy, the only problem is they are a pain to clean, and you have to skin them.
To the naked eye, it does not look like Kingfish have any scales but they do, they are so small that they are hard to see, but they come off fairly easy with a scrape from the knife.
Jacks are the same as kingfish, but we take the skin from the jacks. Small jacks like these have a white meat but as they grow the meat gets darker and if you want to eat one you should bleed it as soon as you take it from the hook.
Snook is the one fish that you have to remove the skin, it is not to scale.
For many years people would not eat a snook, they said it tasted soapy. Then one day someone took the skin off and fried it, as it turned out, it is one of the best tasting fish in the river.
photos are mine