People catch them mostly for liver and eggs. Back meat and belly skin is also cooked.
My preferred bait is a whitefish stomach on a j hook. Tied tightly with some flagging tape for color and a rubber piece to prevent the bait from sliding off too easily. Used to bait 5 hooks before heading out to keep the bait fresh.

I've only ate the backstraps, and tail meat which is noteablely stronger flavored , boiled for one minute, then then criped up in on the oven broiler on tinfoil, and dipped in melted butter. It's awesome.

We've Been vertical night jigging with glow spoons tipped with smelt.