B
bahiatrader
Guest
I’ve had a lot of people tell me they didn’t like to eat fish. I would venture to guess that is because the fish had begun to spoil or it was freezer burnt. I don’t like either one myself.
The “fishy” smell or taste is actually from decaying fish. Fish begins to decay quickly as the meat temperature rises. A 25 lb. bag of ice to throw in your fish cooler is a cheap, worthwhile investment. Hanging the fish over the side slows the decay down but is kind of a problem if you’re under way in the boat. Putting the fish in a bucket of the ambient water is a solution or putting water in the cooler is another option. Just throwing the fish in the cooler keeps it out of the sun and is better than just laying it out on the deck.
Freezer burn is another problem. I’ve frozen fish immersed in water which helps. Vacuum packing is the best option. Vacuum packed frozen fish is hard to tell from freshly caught. Food saver vacuum packers are relatively inexpensive.
Some people don’t like the small bones which is why we fillet fish. If you go out on a charter, or use a guide. The capitano or a crew member will usually be happy to fillet your fish for you. I think a gratuity or tip is warranted here. There's also usually guys that hang around launch areas that willo fillet your fish for a nominal price. If that's not possible it's pretty easy once you learn how. Here are a couple of pretty good videos that show how to fillet a fish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzTFBQ07s3o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE_ZN1mHKvo
I have a 6” and an 8” Rapala I like pretty well for filleting. They take a good edge and stay sharp. My cousin and I made over 100 lb. of fillets one evening for a big family fiesta and maybe only resharpened our knves once. You can get rid if the rib bones by slicing the rib cage off close to the bone. You can also scrape your knife across the cut end of the bones and pull them out with needle nose pliers or a tweezer. If you don’t want to waste the fish that is left on the bones, there are options for that also. You can use the bony left over part of the fish to make chowder or Buillibase is an option or you can just throw it in a pot of boiling water until the meat falls off of the bones. You can fish out the bones and have a pretty good fish stock for cooking with.
I hope my little treatise makes your fishing experience a more enjoyable one.
The “fishy” smell or taste is actually from decaying fish. Fish begins to decay quickly as the meat temperature rises. A 25 lb. bag of ice to throw in your fish cooler is a cheap, worthwhile investment. Hanging the fish over the side slows the decay down but is kind of a problem if you’re under way in the boat. Putting the fish in a bucket of the ambient water is a solution or putting water in the cooler is another option. Just throwing the fish in the cooler keeps it out of the sun and is better than just laying it out on the deck.
Freezer burn is another problem. I’ve frozen fish immersed in water which helps. Vacuum packing is the best option. Vacuum packed frozen fish is hard to tell from freshly caught. Food saver vacuum packers are relatively inexpensive.
Some people don’t like the small bones which is why we fillet fish. If you go out on a charter, or use a guide. The capitano or a crew member will usually be happy to fillet your fish for you. I think a gratuity or tip is warranted here. There's also usually guys that hang around launch areas that willo fillet your fish for a nominal price. If that's not possible it's pretty easy once you learn how. Here are a couple of pretty good videos that show how to fillet a fish:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzTFBQ07s3o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE_ZN1mHKvo
I have a 6” and an 8” Rapala I like pretty well for filleting. They take a good edge and stay sharp. My cousin and I made over 100 lb. of fillets one evening for a big family fiesta and maybe only resharpened our knves once. You can get rid if the rib bones by slicing the rib cage off close to the bone. You can also scrape your knife across the cut end of the bones and pull them out with needle nose pliers or a tweezer. If you don’t want to waste the fish that is left on the bones, there are options for that also. You can use the bony left over part of the fish to make chowder or Buillibase is an option or you can just throw it in a pot of boiling water until the meat falls off of the bones. You can fish out the bones and have a pretty good fish stock for cooking with.
I hope my little treatise makes your fishing experience a more enjoyable one.
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