Open Day Rockfish Season Report

[Captmikestarrett]

What a nice day with cloudy skies and an extra 1/2 foot of high tide. It was slow start with a fish in the first two minutes. Yea a slow start right? It was the port rear side that had the hot sticks today. Gary served us some awesome smoked catfish. We joked and poked fun at each other all day. You had to have a thick skin to hang with this crew. Man what a blast... Limited out on our last couple of baits.
The picture shows some of the fish but we also got 5 YP and dozen more crappie.



Capt Mike

[keithdog]

Nice catch! I've never heard of smoking catfish before. Not a cat fish fan for the table myself, but I'd like to try it smoked.

[Captmikestarrett]

1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbs creole seasoning
1 cup water

Brine for 4 hours then pat dry and let sit for 2 hours on a rack to dry out and form a pellicle. This allows the smoke to attach to the fish.
I used cherry pellets as opposed to cherry wood. This was suggested to me by Eric, owner of Mason Dixon BBQ. I found these pellets to burn more evenly and not create a bitter taste. I set the smoker to 200 degrees and smoked them for three hours.

They are awesome.

Capt Mike

[keithdog]

Originally Posted by Captmikestarrett

1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbs creole seasoning
1 cup water

Brine for 4 hours then pat dry and let sit for 2 hours on a rack to dry out and form a pellicle. This allows the smoke to attach to the fish.
I used cherry pellets as opposed to cherry wood. This was suggested to me by Eric, owner of Mason Dixon BBQ. I found these pellets to burn more evenly and not create a bitter taste. I set the smoker to 200 degrees and smoked them for three hours.

They are awesome.

Capt Mike

Thank you!