Smoker time!

In the spirit of keeping the posting rolling here we go.

It has been typical spring weather here which means windy. So last weekend we went and anchored up on a pretty cool new spot we found between Rocky channel and Spanish Harbor channel. It is the pass between flats and it is full of coral heads (can’t wait to dive it!) on the map below it is that strip between the 1 foot flats. It is 10-15 feet deep, and the current really rips through there.

We caught a load of bait, anchored up, threw the chumbag out and hung out for the day. Robin (fisherman of the bunch) continued to impress with this baby Goliath grouper ..

And then followed it up with a pretty big lemon shark.

As for me, we had ballyhoo show up in the chum slick, so I spent the day popping for them with squid tipped gold hooks. I got about a dozen that we brought home for the freezer, and was trying to drown a couple for grouper/mutton. No luck there. Fun day, pretty water but no eats for the effort.

This weekend same deal with multiple fronts coming through meaning poor weather outlook. Saturday though promised to start nice so we snuck out to the reef to try and find a mutton or yellowtail. We went to the American shoal and anchored off the light in 95 foot of water just off the reef. Couldn’t believe how many boats were out there, there was a boat anchored up every couple hundred yards as far as you could see east to west.

It was absolutely dead! We caught one little shark, and an ok sized king fish. We decided that since Sunday was going to be a washout, it was time to try smoking that sucker and make fish dip.

So here we go our first try at smoking fish … i filleted it and cleaned it up nice, and into the brine process we went. Equal parts sugar and salt layers with the filets and in the fridge overnight.

We snuck in some beautiful key west pink shrimp that I could not pass up and a couple king steaks for dinner while we were at it. Yum … crazy good!

Out of the brine in the morning, wash, pat dry and onto the drying rack. It pulled the moisture out and the filets are stiff and tough feeling. Quite the change in texture.

Into the smoker they go! I have a cheap masterforge propane smoker that really does a great job. 225 for 3 hours. I used a mix of apple and hickory chips that I had laying around.

Out it comes to cool off. It has a real good smokey flavor.

Robin shredded it up nice. Mixing time – sour cream, cream cheese, celery, green peppers, onions, jalapeños, various seasonings, a little mayo, and bingo fish dip!