"William Wixon" wrote in message
news

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...



As for me, I'm getting ready to go surf fishing on the beach. 'Wish you
were
here...g


I don't like fishing. I prefer time in the shop to drowning bait.

Too bad. The blues were churning up the surf this morning. Unfortunately,
they were churning it up just out of casting range. g But I did get one
straggler, around 6 pounds. Nice fish. His mortal coil has come to a
conclusion and he will be barbecued tonight.

It's too nice to stay indoors.

--
Ed Huntress



your post made an impression on me. i detest fishing but it would be fun
to go and actually CATCH a fish.

Blues are great fun. When a school is feeding -- and they are *always*
feeding -- the action can be wild and wooly.


friend posted this link to another group.

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.ph...u=QBMRj&ref=nf

she posted a pic of her brother's toe, got bit bad.
i think that's his response in the "responses" area.

Ouch. As those people say, bluefish are like piranhas when they're in a
frenzy. I've been fishing for them since I was about six years old, and I've
heard some tough old commercial fishermen say they would not want to fall
into a school of them when they've been chummed up into a fever pitch.
Seriously, you might not come out alive.

Lifeguards will tell you that here on the mid-Atlantic coast, most cases of
"shark" bite in the surf actually are bluefish bites.


aren't bluefish strong tasting?

A very good question. I happen to be writing an article about that.

Let's distinguish "rich" tasting fish -- tuna, swordfish, mackerel, wahoo,
bluefish -- from stinky fish -- anything old, and a badly handled bluefish.
Bluefish has a rich flavor but it also has a strange physiology, with one of
the most active digestive systems of any vertebrate. Five minutes after they
die, they start to digest their own flesh. Within an hour it's unfit to eat.
That's the stinking mess that most shore people think of when they think
about eating bluefish.

But handled right, they are excellent eating. (I hear that piranhas are,
too. g) You have to gut them within five minutes of their demise, and
pack the cavity with ice. Then pack the whole fish in ice. If you're after
blues and you intend to keep one or two to eat, have a cooler handy, full of
shaved or cracked ice, and a sharp knife for gutting. If you get the guts on
the painted part of a boat, wash it off immediately, or it will strip the
paint. No kidding.

If you can't eat them within 24 hours, freeze them. If you freeze them, they
lose their taste and they're good for nothing but fish cakes or chowder. If
you get them fresh, broil with something acid: tomato sauce, lemon juice,
tarragon vinegar, or, my favorite, barbeque sauce. If you really love fish,
as I do, you don't need any of that stuff. Just broil them or cook them on a
grill. They have plenty of fat, so there's no need to add oil or butter.

...when you barbecue them do you blacken the skin?

First off, you have to remove the skin, unless you *really* like strong fish
flavor. (I actually like it, but most people don't.) The red lateral streak
and the fat are all right under the skin, and I remove both before cooking
them for other people. To hold the fish together on a charcoal grill,
without the skin, I use a wire fish basket.

But I do blacken them just a bit when I grill them over charcoal. I like
that flavor. The key, though, is to have a really fresh blue that was
handled right. If you have to buy them in a fish market, they are never
handled right. And they're likely to stink when you cook them. You have to
catch them yourself, or hang out around people who are catching them. You'll
be surprised -- most people are glad to give one or two of them up to
someone who wants them. If they know blues, they know that they can't freeze
them, anyway, if they want the best flavor.

--
Ed Huntress