Salmon opine

[jamisonace]

I wouldn't say I'm totally a one dimensional fisherman. I have certain trips at specific times of year that I enjoy. Fishing the March Brown hatch on the Mckenzie, an annual tuna trip out of Newport, kokanee on Odell and bottom fish on the ocean are all on my agenda throughout the year and I never turn down an invite to go for anything else a friend want to fish for... but salmon fishing is by far my favorite. I think about this often because if fishing is all about hooking fish then it doesn't make sense. I can hook more trout, kokanee, tuna and bottom fish any day of the week. For me it's the entire experience. From preparing the baits to eating my catch, every step of the way is enjoyable. I'm meticulous about how my baits are prepared and I'm super anal about the gear I use. Not expensive gear, far from it, but all my rods, line and reels need to match. There's nothing more annoying than when people show up to fish with me and they bring rods and tackle boxes. Just bring good food to share and that's all I need. But I digress. Most of all I love preparing the fish for cooking. I've never made a perfect filet but I love trying. Cutting, trimming, removing pin bones are all very therapeutic for me. But it's the preparation of the fish to eat that keeps me coming back. I love to cook and cooking salmon I caught myself and sharing with friends brings me an incredible amount of joy.

It's fitting that fall brings such an abundance of salmon because it coincides nicely with our football parties. A number of families get together to watch our favorite college football team and it's my tradition to supply the group with enough smoked salmon for everyone. It's especially satisfying to see the kids sit around the table and eat pounds of my salmon with cream cheese and crackers. Beyond that and besides cooking salmon for my family, it's a great commodity to trade for venison and elk or canned fruits and vegetables from friend's gardens.

So as of right now I'm sitting on about 30 pounds of filets (with more to come) that will soon be turned into all sorts of things. I know it really doesn't pencil out but I like to think that its a sort of supplement to my income....I can hear you all laughing at that one.....but at least I'm offsetting fishing costs to a minimal degree.

So here are a few photos from my album titled food. Yes, I'm the guy that takes pics of things he cooks.

Here's to an abundance of hooked fish for all of us.

 

[Shaun Solomon]

Them is some pretty pictures. I take pictures of food too, it is a symptom of being a modern gastronome. I’m betting you buy roasts and cut them into steaks, probably have Grey Poupon jars full of bacon fat, duck confit in the back of the fridge, etc.

I’m glad I’m not a salmon angler. I’m not convinced there is a future in it. If I was the sort of person who prayed, I’d be praying for them. I have family in Alaska, and when I’m up there I’ll participate in angling opportunities, but I have a hard time imagining myself getting into it here, for a variety of reasons.

Cheers!

 

[jamisonace]

Unfortunately you are right to be pessimistic about our salmon runs. But I'll be enjoying them while I can.

 

[Irishrover]

Awesome post. Truly understand the concept of doing it all. Plan the trip, prepare the gear, take care of the boat, land the fish, make sure the fish is iced and well care for after the catch, then serve an outstanding meal. You captured it all ! It makes for a complete fishing experience.

 

[Shaun Solomon]

^Totally agreed. Has a strong echo of how I felt going hunting as a kid. I don’t hunt any more (fishing took over at some point) but those feelings still come up this time of year. Sounds like he is “hunting fish” to me.

I love the idea of eating clean and knowing something about where dinner came from. (I’m eating take-out Chinese as I type this, so I DO make accommodations based on convenience and expediency) but the concept resonates.

Great post for sure.

 

[NKlamerus]

All for it brother!

Haven't caught or kept a salmon here yet but it's on my list

Here's some fresh yellowfin we did while I was down south, ceviche and sesame seared

That one yellowfin and a small mahi dispersed to about 7 families, nothing better!

 

[DOKF]

I used to be in a position to regularly take clients on multi day tuna trips out of San Diego and off Baja. What a blast! And lots of prime sashimi for the freezer.

 

[NKlamerus]

I used to be in a position to regularly take clients on multi day tuna trips out of San Diego and off Baja. What a blast! And lots of prime sashimi for the freezer.

Is that a yellow AJ?

We have the "greater aj" on the east coast, good way to spend a day getting a workout for sure

Any worms in them? Our bigger ones were always loaded

We have lesser's as well, but definitely not as common

 

[Shaun Solomon]

Yellowtail. Look pretty similar to amberjack, but different critters.

Also… NKlamerus, you eat jacks? That’s a new one to me. I’m not too cool to eat any fish once, I have eaten pikeminnow, but eating jacks is uncharted territory to me.

 

[jamisonace]

All for it brother!

Haven't caught or kept a salmon here yet but it's on my list

Here's some fresh yellowfin we did while I was down south, ceviche and sesame seared

That one yellowfin and a small mahi dispersed to about 7 families, nothing better!

I wish we had more regular access to tuna in the Northwest. I love going for albacore but the window is so short and it's always weather permitting. We caught a few mahi mahi in the Bahamas about a decade ago. The resort cooked them up for us and we fed the entire restaurant (buffet). My only experience with Mahi Mahi but it was amazing.

 

[NKlamerus]

Yellowtail. Look pretty similar to amberjack, but different critters.

Also… NKlamerus, you eat jacks? That’s a new one to me. I’m not too cool to eat any fish once, I have eaten pikeminnow, but eating jacks is uncharted territory to me.

Yeah we eat greater and lesser, the go-to choice for fish tacos.

Blackened AJ, Cole slaw, chipotle mayo, and a corn tortilla. Restaurants will offer it on sandwiches as well

We don't eat crevalle jack, hardtails, pintails, or anything in that sub-species of jacks

Just the permits, amberjacks, and pompano's, which are also jack family but a different sub species I believe

We get large schools of crevalle jacks and they are definitely one of, if not the hardest fighting inshore fish down there. Good way to spool a reel if you aren't careful. Good shark bait if they are chunked

This is a little guy I caught years ago while sight fishing for redfish (red drum)

Good fight for kids, my dad would tire us out with the larger 30lb+ schools, live line a big 12" mullet or croaker with a balloon as a bobber

 

[Shaun Solomon]

I’m from the gulf coast of Texas originally. We mainly fished inshore when we fished salt, but you’d run into the usual suspects if you ran out to a rig or something. Pretty much it was kingfish or cobia we were after, when we fished offshore, but out there you never know.

That’s interesting, our family never ate them, and my mom’s side is Cajun and they ate all sorts of fish, to the point where I just assumed if they didn’t eat a fish, nobody ate that fish. We ate freshwater drum, for example, and nobody does that. But we never ate gafftops, and never ate jacks.

I feel like I missed the boat on AJs now lol

cheers man