New Hampshire Lake Fish for Breakfast, Lunch Or Dinner

Got Fish License and Rules?

https://www.eregulations.com/newhampshire/fishing/freshwater

Yup! Lets go catch a New Hampshire Lakes Region bred fish or two and cook em’ up.

There are fish species that make great table fare besides trout and salmon. And some fish species you never heard of or perhaps mistaken for another. I put a night-crawler on a hook and cast it 20 feet from shore. In just seconds, I caught a few tiny yellow perch and recasted in the same spot. And my rod bent sharply. The 12 inch fish fought mightily but I pulled it to shore. Oh, I saw that it was a warm water species that is plentiful in New Hampshire lakes and rivers.

Some call it a sucker or whitefish but it is really a giant minnow called a “Fallfish” Genus Species Semotilus corporalis. And it is very edible but not a sought after target species.

You wont find it listed in the NH Freshwater Guide. 


 

It is a minnow that can grow to 20 inches! Good fighter too! As table fare goes, it is very edible but by many, not considered a target species. I caught several  in the Androscoggin river as a boy.

I had fun wrangling this fish!

So what… if its not high on the “elite” fish list.

I filleted these and removed the scaly skin and pan fried coated with flour salt/pepper/garlic. Today with folks smoking meats/ fish on grills, like my Traeger, with seafood rubs, this fish is a keeper by those who know how to chef/cook in the wild.

Another recipe is to make Fish Cakes with this fish or with Yellow Perch. And I did…

The meat of perch is delicious and holds together well. I chose to make fish cakes. I sauteed the fish in a shallow pan and mashed the cooked fillets with mashed potato, salt/pepper/herbs/garlic. I mixed in a raw egg and bread crumbs. I made fish cakes and added more fine bread crumbs and parsley to coat and fried to a golden crust. I created a remoulade sauce as a condiment but ketchup works too.  Wow!

In the future, I intend to smoke some of these fish too.

Delicious!

Good Fishing!

 

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Boats, Dogs, Hunting, Fishing: Busy Spring

Honestly, I am trying to find a larger boat but in the wake of COVID, used boat sales have gone bananas.  Why a larger boat like 21 feet? Can you say family and grandkids! And deep sea fishing. Haddock will be biting and soon stripers will be here. We are looking at a used 2007 Key West 216 Center Console boat at the moment, and in the buying process.

 

At the same time my Labrador retriever, Bella, and I have begun retriever training. Yes me too!

And I am the home improvement contractor for my house. New furnace and bath shower, rebuilding porch rails. New fence in back yard soon. I am a busy guy! But there is time for Turkey hunting too if I plan well. Life is tough but, hey, someone has to do it!!

See you out there!

Be Safe!

 

Bought another Boat

In case you are wondering why I have not written any articles in the past few weeks is because I have purchased a used boat, shown above. It is a 2012 Sea-Fox 16 ft with a 2012 50hp 4 stroke Mercury. I bought it for lakes and coastal ocean fishing and pleasure. I have had a 25 ft Tiara Pursuit previously and it was too much for me to handle alone.

Recently we put in at Cashmans Park in Newburyport and fished for mackerel as bait and striper fished near the mouth of the river.  I caught a small striper and tossed him back. The 50 horse is adequate and gas friendly. I hope to do more with family and get them away from phones and electronic gadgets and x-boxes. The boat came with a hummingbird GPS and fish/depth finder but did not come with the coastal chip card for the GPS part so I ordered the chip at a cost of $125 dollars. In the Merrimack River and for coastal excursions it is essential!  On return to my home we wash it down with fresh water and run the motor with a fresh water hose. More later…

 

 

Family Trip To Newfoundland-Cod Fish Abound

Come ere till I tells ya, eh, say some of those salty folk. Newfoundlander’s are inventive and resilient and on the ball 24 seven. Some of you perhaps think that Newfoundland being so far north that they are behind the times. In fact, Newfoundland is far ahead of the world of electronics and power grids, and Infrastructure, and even housing. The highways are cared for like no other as it is how Newfoundland gets its food and goods from town to town perhaps 50 to 150 kilometers apart. In addition they love to travel abroad and to the USA for a change of weather and scenery. The cost of living in Newfoundland is higher, I believe than in the states in general.  But the locals fish and hunt and garden to add to the larder at a lower cost. Especially cod fishing…

On the cod fishery, it was decades ago that Newfoundland found its cod fish rapidly disappearing, due in large part to over-fishing. Cod numbers plunged! The Canadian Government literally shut down cod fishing for years to allow for recovery. Science based research and action was extremely painful for every household as cod was a staple food source. But Newfoundlander’s are resilient and so are the cod fish!

Today cod fish in Newfoundland abound. My wife Susan and I and I travel each year to a family owned cottage along Bonavista Bay. We flew out of Boston on Air Canada and all was terrific. We only stayed a week. Too short for sure. We landed in St. John’s and as always we stop at the nearby Quidi Vidi Brewery there in Quidi Vidi Village and buy our Iceberg Beer made with water from 20,000 year old Iceberg’s that float out at sea.

On the family property this year, we dedicated time to scrape and paint along with our vacation. The weather can do a number to rot exposed wood. Newfoundland is a paint rich environment!

Below a view from the porch. 

It is a steep walk down to the beach in front of the house as wife Sue demonstrates.

Over the past 3 years we have been to the cottage and cod fished on legal weekends. We are allowed 5 fish per person per day or 15 fish per boat. In all three years we fished less than an hour and caught our limit each time in three separate locations. Having a fish finder and depth finder were key to locating the fish, often in very large schools. The rule is you keep what you catch until you get to your limit or less. This week my wife Susan and I again fished with ardent Newfoundlander’s Mike and Angie Hogarth and son Michael on their wooden boat in Trinity, Newfoundland.

I believe the Hogarth’s depend on cod for as a major yearly food source.  Mike is a hunter as well, and hunts Moose with the 30-06 Springfield, a great Moose Rifle!

Mike, like myself,  is a real outdoor kind of guy.

Back to cod, The Hogarth’s use the tried and true method of salting the cod and then freezing it as well. Angie’s favorite recipe is to make fish cakes using cod and potato. Mike gave us a few bags of salt cod to try. Young Mike was eager to catch a big one, perhaps 10 pounds with a hand line.

Cod jigging is the best way to catch them, but be aware that in a school of Newfoundland cod, an upward jig is likely to snag a fish as to have one bite the hook. I know from first hand experience. When I let my jig hit bottom it was bumping into fish on its last few feet to hit the bottom. My line would go slack as the jig made its way through the school of fish. I learned to raise the jig slowly and hope that a cod would bite the hook instead.

On this trip we left the dock found our fishing spot and caught our boat limit all in a span of 45 minutes.

The scenery here at Trinity is breathtaking!

Young Mike and his dad both caught bigger fish than I did, and matter of fact, I was thrilled just to be fishing with them.

Angie was right there to cheer son Michael on as we all were. Michael is a fine young man at the age of 12. Mike and I filleted the fish and young Mike took out the cod tongues. Cod tongues are tender and a delicacy to all Newfoundlander’s. We fry them up in a fry pan dipped in flour or a batter. Wow!

Off to fillet the fish!!

I brought my fillet knife along to help. I am not as fast as Mike but I have filleted my own fish for decades and do it well. Got to have a sharp knife!

We freeze the fish and bring it home in a cardboard boxed cooler. I thing maybe 20 lbs of fish and a pint of backyard blueberries Sue picked. We bring some Iceberg beer back as well but be sure to meet all customs requirements.

Mike and family are hockey fans and hope to make it to Boston to see a Bruins Game this fall. Who knows, maybe we can have the Hogarth’s visit us here in New Hampshire as we are just 40 miles from Boston.

Cheers!

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Florida Getaway and Fishin’

It was hard to take, loads of sunshine, time with the wife at the Naples Bay Resort. Not too shabby where you can step onto your boat within feet of our bedroom suite with kitchen. (yes a bit pricey but we wanted luxury). Wow!

We rented this seven passenger pontoon boat at Rose Marine on Marco Island for the day ($300). All smiles we got our fishing license and headed to sea. We were restricted to shoreline areas and not open ocean but I was happy with that. I was the Captain you see.

My wife was gleeful as she tanned on the bow.

We caught some weird fish like this  2 foot bonnet head shark and released them. We thought they were young hammerheads until we were educated by locals.

But finally hit on a Pompano below with a bucktail hook and a small piece of shrimp on the hook.

You can see the sunshine on my smiling face and this keeper Pompano (must be 11 inches to the inside of the tail fork). This one was around 12.5 inches. Good fighting fish too!!

We dipped the fillets in egg and fish batter and fried them up in our resort kitchen. Sides of Tartar Sauce and Lime for garnish. A nice chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc made it spectacular. Wow!!

Later in the week we did an Airboat Ride in a Mangrove swamp with Captain Jack. down Hwy 41 to the Everglades. Spectacular!! Can you say fast!!

And some Alligators…

We did stop at a local resturant serving alligator and blue crab. The gator was fried and tasted like chicken with an ocean flavor. Nice! The crab serves as a crab cake did not do service to the crab.

While grocery shopping I found the fish was expensive to buy but found some lesser expensive grouper cheeks (small nuggets of grouper) an fried them up to top our pasta dinner with Parmesan cheese.

I like to cook as you can see. Fried Grouper Cheeks Marinara. Wow were they good!!

Coming back home all smiles and sunshine!

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February Florida Fish Charter Coming…And Chef in the Kitchen

Lack of  Sunshine on my skin is in very short supply here in New Hampshire so the wife and I are heading to Florida for vacation. She can get some sunshine and I can tan a little and catch a few fish. Lots of sunscreen lotion!

We are heading to Naples, Florida in February. In my investigations it appears wise to book a trip ahead of time. I booked a day off-shore on a serious 24 ft boat for myself and wife. I am hoping to catch some larger fish for an article. Offshore fish in February include species such as Grouper, Snapper, Cobia, Permit, Kingfish, Barracuda, and on the wrecks perhaps a giant Grouper. It’s sort of like big game hunting with a fishing rod instead of a rifle.

I’d like to catch some grouper or yellowtail snapper for me to chef up at home so we shall see. The yellowtail is known for its sushi quality so I may bring some wasabi and pickled ginger along in the boat.

Grouper’s are small and large and come in many sub-species. Some are giant!

Image result for grouper

You can bake grouper thus http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/21087/baked-grouper.aspx

Fried Grouper Taco’s with Key Lime

See the source image

Cobia Fish

Cobia with Lemon Caper sauce https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/cobia-with-lemon-caper-sauce/c13d38ee-2a29-4766-8ca7-7af746396c18

Cobia with Lemon Caper Sauce

So off to Florida for some well deserved tackle time on the water. I will freeze my fish fillets and bring home if possible. I like to eat what I catch and chef pretty well in the kitchen.

Yellowtail Snapper

Image result for Japanese Yellowtail Snapper

Just  looked at a stuffed whole roasted snapper below.

 

Stuffed Whole Roasted Yellowtail Snapper.

Yellowtail Snapper Ceviche below with Viangrette from https://www.thedailymeal.com/yellowtail-ceviche-recipe

Yellowtail Ceviche

Or this Yellowtail Sushi Roll https://spoonacular.com/recipes/yellowtail-roll-540869

Yellowtail Roll

 

I have purchased a new Nikon D5500 SLR below with 24  megapixel and video capability so we shall see what I get for photo’s and video’s on the beach and on the water.

Shooting with my Camera and Catching with Rod and Reel. Nice!

Looking forward to the Trip!