fishing today In SE Alaska...

Did some fishing here in SE Alaska Prince of Wales Island....

pretty good day.. took home about 12 Humpy (pink) salmon for the smoker...  



lots of bears working the shorline.

1 min SE Alaska Video

it was a good day..

not sure if folks are interested in these sort of posts... so Here goes... hope I got the video and pictures working correctly

AlaskanGuy

Nice catch.

Smoking fish is unheard of here in Texas. I wonder if the reason is species of fish?

We kayak the swampy estuaries for red drum and speckled trout.

you should smoke that drum... and the speckled.. everything is better smoked.. 😬

salmon are such a huge mainsay for us here for subsistance living...my subsistance permit allows me to take 20 per day here, but that is just too much.. so I smoke this.. and give some away to the elders of our village,.

were you able,to see the video??? just wondering if I posted right

Yes. The sound was not optimal. When i turned it down because commercial was not loud, your video had no volume. When i turned it up to hear you, the next video was too loud.

Is any fish smokeable? It seems like red or pink fleshed fish are smoked. I never see white flesh fish smoked. That has been my assumption and why i never looked into it.

wayne fajkus wrote:Is any fish smokeable? It seems like red or pink fleshed fish are smoked. I never see white flesh fish smoked. That has been my assumption and why i never looked into it.

Mullet is a white fish and smoked mullet is amazing!

This has increased my interest. I've been doing a little research. Its not the flesh color. Its the fat content. All the fish in my range tend to be lean.

Our mullet is caught in a cast net in salt water. Never on rod and reel. They jump out of the water all the time. Typically used for bait.  Is this the same mullet? Seems like one name can be 3 fish in 3 parts of the world.

wayne, you can smoke any sort of fish.. some will be better then others, but it will all be good... the proof is in the technique..

try this next time... 4 parts Brown Sugar, to 1 part KOSHER salt.. yes you gotta go to the store.. get some good salt, and cut the fish into strips after you filet them..strips no wider then 1inch.. throw them into a glass dish and dump the mixture in with NO WATER added.. its a dry brine that makes its own juice.. make sure everything is coated real well and mix it around good... then throw in 2cups of Captain Morgan rum. DONT drink the rum, its for the fish,,. mix again, and put in the fridge for a good 24 hrs..stir it a few times.. making sure to mix it good.. when your ready to take it out, Dont dump out the brine.. take the fish out of the brine carefully and throw into the sink.. put the brine back in the fridge for the next batch of fish.. just keep adding to it. the fish in the sink need to be really washed off well, patted of to dry, once dry, then smoke with hickory..

trust me on this one wayne. i have won ribbons here in the home of smoked salmon with this method.. folks around alaska are very serious about smoked fish...Alaskan people are more fanatic about smoking fish then any texas bbq'er...  they smoke salmon, whitefish, herring, burbot, halibut, rockfish,shrimp, you name it they smoke it here... keep the ratio like I told ya.. you can mess around with it after you try it this way.. you will not be sorry. no substitutions first go round.. your just gunna have to trust me. i wont steer you wrong.

I am more fanatic about deer jerky than barbq. Lol. Preserving meat without refrigeration ......

Is this a way to preserve it also? I assume that is probably the origin of why salt and smoke came in to play.

Fyi  i make my own seasalt. I let it evaporate.  It's something that costs nothing to do:


https://permies.com/t/85170/Waynes-solar-salt-factory

Smoked mullet seems to be a Florida thing and is the same fish we have here in Texas. It is a fatty fish.

While I stated using a cast net for them, there are some determined rod and reelers  who go after them using white bread as bait.

Once we get into smoking season for deer jerky i will give this a try with whatever fish i have available. Thanks for bringing attention on this.

wayne fajkus wrote:Smoked mullet seems to be a Florida thing and is the same fish we have here in Texas. It is a fatty fish.

While I stated using a cast net for them, there are some determined rod and reelers  who go after them using white bread as bait.

Once we get into smoking season for deer jerky i will give this a try with whatever fish i have available. Thanks for bringing attention on this.

The Florida method for smoked mullet involves bay leaves for smoke and a cayenne containing  rub . you wrap them in newspaper after cooking as it minimizes the oil getting on everything.

take a peek at this clip from this morning..

salmon stacking up

the salmon are stackinup with noplace to go cuz its been dry here... next week the rains come back and all these fish will be gone, but right now, they are ripe and easy to catch.. I caught my subsistance alotment of 20 per day this morning in about an hour..


AlaskanGuy

wayne fajkus wrote:Is any fish smokeable? It seems like red or pink fleshed fish are smoked. I never see white flesh fish smoked. That has been my assumption and why i never looked into it.

Any Jewish deli will stock smoked white fish. It makes my mouth water just to type that.  Soft flesh fish like trout do not smoke as well as firmer fish, but even then, I've had lovely smoked trout.  Mackrell smokes nicely, as does almost any oily fish.  I've never tried smoked bass or any of the standard lake fish common throughout the southern States, but I would imagine that they'd be nice.

I grew up on smoked fish and early on, taught my children to love it.  My favorite is to take a nice hunk of smoked salmon or any other smoked fish and to mix it with a block of softened cream cheese.  Add just a little lemon juice and maybe some hot sauce. Eat with some good quality crackers.

My kiddos are all over it like bears when I come home with a hunk of smoked fish and pull out the cream cheese and crackers.