Inane Randomness

This is the time of year for Spanish Mackerel. I love catching these toothy fish because they usually cooperate with fishermen and are the main ingredient for my smoked fish spread. They're very speedy and have razor sharp teeth. Good times to fish for them are early in the morning during a rising tide. Per the FWC, bag limit is 15 a day per harvester and they need to be 12 inches long at the fork in order to keep.

Mark and Adam from yakangler.com will be in town for a week next month. I plan on taking them to a few favorite spots, but we're a few boats short. Can anyone help us with this? Wanna lend us a yak or 2? We'll make sure you get a lot of press for it I can promise you. Check out this cool story about Kayak Kevin's trip kayaking Chesapeake Bay

Yours Truly is headed out ugly early Friday Morning to get after tarpon and Saturday, ugly early again to get after some redfish....again. I have every Friday off in July and am ready to go on a camping/fishing/kayaking excursion....

Rob's Smoked Fish Spread

Here is one of my most kept secrets for smoked fish spread. With the impending Spanish Mackerel invasion, I thought it proper to share this. One of my all time favorite fish for this dish is smoked Spanish Mackerel.

The best way to catch macks during the summer run is early in the morning. I like using a silver Gummy Minnow or silver spoon fly worked fast. Spots near Fort Desoto or the mouth of the Bay are good. Make sure you use a strong wire leader for these toothy torpedoes.

Here's my strange way of writing a recipe.....Ya'all pay 'tention nah...

Smoke 2 average sized mackerel filet's. I put them on a low heat charcoal with Jack Daniels chips for around an hour and a half.

Crumble warm mackerel filet's into a bowl. Not too fine...we want it to be a bit chunky.

Add a container of Philly Cream Cheese (one of the ONLY things from Philly allowed in my house) and a cup of your favorite mayo. A bit of horseradish will work too.

As much as I hate celery, a little won't hurt.

A bit of fresh cilantro.

A squeezed lemon.

Some paprika for garnish.

Serve still warm with crackers or soft bread.

Mmmmm...c'mon macks c'mon....

This is perfect for your summer get togethers or birthdays. A good Belgian White Ale compliments this nicely.

Bring On The Night

Skunktastic.

My last few fishing trips have been skunktastic.

Of all the research I do pertaining to finding good fishing spots that should hold fish and actually plying the brine and catching water or spotting dolphins leaving me scratching my head....then, it finally hit me.

Like a bolt out of the blue.

It's summer stupid! (Not officially until June 21st, but in Bad Backcastland it's after Memorial Day...wonder if your birthday falls on this day if that makes you extra hot?) Fish are pretty much inactive during the heat of the day. Things start turning on during low light. Crabs, shrimp and other prey items get active as the sun goes down....or comes up. The water temperature drops a bit. Fish notice these things and will start looking for prey.

The spots I've been hitting are too good not to hold fish....with nice grass, oyster bars, current breaks and mangroves, you'd think I'd be on them.

This week, dead low tide is around 6:30 - 7:30 pm with sunset at 8:30 pm.

This also gives me the option of fishing the docks at night for snook.

Perfect.

On the tarpon front, I'm going out Sunday morning looking for them around Clearwater Pass/Sand Key. I haven't abandoned them - I just haven't been writing about it.