Post up up your 2019/2020/2021/2022 Blackfishing Pix/Reports/Adventures/Musings
- Thread starter Leprechaun
- Start date
Nice job guys!! I was hoping to get out again for some Tog. If not, looks like my season will be done till Spring
Asian Steamed Sea Bass - As Promised
Because I normally do not target sea bass I will take them as they come whilst fishing for other species. But, every once in a great while I do manage to hang one that is truly special. Such was the case this past Wednesday on Capt. Mike's boat - a true 4lb beauty. It might have a shocked look on its face, but I assure you, it was as big a surprise to me as it was to him.
Mike had zero doubt that I would prepare this fish whole - based on other fish cooking adventures that I've spoken of. And my favorite recipe for whole sea bass comes from the On the Water website, as can be found at this link:
www.onthewater.com
Basically, you scale and gut it, wash out its cavity well, and remove the prickly fins and most of the tail.
Then a bunch of Asian-inspired goodies get put onto (and into) the fish. These include scallions, slivered ginger, garlic, a thin-sliced lime, rinsed fermented black beans (very important), cilantro, and some sort of sliced hot-ish peppers - in this case we went with a big fat jalapeno - minus the seeds. Don't forget to put a series of angular slashes in the fish's sides, so to accept a generous amount of the various dressings. Also, pouring the soy sauce/honey/sherry over the fish prior to sealing it up under the tin foil will provide the proper flavor to the resulting broth.
Next, a double boiler-type homemade "steaming setup" needs to be put together to suspend the fish above the boiling water, with a covering of heavy-duty tin foil to seal it in. We re-purposed our Circulon turkey pan, with its roasting rack installed, with a smaller stainless steel baking pan to hold the fish. Eight to ten minutes per pound of actual steam time is perfect.
Up top on the stove's two right-side burners, for 35 minutes, and good to go. Its vital to follow the part of the recipe directions regarding the final pouring of smokin' hot dark sesame oil onto the fish, both to crisp up the skin, as well as add the final ingredient to the broth that accumulated in the pan.
After that its a simple task to separate the meat from the backbone, and serve it with sides as you wish. We chose blistered shishito peppers done in our air fryer, simple white rice, shrimp-filled gyoza, and Asian-inspired broccoli florets made by partially steaming the veggie in our handy-dandy microwave steamer, and then finishing it in a frying pan with peanut oil, garlic, and our "special find" Asian sauce called Bachan's Japanese Barbecue Sauce (available at Costco - and HIGHLY recommended!)
Let's just say all that was left was the head and and spine.
Because I normally do not target sea bass I will take them as they come whilst fishing for other species. But, every once in a great while I do manage to hang one that is truly special. Such was the case this past Wednesday on Capt. Mike's boat - a true 4lb beauty. It might have a shocked look on its face, but I assure you, it was as big a surprise to me as it was to him.
Mike had zero doubt that I would prepare this fish whole - based on other fish cooking adventures that I've spoken of. And my favorite recipe for whole sea bass comes from the On the Water website, as can be found at this link:
Living Off The Land and Sea: Whole Steamed Black Sea Bass - On The Water
Join On The Water's Andy Nabreski and wife and fellow chef Susan Nabreski as they cook and serve up a whole Black Sea Bass.
www.onthewater.com
Basically, you scale and gut it, wash out its cavity well, and remove the prickly fins and most of the tail.
Then a bunch of Asian-inspired goodies get put onto (and into) the fish. These include scallions, slivered ginger, garlic, a thin-sliced lime, rinsed fermented black beans (very important), cilantro, and some sort of sliced hot-ish peppers - in this case we went with a big fat jalapeno - minus the seeds. Don't forget to put a series of angular slashes in the fish's sides, so to accept a generous amount of the various dressings. Also, pouring the soy sauce/honey/sherry over the fish prior to sealing it up under the tin foil will provide the proper flavor to the resulting broth.
Next, a double boiler-type homemade "steaming setup" needs to be put together to suspend the fish above the boiling water, with a covering of heavy-duty tin foil to seal it in. We re-purposed our Circulon turkey pan, with its roasting rack installed, with a smaller stainless steel baking pan to hold the fish. Eight to ten minutes per pound of actual steam time is perfect.
Up top on the stove's two right-side burners, for 35 minutes, and good to go. Its vital to follow the part of the recipe directions regarding the final pouring of smokin' hot dark sesame oil onto the fish, both to crisp up the skin, as well as add the final ingredient to the broth that accumulated in the pan.
After that its a simple task to separate the meat from the backbone, and serve it with sides as you wish. We chose blistered shishito peppers done in our air fryer, simple white rice, shrimp-filled gyoza, and Asian-inspired broccoli florets made by partially steaming the veggie in our handy-dandy microwave steamer, and then finishing it in a frying pan with peanut oil, garlic, and our "special find" Asian sauce called Bachan's Japanese Barbecue Sauce (available at Costco - and HIGHLY recommended!)
Let's just say all that was left was the head and and spine.
Absolutely amazing!! WOW!!Asian Steamed Sea Bass - As Promised
Because I normally do not target sea bass, rather, I take them as they come whilst fishing for other species, every once in a great while I manage to hang one that is truly special. Such was the case this past Wednesday on Capt. Mike's boat - a true 4lb beauty.
View attachment 56461
Mike had zero doubt that I would prepare this fish whole - based on other fish cooking adventures that I've told him about. And my favorite recipe for whole sea bass comes from the On the Water website, as can be found at this link:
Living Off The Land and Sea: Whole Steamed Black Sea Bass - On The Water
Join On The Water's Andy Nabreski and wife and fellow chef Susan Nabreski as they cook and serve up a whole Black Sea Bass.
Basically, you scale and gut it, wash out its cavity well, and remove the prickly fins and most of the tail.
View attachment 56462
Then a bunch of Asian-inspired goodies get put onto (and into) the fish. These include scallions, slivered ginger, garlic, a thin-sliced lime, fermented black beans (very important), cilantro, and some sort of sliced hot-ish peppers - in this case we went with a big fat jalapeno - minus the seeds. Don't forget to put a series of angular slashes in the fish's sides, so to accept a generous amount of the various dressings. Also, pouring the soy sauce/honey/sherry over the fish prior to sealing it up under the tin foil will provide the proper flavor to the resulting broth.
View attachment 56463
Next, a double boiler-type homemade setup needs to be put together to suspend the fish above the boiling water, with a covering of heavy-duty tin foil to seal it in. Eight to ten minutes per pound of actual steam time and its ready to go. We re-purposed our Circulon turkey roasting pan, with its roasting rack installed, with a smaller stainless steel baking pan to hold the fish.
Up top on the stove's two right-side burners, for 35 minutes, and good to go. Its vital to follow the part of the recipe directions regarding the final pouring of smokin' hot dark sesame oil onto the fish, both to crisp up the skin, as well as add the final ingredient to the broth that accumulated in the pan.
View attachment 56464
After that its a simple task to separate the meat from the backbone, and serve it with sides as you wish. We chose blistered shishito peppers done in our air fryer, simple white rice, shrimp-filled gyoza, and Asian-inspired broccoli florets made by first steaming the veggie in our microwave steamer and then finishing them in a frying pan with peanut oil, garlic, and our "special find" Asian sauce called Bachan's Japanese Barbecue Sauce (available at Costco - and HIGHLY recommended!)
View attachment 56465
Let's just say all that was left was the head and and spine.
View attachment 56466
View attachment 56467
That looks phenomenal!!! Great job!Asian Steamed Sea Bass - As Promised
Because I normally do not target sea bass, rather, I take them as they come whilst fishing for other species, every once in a great while I manage to hang one that is truly special. Such was the case this past Wednesday on Capt. Mike's boat - a true 4lb beauty. It might have a shocked look on its face, but I assure you, it was as big a surprise to me as it was to him.
View attachment 56461
Mike had zero doubt that I would prepare this fish whole - based on other fish cooking adventures that I've spoken of. And my favorite recipe for whole sea bass comes from the On the Water website, as can be found at this link:
Living Off The Land and Sea: Whole Steamed Black Sea Bass - On The Water
Join On The Water's Andy Nabreski and wife and fellow chef Susan Nabreski as they cook and serve up a whole Black Sea Bass.
Basically, you scale and gut it, wash out its cavity well, and remove the prickly fins and most of the tail.
View attachment 56462
Then a bunch of Asian-inspired goodies get put onto (and into) the fish. These include scallions, slivered ginger, garlic, a thin-sliced lime, rinsed fermented black beans (very important), cilantro, and some sort of sliced hot-ish peppers - in this case we went with a big fat jalapeno - minus the seeds. Don't forget to put a series of angular slashes in the fish's sides, so to accept a generous amount of the various dressings. Also, pouring the soy sauce/honey/sherry over the fish prior to sealing it up under the tin foil will provide the proper flavor to the resulting broth.
View attachment 56463
Next, a double boiler-type homemade setup needs to be put together to suspend the fish above the boiling water, with a covering of heavy-duty tin foil to seal it in. Eight to ten minutes per pound of actual steam time and its ready to go. We re-purposed our Circulon turkey pan, with its roasting rack installed, with a smaller stainless steel baking pan to hold the fish.
Up top on the stove's two right-side burners, for 35 minutes, and good to go. Its vital to follow the part of the recipe directions regarding the final pouring of smokin' hot dark sesame oil onto the fish, both to crisp up the skin, as well as add the final ingredient to the broth that accumulated in the pan.
View attachment 56464
After that its a simple task to separate the meat from the backbone, and serve it with sides as you wish. We chose blistered shishito peppers done in our air fryer, simple white rice, shrimp-filled gyoza, and Asian-inspired broccoli florets made by first steaming the veggie in our microwave steamer and then finishing it in a frying pan with peanut oil, garlic, and our "special find" Asian sauce called Bachan's Japanese Barbecue Sauce (available at Costco - and HIGHLY recommended!)
View attachment 56465
Let's just say all that was left was the head and and spine.
View attachment 56466
View attachment 56467
That looks awesome Pete! My buddy Darryll and I were a 2 man crew on Thanksgiving morning. We fished inshore on the west end and had our limit by 10AM with fish to 5 pounds. White legger glow jigs did most of the damage. Great day on the water and home in time to carve the Turkey!
Blackfish Tuesday
Once again hit my fav local reef with Kevin/Loncast and Capt. Mike, but just couldn't get the fish started. Made three drops and didn't lose a crab. Enough - ran to Jersey, only to find a local charter boat sitting squarely on my fav numbers, with his anchors so spread that I couldn't drop on either side piece, which are also good. Should have gone straight there. Shoulda, woulda, coulda, nearly always the case when chasing these weirdo fish.
Anyway, gave it a shot on an alternate piece of bottom near there (actually, I think its a close buddy's fav drop), for a bunch of shorts and one decent keep. What to do? Wait it out, hoping for a bite on the change, or switch it up?
Meh, nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I made a minor move, got right on a narrow peak I like, and shortly had a real good pick going. We sorted thru a TON of shorts to almosts, for a final catch count of 6 Rec units to 5lbs. Had to have caught at least a "limit" of 15"+ Comm keepers, but we ain't Comm, so back they went.
In any case, it was such a nice, calm day that even the modest final count wasn't too hard to take. Scooted back to the dock at 23mph and had her shaped up and the fish cutting finished just as it got dark - Mike and Kevin are truly a first-class crew.
Leave in the dark, finish in the dark, just the way it is this time of the season.
Once again hit my fav local reef with Kevin/Loncast and Capt. Mike, but just couldn't get the fish started. Made three drops and didn't lose a crab. Enough - ran to Jersey, only to find a local charter boat sitting squarely on my fav numbers, with his anchors so spread that I couldn't drop on either side piece, which are also good. Should have gone straight there. Shoulda, woulda, coulda, nearly always the case when chasing these weirdo fish.
Anyway, gave it a shot on an alternate piece of bottom near there (actually, I think its a close buddy's fav drop), for a bunch of shorts and one decent keep. What to do? Wait it out, hoping for a bite on the change, or switch it up?
Meh, nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I made a minor move, got right on a narrow peak I like, and shortly had a real good pick going. We sorted thru a TON of shorts to almosts, for a final catch count of 6 Rec units to 5lbs. Had to have caught at least a "limit" of 15"+ Comm keepers, but we ain't Comm, so back they went.
In any case, it was such a nice, calm day that even the modest final count wasn't too hard to take. Scooted back to the dock at 23mph and had her shaped up and the fish cutting finished just as it got dark - Mike and Kevin are truly a first-class crew.
Leave in the dark, finish in the dark, just the way it is this time of the season.
That Japanes Bachan sauce is awesome.Not only does it work with seabass but I make smoked japanese chicken wings with it that come out great...
Way to grind it out and get some keepers on board. It was a really nice day on the ocean yesterday. I went for bass, nada.
Thanks again to Pete on that one. I made some pork belly in the air fryer and served it with that sauce. Fantastic!
I agree, Kevin. Pete made his usual "herculean effort" but some days they just don't chew all that well. Still fun to get out.
Now I'm hungry.Asian Steamed Sea Bass - As Promised
Because I normally do not target sea bass I will take them as they come whilst fishing for other species. But, every once in a great while I do manage to hang one that is truly special. Such was the case this past Wednesday on Capt. Mike's boat - a true 4lb beauty. It might have a shocked look on its face, but I assure you, it was as big a surprise to me as it was to him.
View attachment 56461
Mike had zero doubt that I would prepare this fish whole - based on other fish cooking adventures that I've spoken of. And my favorite recipe for whole sea bass comes from the On the Water website, as can be found at this link:
Living Off The Land and Sea: Whole Steamed Black Sea Bass - On The Water
Join On The Water's Andy Nabreski and wife and fellow chef Susan Nabreski as they cook and serve up a whole Black Sea Bass.
Basically, you scale and gut it, wash out its cavity well, and remove the prickly fins and most of the tail.
View attachment 56462
Then a bunch of Asian-inspired goodies get put onto (and into) the fish. These include scallions, slivered ginger, garlic, a thin-sliced lime, rinsed fermented black beans (very important), cilantro, and some sort of sliced hot-ish peppers - in this case we went with a big fat jalapeno - minus the seeds. Don't forget to put a series of angular slashes in the fish's sides, so to accept a generous amount of the various dressings. Also, pouring the soy sauce/honey/sherry over the fish prior to sealing it up under the tin foil will provide the proper flavor to the resulting broth.
View attachment 56463
Next, a double boiler-type homemade setup needs to be put together to suspend the fish above the boiling water, with a covering of heavy-duty tin foil to seal it in. We re-purposed our Circulon turkey pan, with its roasting rack installed, with a smaller stainless steel baking pan to hold the fish. Eight to ten minutes per pound of actual steam time is perfect.
Up top on the stove's two right-side burners, for 35 minutes, and good to go. Its vital to follow the part of the recipe directions regarding the final pouring of smokin' hot dark sesame oil onto the fish, both to crisp up the skin, as well as add the final ingredient to the broth that accumulated in the pan.
View attachment 56464
After that its a simple task to separate the meat from the backbone, and serve it with sides as you wish. We chose blistered shishito peppers done in our air fryer, simple white rice, shrimp-filled gyoza, and Asian-inspired broccoli florets made by partially steaming the veggie in our handy-dandy microwave steamer, and then finishing it in a frying pan with peanut oil, garlic, and our "special find" Asian sauce called Bachan's Japanese Barbecue Sauce (available at Costco - and HIGHLY recommended!)
View attachment 56465
Let's just say all that was left was the head and and spine.
View attachment 56466
View attachment 56467
Last Trip of the Season - Pfffft!
Headed straight to my Jersey drops with Capt. Mike and new crew-dude Matt/Snapperhead27. Great ocean for running, that's for sure. Once we got there we found the bite to be basically non-existent. Despite multiple drop shifts and anchor manipulations, plus ample "adult language" statements on my part, we just never got a bite going. The wierdo cross current plus the wind across tide wasn't real helpful either. Let's just say my windlass was groaning by the end of the trip.
Finished the day with only four Rec keepers in the box - a major disappointment because this was the last trip of 2022 for the Lep. She comes home next weekend and I have a few maintenance chores to do before my hauler does his thing. No chance for redemption 'til next Spring. Still, it was a very decent season, all things considered. Now on to the long, cold Winter. Ugggh.
Headed straight to my Jersey drops with Capt. Mike and new crew-dude Matt/Snapperhead27. Great ocean for running, that's for sure. Once we got there we found the bite to be basically non-existent. Despite multiple drop shifts and anchor manipulations, plus ample "adult language" statements on my part, we just never got a bite going. The wierdo cross current plus the wind across tide wasn't real helpful either. Let's just say my windlass was groaning by the end of the trip.
Finished the day with only four Rec keepers in the box - a major disappointment because this was the last trip of 2022 for the Lep. She comes home next weekend and I have a few maintenance chores to do before my hauler does his thing. No chance for redemption 'til next Spring. Still, it was a very decent season, all things considered. Now on to the long, cold Winter. Ugggh.
Thank you for the invite to join you guys onboard the Lep. Even though it wasn't as we had hoped it to be, it was still a great day to be on the water. Some good laughs with you and Capt Mike.
Thanks Matt. We’ll make it up to you with a slammer fluke trip next season. 
Always a fun day being on the water with a knowledgeable Capt. and crew. As I have learned from decades of fishing with you Pete, the results on a tough day are NEVER due to a lack of effort.
Yes, it's a long winter ahead with lots of maintenance chores, but also the opportunity to share plenty of stories about the really great trips we enjoyed this year!!
Fresh Blackish over Tomatoes and Spinach
On the menu tonite (YT recipe below) -
Paired with a tasty Orvieto - the perfect "fish wine."
Super-easy to make. We added a tablespoon of rinsed capers to the spinach to kick it up a bit.
The sauce this dish generates is to die for.
Here ya go. The guy's a little too talky, but that's just what "we Italians" do. Enjoy:
On the menu tonite (YT recipe below) -
Paired with a tasty Orvieto - the perfect "fish wine."
Super-easy to make. We added a tablespoon of rinsed capers to the spinach to kick it up a bit.
The sauce this dish generates is to die for.
Here ya go. The guy's a little too talky, but that's just what "we Italians" do. Enjoy:
That's All Folk's
Chris/Hippie Chic hauled her home this morning. Changed the motor oil and winterized the engine's cooling system, various pumps and bilge. I'll pressure wash the hull first nice day we get. My shrink wrapper is so busy he can't get to me before Xmas Eve - unreal.
Anyway, thanks to the NYAngler members that sailed with me this season! Some great trips and truthfully some not so great, but what mattered was the crew's camaraderie and effort, neither of which was ever lacking, and both contributed mightily to some really outstanding days on the water. Looking forward to seeing you guys back on my deck next season!
Chris/Hippie Chic hauled her home this morning. Changed the motor oil and winterized the engine's cooling system, various pumps and bilge. I'll pressure wash the hull first nice day we get. My shrink wrapper is so busy he can't get to me before Xmas Eve - unreal.
Anyway, thanks to the NYAngler members that sailed with me this season! Some great trips and truthfully some not so great, but what mattered was the crew's camaraderie and effort, neither of which was ever lacking, and both contributed mightily to some really outstanding days on the water. Looking forward to seeing you guys back on my deck next season!
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