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Author Topic: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....Update:Smoking  (Read 2309 times)

Offline Anomaly

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A little morning adventure ha ha,.....
So my homemade basket jacker goes off. Rod bouncing. About 20 feet away I'm walking toward it pretty quickly. The rod is really bending down towards the hole now. The drag is set waaay too heavy.  Pack basket starts to tip. Rod comes out of the rod holder and goes straight down the hole just before I can get to it. Then I hear something behind me. My jig rod is bouncing and I figure I know what's happening. Sure enough the fish wrapped around that jig rod line. Pick up the jig rod and reel it in. I can feel the extra weight and the fish tugging. I felt the fish part ways... Well I got my rod back but I lost a fish! Cracked  me up though. I'm bummed I lost the fish but very happy I got my rod back. Another adventure!

Operator error. haha. I’ll set the drag better from now on. Glad the rod was rescued, but I really would have liked to have seen what the fish was to make a run like that! Probably should have more weight in the basket too.

Did get a few for the smoker! 17” - 18”


Probably make one more trip up there next week. One more yellow perch trip for sure! Then, back to being a Clam Digger!





"You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy fishing gear and that’s kind of the same thing.” 

Offline sebago2jigtima

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won!
« Reply #1 on: Mar 12, 2021, 05:22 AM »
good one  :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Offline Kourcha

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won!
« Reply #2 on: Mar 12, 2021, 09:13 AM »
Glad to hear you got the rod back! I lost a jig rod this season to a pickerel set it down while checkin traps and when i got back it was gone. Long story short i could see my rod 5 feet off to the left down the hole and drilled a new hole and fished my rod out with a magnet and caught the slim dart that stole it!

Offline Anomaly

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won!
« Reply #3 on: Mar 12, 2021, 10:25 AM »
Glad to hear you got the rod back! I lost a jig rod this season to a pickerel set it down while checkin traps and when i got back it was gone. Long story short i could see my rod 5 feet off to the left down the hole and drilled a new hole and fished my rod out with a magnet and caught the slim dart that stole it!
NICE!
"You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy fishing gear and that’s kind of the same thing.” 

Offline icetwandrer

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #4 on: Mar 12, 2021, 07:31 PM »
Glad you got your slaystick back, it always hurts watching them to down the hole(only happened once but still hurt alittle), just wondering what you use for wood in the smoker when you smoke your fish, I'm just getting into the smoking game and figure it would be the best way to eat togue :tipup:

Offline Anomaly

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #5 on: Mar 13, 2021, 04:56 AM »
Glad you got your slaystick back, it always hurts watching them to down the hole(only happened once but still hurt alittle), just wondering what you use for wood in the smoker when you smoke your fish, I'm just getting into the smoking game and figure it would be the best way to eat togue :tipup:
Hey IW, I lost a rod out of the boat once, before. Set it down just to pee and over it went! haha! Was jigging with a ducktail tippled with a small minnow.
I have never  done any smoking yet myself. Was goi got borrow a smoker to try it. A guy texted me he would do it for me. A professional guy. That’s where the fillets are going today. If and when I do it myself, probably apple wood and or maple. I read the tin Europe, oak is commonly used.
"You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy fishing gear and that’s kind of the same thing.” 

Offline Sluggo65

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #6 on: Mar 13, 2021, 07:16 AM »
I smoke a lot of meat but not so much fish. I used cherry and hickory on some salmon last year and that was pretty nice. I am going to try some cedar this Spring on some fish that I have in the freezer. Watch out with fish because they don't take long in the smoker. Big Jack smelts are fantastic when smoked!
Is it making ice yet?

Offline woodchip

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #7 on: Mar 13, 2021, 07:23 AM »
Apple wood .This time of year when everyone is pruneing

Offline Sluggo65

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #8 on: Mar 13, 2021, 07:27 AM »
I smoke a lot of meat but not so much fish. I used cherry and hickory on some salmon last year and that was pretty nice. I am going to try some cedar this Spring on some fish that I have in the freezer. Watch out with fish because they don't take long in the smoker. Big Jack smelts are fantastic when smoked!
Is it making ice yet?

Offline Sluggo65

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #9 on: Mar 13, 2021, 07:28 AM »
Gotta switch to decaf - I am double posting!
Is it making ice yet?

Offline Anomaly

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #10 on: Mar 13, 2021, 08:04 AM »
I bought a smoker I need to put together. Just been putting it off. I’ve got lots of birch and sugar maple on my land. I’ll use that some and try oak too. Definitly put some apple in the mix.
"You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy fishing gear and that’s kind of the same thing.” 

Offline woodchip

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #11 on: Mar 13, 2021, 08:39 AM »
All the apple orchards around prunninges for free

Offline Jack978

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #12 on: Mar 13, 2021, 09:20 AM »
Usually apple wood is a good choice for smoking fish.  You want something light to enhance the flavor not overpowering.  I use a propane smoker and used to do a lot of rainbow trout.  Use low heat and keep it moist.   At times I was quite popular in the old neighborhood since I usually distributed extra and everyone compared it to smoked salmon.  Unfortunately my smoker is trapped behind the garage in a snow bank at the moment but I encourage everyone who has one to give it a try.  Just set it up and forget it for a few hours and you can't go wrong.

Offline woodchip

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #13 on: Mar 13, 2021, 09:53 AM »
It was hard for me to Believe,but at the Sebago derby guys wer catching 50  3 to 8lb fish and throwing them away , Ive had some smoked Togue that size that was at good as Alaskan salmon ,One heck of  a lot better than any Salmon that ever came out of Sebago!! they were full of elweys  ive heard that fish that feed on Elweys have their fertility rate reduced?????

Offline icetwandrer

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #14 on: Mar 14, 2021, 04:37 PM »
Thanks for the info, ill post a report next weekend with how the togue smoking session goes. :tipup:

Offline meandcuznalfy

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #15 on: Mar 14, 2021, 05:14 PM »


Used cherry wood on these that I just did this morning, turned out great.

Offline Anomaly

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #16 on: Mar 14, 2021, 06:37 PM »

Used cherry wood on these that I just did this morning, turned out great.
WOW! Looking good! Mine are all filleted and being smoked Monday. A couple different flavors. Some will be cracked pepper. Some will be traditional. Next time, they will be done whole. I think that will be the better way, keeping in the moisture and natural oils. What do you think? Thanks! 
"You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy fishing gear and that’s kind of the same thing.” 

Offline meandcuznalfy

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #17 on: Mar 14, 2021, 06:41 PM »
I think they're better whole, those had lots of moisture in them when I pulled them out. Nice choice on flavors, I've just tried one recipe so far, I've only been using a smoker for about a year now, so I'm still learning.

Offline Anomaly

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Re: Lost And Caught. The Fish Won! Maybe It Was A Tie....
« Reply #18 on: Mar 17, 2021, 08:22 PM »
I think they're better whole, those had lots of moisture in them when I pulled them out. Nice choice on flavors, I've just tried one recipe so far, I've only been using a smoker for about a year now, so I'm still learning.
  I talked to a Chef I know today. The kind of guy you actually call “Chef”! He has done a lot smoking seafood and other meats and veggies. He said he had experimented with lots of stuff. Got some really good insight and advice! Should just be common sense.... BUT Common Sense  means knowing stuff! haha

He said the best way to get then best smokey flavor is to add NO HEAT, even keep temperatures in the 40 - 60 degree range if possible and definitely below 90. I need to ask him about timing. I’m assuming the longer the smokier. He emphasized that once the fish is heated/cooked, no more smoke flavor will penetrate. So, smoke cold and raw before adding any heat. This will also form the best pellicle. He told me they used a fan to push the smoke into the smoking chamber and keep the heat away until they wanted to add it.

I asked him about dry brining. He thought that would be good but needed to be timed right and properly purptioned to not over inundate the fillet with the brine. He thought the wet method would  be more controllable and effective.

I need to ask him more about doing the whole fish. He agreed that was the best way to keep moisture and supple texture in the product.

I was in his business. Needed a pastry BAD!  He was working. I’ll talk more with him later. Cool stuff! I look forward to playing with my own smoker at some point!

"You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy fishing gear and that’s kind of the same thing.” 

Offline meandcuznalfy

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That's cool, thanks for sharing, I'm hoping the propane smoker I bought gets here soon, I'm gonna figure out how to add a smoke generator to it so I can do cheese, but I'd try what you mentioned with fish, I see that once the meat starts cooking smoke won't penetrate it, so cold smoking makes sense.

 



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