# More fishing



## Wendy (Oct 15, 2006)

Hubby and I (and his best buddy) went to Meaford and Thornbury for some fishing yesterday. Between the three of us we caught eight fish. I got two nice Rainbow trout but forgot to get Steve to take a picture. Here is one of Steve with a good size salmon....what a good fight!


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Oct 15, 2006)

Beautiful! Eric


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## Jmoney (Oct 16, 2006)

outstanding! (I wish we had salmon down here)


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## phrag guy (Oct 16, 2006)

Good going Wendy,didn't know you liked fishing. The run is on here like crazy.


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## NYEric (Oct 16, 2006)

Hoo hoo, Are you catch and release or is that dinner?


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## Wendy (Oct 16, 2006)

We release most of them but occasionally bring one home for dinner or for friends who ask. This is a new hobby for me...it's hubby's fault. I went once and loved it. It's so cool to land a fish after a good fight. He's back up fishing again today but i had to stay home...one of us had to work. :sob:


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Oct 16, 2006)

Jason- there was a time when salmon lived down here...they used to occasionally swim up the Hudson, and they used to breed in the Connecticut River. There is a great passage in Peter Matthiessen's book Mens Lives (an astounding book by an excellent writer about the lives of baymen in Long Island....should be read by anyone who appreciates fish and fishing...and for that matter, excellent writing....) about the astonishment of a Hamptons haul seiner when he pulled up a salmon along with his stripers. Take care, Eric


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## Heather (Oct 16, 2006)

Peter Matthiessen...didn't he write something on the history of Native Americans? Hrm....I'm sure he did! Now I have to look.

Edit: "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse". I knew I recognized that name!
Interesting, thanks for the heads up Matt, I'm always looking for food related stuff...


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Oct 17, 2006)

Peter Matthiessen has to be the best living environmental writer in the US. He did write "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse" about the standoff with Leonard Peltier...one of the few books of his that I haven't read (yet)...his most recent books have been about Antarctica, Siberian tigers, and cranes all over the world...and his fiction books are also great...the latest was the "Watson" trilogy, about the colonization of the Everglades, and the mystery surrounding the life and death of Watson, murdered around 1910?...also Far Tortuga about turtle fisherman in the Caribbean, and At Play in the Fields of the Lord, which was also made into a fantastic movie (it had another favorite of mine, Tom Waits, in his first turn at acting......) Take care, Eric


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Nov 12, 2006)

Just got back from what I hope is not my last chance of fishing this year.....Went out to my summer place with my son, and hit McCabes beach in Southold....everyone said that it has been totally dead for 2 weeks. Even so, I got a nice 8lb bluefish and 2 skates...also my son and I each had small striped bass. Unfortunately I allowed my son to talk me into keeping the skates. Now, if you have never had it, skate can be a very tasty fish...but cleaning and skiining them is a taste of hell on earth...I have scrapes all over my foot just from the fish being dragged over it...(they are very spiny....and I fish barefoot and in shorts, even at this time of year....). Well, it took well over an our to clean them...sauteed them in butter, white wine, chicken stock, balsamic vinegar and capers....good, yes. The bluefish was better....and way easier to clean!

That was one of the skates...it was big, easily 4-5lbs...you can see the other in the sink. I was way happier with the bluefish....


Hopefully I'll get another chance out there over Thanksgiving...Take care, Eric


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## PHRAG (Nov 12, 2006)

That's a nice looking bluefish. How did you cook it?


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## Marco (Nov 12, 2006)

Great catches Eric. Never had skate before. I bet they were tasty. Thanks for the pics


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## Eric Muehlbauer (Nov 12, 2006)

I used a variation of my favorite bluefish recipe, one that is best on large bluefish- "bluefish arreganata"....I made a topping by sauteing lots and lots of garlic with shallots, fresh hot pepper, anhovy paste, and the remainder of a sweet red pepper from the previous night.(all peppers homegrown...) After they softened, I added white wine and a little chicken stock, and capers (the salted kind, not the vinegar pickled types). After reducing the liquid, I made a paste with bread crumbs, thinning it with a little extra chicken stock and the juice of half a lemon. Meanwhile, I baked the bluefish filets, then put the topping on and finished them under the broiler. Mmmmmm! I love this recipe, because it can complement the taste of a strongly flavored fish without interfering with the taste of a milder fiish. Bluefish has a reputation of being very strong flavored...but it depends on its origin and previous treatment. I recently caught a bunch of bluefish in Jamaica bay...my first local bluefish in 15 years or more...and I was shocked at how strong their flavor was. Meanwhile, the blues out on eastern Long Island are as mild as can be, even when very large...I've had 14 lb blues that were as mild as can be imgined...enough of a fish taste to remind you of what you are eating, but that's it. Of course, give the fish a few days, and it will be strong flavored wherever you get it from. I would assume its mainly diet...the NYC area blues probably eat lots of "bunker" (an inedible, oily herring) while the eastern LI fish have more vairiety in their diet...and lots fewer PCB's...Take care, Eric


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## NYEric (Nov 15, 2006)

Mmmm.. Dinner at Eric's house. No, the other Eric. oke:


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