Fish Fry

The father of a woman I work with is an avid fisherman. He invited me out to his cottage near Rockingham and we went fishing. The set up was simple and we were out on the lake in no time. It’s a small lake about 2 km long with less than a dozen cottages and so many fish they almost jump in the boat.

The fish started biting on the first cast and in no time we’d caught a bucket of perch and bass. We threw back the bigger fish and kept the small ones.  Barry said they taste better.

Barry made quick work of taking the filets off and skinning them. It was amazing to watch him work so quickly and efficiently and he talked the whole time, teaching and telling stories of what lakes in the area are best for which fish. I take it that he’s something of a fish-whisperer and knows exactly how to coax the fish on to his hook.

There was much discussion about the best way to cook the fish. The collective wisdom favours a coating of no name soda crackers (they taste different than name brand, don’t you know) and lemon pepper and then fried in a mix of butter and grapeseed oil.

I opted to soak all the filets in a week brine of salt water overnight to get the blood out then a quick pan fry in clarified butter with salt and pepper. 

It was amazing.  We had enough for a big lunch and more to cook for breakfast the next day.

I haven’t eaten much fish since I moved up here because the stuff available in the grocery stores really doesn’t excite me. I sense that might change now.  Barry seems like he’s up for a new fishing buddy and I’m up for a new hobby.  I fished a lot when I was a kid and I always figured I’d get back to it when I was old 🙂 No time like the present.