cbbt 8/23-24

[Goody]

Nice video footage of the action there. What's the limit and size for spades and are they good eatin?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxr...cUk/view?pli=1
Finally got some decent footage with the gopro now that I have it running off a power bank.

[JohnE]

Thanks. I think they are not bad eating. No size limit, just 4 person. Small ones are not worth keeping, like Tufnik was saying earlier. Most of them from the morning in the video were in the 10-14" range. 12" give or take is about the smallest I would keep them for eating. A little tricky to fillet since they have a weird bone structure, but this is the best way since you really would want to cut out the dark meat before cooking. A very sharp and flexible fillet knife is best tool for the job, not a stiff one.

[tufnik]

I'll have to try that olive-oil dunk recipe some day.

Interesting video. Man, those little spades can sure bend the rods. Cool to see them do circles at the surface too.

[JohnE]

The footage is pretty interesting to watch. I know that they run circles constantly around the pilings. They seem to keep swimming in circles even after you hook them. They are so unpredictable though, sometimes they dive and other times they straightline away from the pilings. They are such extremely fast and powerful swimmers. I have hooked a couple in the 16-18" range like the one in that pic I posted on my buddy's PA, but they ran so hard back around when I tried to grab the leader that they broke my braid on the barnacles so I have never landed one that large yet.
tmp_10493-20150824_162703444957575.jpg

My marinade recipe I posted above with the ginger garlic mix really is quite good (especially if you are a big ginger fan like myself). I just mixed up some more. It should be good with a lot of different species of fish we catch. I bet it would make great brine for smoking if you add extra salt to the mix. I regret not coming up with the idea sooner for those little blues I smoked yesterday (but they were still delicious with the standard soy sauce based brine--though I did try something new with them by pouring a little pure maple syrup on top right before they went on the smoker).

[ComeOnFish]

John,
I love the video. I guess I watch your video for next 2-3 weekends because I can't fish. I think spade fish and trigger fish react the similar way. But I think spade fish are stronger than trigger fish. And there are more meat on spade fish.
I love spade fish. I am so lazy so I make ceviche often. The spade fish ceviche is the best for me.

Joe

[JohnE]

I don't think I will make it down again for a while myself either, by you never know. Maybe not til tog season. Spade definitely way stronger swimmers than trigger.

I did not think spade would be very good for ceviche. I should have tried some. How do you make your ceviche, Joe? Mine is very simple...just lots of fresh squeezed lime juice, red onion, some spices (little salt and pepper, but also some of my secret spice mix),a little cilantro, sometimes a little fresh garlic. I could put some jalepenos occasionally, but depends on whether other people eating with me can tolerate the heat. I used to make it more often. Seems like everybody makes it different.

[JohnE]

My marinated spade fish was decent, but it was a little on the heavy side in my gut with the brown sugar based marinade. When I was thinking about ceviche, I came up with an idea for cooking the flounder fillets I still have in the fridge. I made pan fried flounder bites (flounder fillets chopped into smaller chunks, dredged in pan searing flour and shallow fried with olive oil in a cast iron skillet) to have fish tacos. I mixed up some aji verde red cabbage/black bean salad to serve on corn tortillas with the flounder bites on top and little extra aji verde sauce. I really enjoyed this...best meal I have had all week. It was light and easy on my stomach, despite being fried. Should have taken a pic of this delicious meal, but I don't mess around with fried food...I like for it to be consumed as soon as possible after cooking so it does not get soggy.