STORY TIME and REPORT: Fathers day weekend 2019. Jess, Squiggles and I had all day family plans on Sunday (Roaring Camp), so I got the unusual green light to double dive Friday night and Saturday morning.

Dive 1) Friday night, Nico, Sam and I went to stare at the sand because I really want to cook some halibut, but after 4 of us (including Big Jim who was getting out when we were getting in) combed the bottom and came up buttless. Just a week before my buddies all limited so it was a bit of a bummer, but I did find a few trigger fish near some random structure that had some really small crevices (where these fish like to hide). I decided to take one because I didn't get one yet this year and I wanted to cook it again. Last year I did Trigger Fish 3 ways and it came out rad! Recipe Here) We swam a pretty good distance looking for butts but no luck outside of one that looked just shy of legal, although we did play with several skates,  a school of undersized stripers, and a bunch of small squid (which you could grab by hand). We got out of the water around 10p. I didn't notice until I got home but the trigger fish had some kind of flesh and fin eating disease. I decided better not eat it, it was in pretty bad shape. Bummer...

Dive 2) Ohhhhhh man. Saturday morning. Just a few hours of sleep and I was up and loading my yak. I've been trying to get to this one spot at least 4 times but the swell was always popping too hard to initiate lowering a kayak down a cliff (and back up). This time was different. It was far from ideal, but myself and the two guys I was with (both >90ft freedivers) wanted a fun story to tell. So I broke out the rappelling gear and 80' rope. We had a local advise us not to go out in the big 5-6ft swells... but we graciously mentioned we're all certified freedivers and have been out in much worse but promised to come back in if it got too hairy. I hope you guys don't recognize the cliff in the photo that we had to rappel and climb down because I want to keep this spot on the DL... but suffice it to say there are some high grade fishies here. You know it's going to be a good day when you are the first one off your yak and in the water looking into a school of blues where the smallest in the school is bigger than most other schools you see around the usual Monterey spots. Swell was definitely up and down, surge was kind of odd and circular at times (not predictably pushing one way or the other) but the visibility was a pretty clear 35'. Didn't find any big lings (as is unfortunately usual for my MO, but we saw large every other kind of RF). We were all super selective on what we shot - I took 2 blues at 16.5" and 16" and a black and yellow (I thought I was going to upgrade my DOTY submission, but was just .25" short at 13" (those things are naturally small, ya know). CJ got a nice greenling and Giray got a couple fat blues.

With a steep shore break on the return, I came in first to help the other two in case of yardsaleage. Thankfully, despite it being a struggle bus of a landing, no one tipped flipped or dipped. Upon climbing back up the cliff, we had a nice system worked out where one of us was on the bottom collecting the gear and climbing it up to hand it up to the next guy who would take it up and hand it up to the top guy who piled it at the top and climbed back down. Conveyor belt rock climb status. Someone else that had climbed down snapped a photo (while laughing) of us hoisting the yak back up the cliff with the help of an ATC, webbing and the 2 guys helping guide and reduce yak damage. We were all so pumped on the wonderful adventure and to make it back to safety, mostly unscathed. We met a gal living in her truck at the top who was interested in our fish so we gave her some to cook. SUPER fun dive and can't wait for the next window of great conditions to do it all again. I'm super sore in all kinds of muscles but it was totally worth it!

My pops made sure I grew up fishing rivers, lakes, and ponds. When I started to spearfish a couple years back, it was simply to enjoy being underwater and hunting fish in a new way. Then I started to really dig the challenge of breath holds and understanding fish behavior and their habitat. A new and unexpected joy has been figuring out fun and creative ways to utilize fish and their various parts, try to make them taste good, and then try to attractively plate them. I shot a lingcod and a Blue on Friday afternoon while my buddy was in town from LA.

It was fun on Sunday, sitting down in the early morning to decide which plate to use, then which colors will go on that plate, then what flavors can come from those colors. I still didn't have a great idea going into it, other than Ariel Merhav's recent Chinese take on lingcod that made me want to do something Asian. It was neat learning that we have several edible flowers right in Pacific Grove, so I went out hunting after a trip to the grocery store and Asian market. I also stopped by Home Depot to get a torch for burning some of the food. Here is how it came out.

Spicy Shiitake "quenelle", Lingcod over Burned Lemon in a Soy, Sake, Vinegar and Ginger Reduction. Recipe Below -->











RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS:

Mushrooms:
Add sliced carrot, onion, garlic and mushroom to a large non-stick pan with a little olive oil and sautee. Don't clean the pan. Add it to a food processor with italian seasoning, fresh parsley, fresh oregano, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Process it as smooth or rough of a texture as you'd like it to be. It should shape well no matter the consistency. I used a flower pedal, micro greens, a dot of Sriracha and Hawaiian black salt to garnish it.

Sauce Reduction:
Add 3 TBS Mirin (sweet rice wine), 2 TBS finely chopped ginger, 2 TBS low sodium soy sauce, 2 TBS rice vinegar, 1/2 TBS olive oil, 1/4 TBS sesame oil, pinch of salt to a sauce pan. Simmer for as long as you want to get the desired consistency. I was going for more syrup like. I also strained the ginger, but you could leave it in if you wanted more zing in the dish (if you were using rice or something, this would be great).

The fish was cooked in the same pan as the mushrooms and I poured some of the sauce reduction over it while cooking. This dish would also be really good with the fish crusted, but we try to eat on the healthier side, so we went with pan cooked. I burned a few slices of lemon with a, and then rubbed them over the fish once plated.

The garnish was just edamame and lemon, sliced Brussels sprouts that were cooked in the fish pan with some water to make steam, edible flowers, julienned scallions, ginger root and red bell pepper.

Overall, my favorite flavor was the burned lemon and the sauce. Come to find out it's basically just a zingier fresh version of terriaki sauce. My wife ended up wanting the rest of the mushrooms because those were her favorite!

Bon Apetite!

Anyone know who it was that got rescued from Lovers Point on 5/12?

My wife and I were driving home on our typical route on Sunday afternoon that takes us by the ocean and in this case, Lovers Point in Pacific Grove. She pointed out a flipped kayak tangled in the seaweed. I immediately pulled over, jumped out of the car and walked to the edge of the cliff where I saw a brown kayak (kind of looked like a Hobie but couldn't tell). I yelled to see if he was ok (he was moving but struggling and not getting back up or responding to me). He flipped his kayak over a few times but it kept going back upside down. I sprinted down to the kayak rental place to inform them, the said the guy appeared to be fishing before flipping. I asked to use one of their rental kayaks to go over and assist him. He said no because it's a liability. I said I'd sign the waiver quickly, to which he again replied no. It was strange but the guy in the shop (older gentleman) didn't seem too worried about it. He walked down to one of his kayak guides, let him know the situation, walked back, and in no rush, got one of his yaks, and carried it down to paddle over to the guy. Meanwhile the coast guard was called and showed up to assist the guy out of the kelp.

I was nearly ready to "steal" one of the rental yaks because the elapsed time was probably about 9 minutes already which I knew for someone in poor health and waders with no PFD might have been too late. Thankfully the guy was wearing a PFD. Coast guard got there about 6 minutes later. I kept an eye on the guy from back at the cliffs which was nearer than the beach, in case I needed to jump in (in street clothes) to help him out. I've swam the cold water without wet suits (used to polar dive) and was confident I could reach and assist if needed.

The green circle in the pic is where the guy was reportedly fishing at, and flipped at. Anyone know who he was?

Just goes to show how important it is to continue to remind people to practice self rescue and safety on a yak and in the water. Thankfully Coast Guard rescued him and his yak.

Fun little recipe that's SUPER easy to do at home and TASTY! The best part of this recipe was figuring out a fun way to plate it. My wife just surprised me with 4 new plating plates which are going to be featured in future recipe posts  Outside of sushi and stir fry, I don't do much Asian inspired cooking. Figured I'd give it a shot with a Verm I recently got down in Big Sur. Recipe below.





I recently showed Jose how to catch a Verm by aspetto diving and scratching rocks. We were supposed to mean mug by the flower fields for a funny photo but he couldn't contain his stoke on getting his first Verm!


RECIPE:

Vermilion Fillets - minimally season. Use Sesame oil in pan for cooking fish. Right before they are finished add some soy sauce to the pan. I garnished with some Italian parsley from our herb garden.

Gyoza - cook according to packaging instructions... I'm not dedicated enough to make my own yet. 
Brown Rice with butter, shredded seaweed and sesame.

Spicy Garlic Edamame - Get a pan nice and hot, add a high heat oil like canola or avocado, and then add sesame oil as well (about 1:1). Add in chopped but not minced garlic, let it start to become fragrant and right when some of the garlic is starting to brown, add the strained, thawed edamame. Sprinkle in chili flakes and some chili powder. Add an unhealthy amount of coarse salt. Keep the edamame from burning on the high heat but let the shells begin to brown. Right at the very end, sprinkle a small amount of sugar over the edamame and about 2 tbsp of low sodium soy sauce. Toss a few times and serve warm.

Spicy Mayo - Mayo, Sriracha, sesame oil, water

I have a long time buddy that has a 26' Osprey and over the years we've got some really nice fish! Even though the bite was super slow for everyone on Sunday - we fished for almost 10 hours, we still managed to wrangle in a few salmon. The largest salmon was peeling line like a tuna no matter how tight I put the drag on... I was fighting for a good few minutes before I felt something pull it super hard and then it went limp... dang sea lion! I reeled in a half of a fish as fast as I could and right before we could get it on the boat, the sea lion grabbed it again and took the rest of it. So he had sushi too.

The other fish I successfully landed, I took home the collar, belly meat, fillets, head and spine. Had a great time last night making sushi with my wife and figuring out fun ways to use the meat from various parts of the fish. I didn't even really need to touch the fillets for the rolls because there was so much meat from everywhere else. One of my biggest challenges when attempting to get inventive in the kitchen is figuring out how to plate the food in an attractive way. At least it tasted good! I'm super grateful that my wife who was recently pregnant and the thought of fish sickened her, is now back in love with fish!!! I'm really excited to surprise my good buddy with the collar and a fat fillet - he loves fish!

The recipe for this yummy meal is below:

   

   

   

Sushi Rice:
2 cups sushi or short grain rice
2.5 cups water, plus extra for rinsing rice
1/4 cup rice vinegar (I recently ran out so I used white wine vinegar instead and it tasted great)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Place the rice into a mesh strainer. Swirl the rice in the water until the water runs clear. Place the rice and 2.5 cups of water into a medium saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover. Cook for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.
Combine the rice vinegar, oil, sugar and salt in a small sauce pan and heat until sugar dissolves. Pour over rice and mix thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using.

Sushi Roll
I push rice onto a piece of plastic wrap (as thin as possible), then I get a sheet of seaweed and mist it with water so it doesn't crack when rolling, then basically you add whatever you want in the roll. I used salmon, avocado, green onion, sriracha, carrot (and I forgot cucumber at the store!). Roll it up and slice. Sprinkle furikake seasoning and sesame seeds. You could use salmon roe to top it, but my buddy threw it overboard when gutting the fish on the water (doh!).

Spicy Sashimi and belly skin chicharrones with Micro Greens
Flatten a ball of rice, add thick cuts of meat. top with seasonings and sesame oil. On the side, add sriracha, wasabi, and veggies. The micro greens were an afterthought but it actually made the whole dish pop with awesome and contrasting flavor with a bit of crunch. I bent metal skewers to shishkabob some salmon skin (make sure you descale it first!) and fry it otherwise it tends to shrivel up when cooking.

Miso Soup
I cheated and used a packet.

If you like sake, I recommend unfiltered cold sake. Bon apetite!!

I thought I posted this recipe here back in December when I shot and ate the fish with the fam... better late than never!
Cilantro seared Mahi sashimi appetizer. Honey, soy, and ginger glazed Mahi steaks on brown rice with spicy pineapple salsa. (Recipe and Pics Below)

So much fun to prepare pelagic fish that you don’t need to cook fully! Even more fun when the whole family digs eating it. I’d fight another shark for this meal - we got circled by 6 tigers and charged by a silky which Rob and I ended up tagging (). Huge mahalo again to Rob White of Blue Water Spearfishing Charter for the successful trip   http://www.bluewaterhunterspearfishingcharters.com/ 

Sashimi
Paint one side of the fillet with sesame oil, and dip it in chopped cilantro. Sear it on one side and then slice into bite size peices.
Garnish with shredded daikon radishes and carrot, sliced lemon and cucumber and soy sauce for dipping.

Honey Glazed Mahi Mahi
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp honey
2 tsp grated fresh ginger root
3 clove garlic
2 tsp olive oil
4 fresh mahi mahi fillets
1 Tbsp butter
Salt to Taste

Combine the honey, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, ginger, garlic, and olive oil. Season the fish fillets with salt and dip in the mixture. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat (don't let it brown). Drop the fillets on the skillet but keep marinade for dressing fish after plating. Fry fish for 4-6 minutes on each side and serve immediately over brown rice. Add a lime twist as garnish on top of fish.

Mango Salsa
Chop ripe mangos, red bell pepper, jalepeno, cilantro, red onion and add it in a bowl. Top with a bunch of lime juice and salt. It tastes better if it has time to sit so make it before you start on the fish and keep in fridge.

I am in the early stages of planning a spearfishing competition for later this year. It's purpose will be to promote sustainability and making use of more of the meat than just the fillets (i.e. belly, collar, cheeks, etc) and all proceeds will be going toward a local non-profit. We already have sponsors and interest in the unique structure of the competition. I'll make another post about that once we have the details ironed out. In the mean time, I am interested in having a gyotaku station set up for the competitors (or guests) to partake in. I have 0 experience with gyotaku but have seen pics of some of the past NCKA events that had them.

A couple questions for those with experience in the art or in facilitating the activity at an event:

1) Are people usually interested in doing it, if it is available?
2) How much would be a good fee (included in the entrance fee or separately) per person to cover expenses for the paper, paint and supplies?
3) Depending on the date, can you recommend someone that might be willing to help people on the day of the event (aka man the booth)?
4) How much more difficult is it to do on a shirt vs the right paper?
5) Any words of advice?

Thank you in advance NCKA. I appreciate you guys and look forward to meeting more of you at Barryessa this weekend. I'll be there Fri night-Sun.