Capitola 8/23

Had the pleasure of accompanying and assisting my two good friends Freddy and Juan taking their new tandem kayak out on its maiden voyage!!!

The boys did great on the kayak, and caught a mess of RockFish as well!!!

The weather was great, the seas were calm, and even though the fish were small we had a blast catching them!!

I had camera issues when we were out there, so just have pictures of the end-product...

I also caught a big old ThornBack Ray..weird looking, spiky tailed critter!!

Between the three of us, we brought home about 15 RockFish, couple were nice size, but most were small guys, but perfect for pan-frying whole...

Really enjoyed hanging out with my good friends on the water and hope that we get to do it again soon!!

Sincerely,

Jim

Good Job.   Despite the building swell, there was a dozen guys cleaning Halibut at the Harbor...

Nice haul there Jim. Thanks for the report and pictures.

Jedmo

Way to introduce Big Jim...and what a tasty meal again I see...damn I'm doing smoked trout for din...I wish i was @ your house instead...

Thanks for dinner pic/pics and report...

I have never thought of pan frying the little guys whole.  It looks very good.  Do you do anything special to them or just "Fry Em?"

khmunger,

I scale them and gut them, then cut two slits in each side and rub a little cajun seasoning in there (but I think you could use any spice you wanted)...this is the one we use:
http://www.tonychachere.com/

My wife puts a sprig of fresh rosemary in the belly cavity of hers from our bush out front, and she likes the way it fries up and gets all nice and crispy...personally, I cook mine without it, but it is kinda interesting...

I get the oil in the cast iron skillet nice and hot and fry them for 3-5 minutes on each side (depending on the size)...a good sign that they are done is when the skin is peeling off the gill-plates and you can see the white bone of the plate showing through...

Use a paper towel to pat the excess oil off, serve with a squeeze of lemon or lime, some rice and veggies and your adult beverage of choice and you are good to go!!!

The good thing is that you don't waste any meat at all and get to eat the fins, cheeks, and skin etc...definitely get a lot more out of the fish than you would by just fileting it...

Next time you keep a medium sized one you should give it a try!!!

Sincerely,

Jim

Thanks Jim!  I will definitely try this.  So far, getting these little white filets off rock fish has been an experience in protein but no taste.  This definitely looks more interesting.  I can't believe all these years I have been ordering whole fish when in Mexico (and loved it) but didn't even start to think that perhaps these are the same thing but only had to stop and think about how I would cook it.  The prevailing thought here locally is "Fish Tacos" which are fine but as you have just shown me, there is another way.  Thanks again!

Nice catches!  Thanks for the report and pictures Jim.

I guess we did good compared to the rentals out of Cap today!! 

http://capitolaboatandbait.com/2009/08/23/capitola-the-rock-cod-o-lator-rules-the-day

Sincerely,

Jim

I don't know, should we show the rentals where and how to fish??????  If they follow us into the kelp and get stuck, do we have to help and get them out?????? Or can we leave them there and go fish another honey hole!!!!!

Leave them stuck there!!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Great report thanks for the cooking tips

Nice score, Jim, looks like you guys had a great time. Thanks for the report