BlogSeptember 2014

It’s All Good

It’s All Good

By Andy Whitcomb

Sep 15, 2014

When my wife’s 105 year old “Uncle” learned that she was accepted to graduate school at Iowa State University in the field of Fisheries, he shared these words of wisdom: “I prefer McDonald’s fish sandwich over Burger King’s fish sandwich. I think it’s the bun.”

When my wife’s 105 year old “Uncle” learned that she was accepted to graduate school at Iowa State University in the field of Fisheries, he shared these words of wisdom: “I prefer McDonald’s fish sandwich over Burger King’s fish sandwich. I think it’s the bun.”

When people learn that I am a fisherman, they often ask what my favorite fish to eat is. Although I mainly practice catch and release, I like to eat fish and have sampled many species. Just the freshwater fish options make this tough to answer. How do you choose between walleye, crappie, and catfish? And then there are the tasty saltwater options of mahi-mahi, snapper, ono, salmon, halibut, (I could go on for a while.)

Frankly, as long as it is prepared correctly, it is all good. Grilled, smoked, fried, baked, even raw sashimi. Cooking a delicious fish meal can be as simple as cleaning fresh trout, then wrapping in tinfoil with a little lemon and butter for a few minutes on a tiny camp stove.

If you are looking for more of a recipe to follow, you might want to try this from author, Keith “Catfish” Sutton.

“Pour a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce in a half-gallon of milk. Stir. Soak all the catfish in this mixture for an hour or two before breading in seasoned cornmeal and deep-frying in peanut oil heated to 365 degrees. The fish is done when it flakes easily with a fork. Don’t overcook or it won’t be as good.”

But if I had to pick one favorite fish dish, I think it would be my Dad’s crappie. Though not much of a cook beyond frying eggs, for some reason crappie fillets were his thing. No written recipe, so it varied depending on his mood and what he could locate in the spice rack.

What’s your favorite fish to eat?

Andy Whitcomb
Andy Whitcomb
Andy is an outdoor writer (http://www.justkeepreeling.com/) and stressed-out Dad has contributed over 380 blogs to takemefishing.org since 2011. Born in Florida, but raised on banks of Oklahoma farm ponds, he now chases pike, smallmouth bass, and steelhead in Pennsylvania. After earning a B.S. in Zoology from OSU, he worked in fish hatcheries and as a fisheries research technician at OSU, Iowa State, and Michigan State.