18 replies to this topic

[Doyle]

I caught two 14 pound King (Chinook) salmon this morning out of Santa Cruz. The fishing is going crazy there since the season opened a little over a week ago. Boats are limiting out everyday.
So tonight will be a nice Grilled Salmon Fillet along with the incredible Perrucci Merlot.

I have about 3 pounds of the Salmon Bellies leftover from filleting that are in a Brown Sugar Salt and Garlic Brine and will smoke them tomorrow.

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[Bar Barrique]

Good to hear that the salmon are recovering in California. Our boat isn't in the water yet, but I have heard that the fishing on the north coast has been good. Nothing compares to fresh caught king/chinook salmon.

[rpage53]

They are fantastic smoked. I like to use maple syrup for the sugar. I smoked some sockeye last year but its just not as a good as the king/chinook that I've been catching for the last 2 decades. This year DFO is threatening to close sport fishing in the Strait of Juan de Fuca but I hope they see reason.
Not to brag, but this is a typical catch here in August.
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OK, I'm bragging,
Rick.

[Tomer1]

I like confit salmon. It just melts in your mouth.

[The Jay]

The only thing I don't like about salmon, is that there are none around here to fish for.

[Juniper Hill]

Nice fish. I love salmon especially smoked on a cedar plank with some maple sugar.

[DesertDance]

Count me in too! We get ours from the grocery store, and our little trick to make them taste fresh caught is to soak them in icy brine water for a few hours. On a plank on the grill... Yum! When I first met JD, it was on his "I don't like it" list, but when we prepared it on a cedar plank, it's now become his favorite!

[croat]

Now I want salmon - too bad I don't trust the salmon outta our big lake.

[Lina_Motyka]

Nice fish, congrats! I am jealous I wish we had them here, all I got are cats and blue gills in our pond

I eat salmon any which way - did you try it raw? With some Zinfandel and home baked bread and drop of lemon.

[Doyle]

For the first catch of the season I like to eat it pretty plain with just salt, pepper and some lemon slices as it grills in the BBQ. These fish had been really chowing down on the Krill so the flesh is very red. The fish are all moving down from the north so at the first of the season, they run in the 8-20 pound range with the majority around 12-15 pounds. As we get later in the season, we will get more fish in the 25 pound range. My son and I got a couple nice 45 pounders a couple years ago in the Kenai River in Alaska, but it would be rare to see that size fish here. Tonight I'll fire up the smoker and take care of those bellies.

[woodyp60]

Very nice catch - playing hookie?

Peter.

[Doyle]

No Hookie, It was the only day they had an open seat on the boat. Season has been so hot that they now booked out into the middle of next month. He is even starting 2nd trips the same day as they have been coming back in between 9 and 10 in the morning with full limits. Considering they leave at 6 and it takes an hour to get out 10 miles and another hour to get back in, they are catching their limits in 1-2 hours. On my trip, we didn't get back til noon as we had a lot of shakers and also some inexperienced guys on board that lost a number of fish. Biggest problem is what I call reefing on the rod. (pulling up and reeling down) They wind up with slack in the line and with barbless circle hooks, the salmon will just throw the hook.

[bret]

Nice catch! Reminds me of all the years I spent in Alaska on the Kenai River.

-Bret

[ajrawls]

It soon will be time to drive down to Chitna, Alaska and fish for Copper River Sockeye (my personal favorite) and Kings. I will keep the Reds and likely give the Chinook to neighbor. She does amazing things with those fish and will not share her secret.

[bzac]

back home we cook them using a technique we learned from the local first nations people. (my home town is Port Hardy , right on the northern tip of vancouver island)

Fort Rupert Salmon.

you take the head and tail off , and cut the salmon along the spine removing the spine and butter flying the salmon so the thin part of the stomach is in the middle , remove the guts .

you them maranade the salmon , I use a mix of brown sugar , soya sauce red wine and rub with a little rock salt .
but everyone has therii own way.

you then lay 4 slats of thin cedar stick across the back and frount of the salmon and wire the ends of the cedar sticks together in pairs .

you take a longer 3 inch diameter cedar post and split it half way and carve the other end to a point .

you place the salmon in its latice between the split of the cedar post and wire the end closed .

so you now have a salmon splayed out on cedar strips in the center of a cedar post .

you then stick the post in the ground next to a camp fire and turn it occasionally.

it comes out half way between bbq and smoked . apart from wire replaceing cedar bark ties and the maranade this is how the first nations peoples of the pacific northwest have been cooking salmon for thousands of years .

the secret is to backwards butterfly the fish so that the thin belly is in the center as opposed to the thick back. other wise it wont cook properly.

dont forget to soak your cedar in water, or use fresh cut wood , its harder to burn that way. but you want to cook it slowly away from the flame.

this should help but we use shorter sticks (about 4 foot long) and a camp fire closer to the ground.

if its a really big fish you might need a couple length wise thin stick in your latice . we once did a 50 pounder this way.

Attached Files

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