10-10-10- Offshore - Hammering the ARS

[goindeep]

Im gonna make this short and to the point cuz Im tired as hell and gotta get up EARLY tomorrow.

Myself, Ashley, Rich (fishonfishoff) and Rich's bro-in-law Ray went offshore about 30 miles out in 120 feet of water to take advantage of the re-opened Red Snapper season... Left the dock about 7:30ish, got to the first spot a little after 9am...first baits hit the bottom and within 30 seconds we had a triple Red Snapper hookup (all 3 were landed). From there we fished a few different spots for the next 5 or so hours til we headed back in around 4pm. Fish in the box for the day: 7 Red Snapper (biggest was close to 15 pounds), 3 Mango Snapper (12-16 inch range), a Kingfish (maybe 10 lbs), a nice Amberjack, and a 21 inch Red Grouper.

During the trip we also caught lots of smaller AJs, some short grouper, a couple of sharks and a 3+ft Ramora. We had an 8th barely legal ARS, but threw him back in hopes of getting a bigger one to finish our limit, but it never happened...Bait used was frozen sardines, live pinfish, and dead threadfins/greenbacks. We wont get into who caught what, but lets just say the female had the hot hand for the day...

Couldnt have asked for nicer weather, seas were smooth all day and it never got too hot.

Early AM:


Ashley with the BIGGEST Red of the day:


Kingfish:


Biggest AJ of the day:


The vessel: Grand Union II

[SkyJay]

WTG+tight+work+Ash!

[havetofish]

Nice haul Steve.
Can't wait to see the meal this time.

[goindeep]

We actially had grilled snapper last night, about 3 hours after landing it...i was too damn tired to take pics tho...lol...maybe I"ll post some smoker pics Wednesday

[goindeep]

so my first ever attempt at smoking fish went pretty well....this stuff is delicious!!!!

king on the smoker after an hour:



Finished kingfish, total time 2.5 hours:



Some will get eaten as is, the rest will become smoked fish dip.

[bodysnatcher]

Man that looks good.

[goindeep]

...it tastes even better...i really wish smoking wasnt such a pain....the results are ridiculous.

[David from NC]

The fish looks awesome....great job! I've used a smoker for years but never done fish. I'm going to have to try it after seeing your results. How long total did you keep it on?

[goindeep]

it was on the smoker for about 2hrs, 15 minutes. My smoker temp stayed between 200 and 235. I also brined the fish beforehand for about 3 hours and let it air dry for an hour before i put it on.

the brine was 2 quarts water, 3/4 cup of sea salt, 1 cup brown sugar, a little soy, cracked black pepper, bay leaf and worcestershire sauce.

[eaglesfanguy]

NIceeeee Might steal that recipe . Going to a charity thing november 20. feed the Family less.
Buddy does it every year for people who have no where to go for the holidays. Were smoking a 15 lb deer ham, 15lbs of Kingfish, a rack of ribs or 2 . And traditional oven baked Turkey.
Might try that brine for the mack. Since its previously frozen... Dunno if its any different when they are frozen whole. But we gonna find out. I know frozen fillets usually mush up.