sea bass

[grahoom]

went fishing thursday night - managed to catch a sea bass.

was fishing off brighton beach, using squid as bait, on a 3 hook rig. - it was at night time and just as the tide was at high tide (or just on the turn).

i cooked it as followed.

de-scaled, top and tailed.
slicing both sides three times,
rubbed lemon juice, salt, pepper, tyme, balsamic vinegar.
stuffed with half cooked brown rice.
with garlic and onions surrounding the fish, it was placed in a baking tray and roasted for 20-30 minutes in an oven at around 250C .

 

[scruff]

could u still taste the fish??!!

 

[grahoom]

could u still taste the fish??!!

yup it tasting amazing!

 

[scruff]

>slurp<

i wish i wasnt so darn land-locked!

 

[Moonraker]

Very nice fish Sounds tasty.

 

[lardbloke]

I find sea bass very over rated. About ten years ago you couldnt give it away and now everyone wants it. Why?? because of fashion. All the effort to try and catch an inferior fish, its about the same taste as a mackerel except it looks nicer and is bigger (now that should spark some debate). I prefer hand line fishing for rass off a nice rock using limpets as bait, now they do taste foul....
Does anyone else out there try hand line fishing??

 

[tomtom]

i fish with a hand line.. from a boat and from rocks.. not interested in catching rass though

Grahoom nice catch mate.. i quite like sea bass and have had sucess with sandeels.. we normaly dont try for them untill later in the year though!

 

[grahoom]

tomtom, i wasn't really after sea bass, i was after what ever takes the bait, just the week before my friend had caught a sea bass from the same spot so we thought it was worth giving it ago again.

did catch an eel the other week, but let it go - never tried eel - whats your verdict on it tomtom?
any good tips on preparing them, i find them slippery!!!

 

[weekend_warrior]

I normally fish with a beachcaster or my carp rods, float gear etc...

I'll be bringing my hobo handline kit with me to the MM Meet - just for a laugh and the standard hook injuries...

 

[Spacemonkey]

Our restaraunt cooks bass in ginger and spring onion. Mmmm...

Went salt water flyfishing for the first time this weekend. Met up with some guys from a SWFF forum at Worbarrow Bay, Purbecks, for some tuition. Now I can cast a fly to a fashion! More practice required, but I'm hooked if you excuse the pun. Much more fun than baitfishing. The guys caught pollack and bass, but I got nought but a cold as I was just trying to get the hang of it. Killed 3 flies though. It's darned tricky on a beach!

 

[grahoom]

Spacemonkey, never done flyfishing (salt water or fresh water) - it looks like something i could get into - only really (over the last 2 years) gotten into sea fishing. might have to have a go at it someday soon.

 

[lardbloke]

Eel can taste real manky if not cleaned correctly and is ok fried with a little garlic etc, but I do not like it that much....

 

[Spacemonkey]

Grahoom, if you're interested in SWIFFING (salt water fly fishing) then check out:

http://www.ukswff.co.uk/index.htm
and
http://www.fishandfly.co.uk/sal****er.html

I'm sure if you checkout a meeting on the UKSWFF forum they will help you out with advice and a bit of help to get you going. The bets thing is to start with casting lessons of some sort, as this is the most important bit. Chest waders of sorts (the new breathable type seem to be the best) and a line stripping basket are vital, from my short experiences. I feel yet another expensive trip to the shops coming on!!

 

[jim_w]

Hahahah. "salt water" broke the auto-censor!

 

[Spacemonkey]

Again... I'll remember one day! Paste and edit methinks

 

[tomtom]

tomtom, i wasn't really after sea bass, i was after what ever takes the bait, just the week before my friend had caught a sea bass from the same spot so we thought it was worth giving it ago again.

did catch an eel the other week, but let it go - never tried eel - whats your verdict on it tomtom?
any good tips on preparing them, i find them slippery!!!

i havent tried eel either.. or caught it for that matter.. i have been meaning to try the bag method.. but not as yet as for preparing them i have read an interesting bit in Hugh Furly-Whatsitcallit river cottage cookbook!
apparently the skin is very hard to remove so you nail its head to a post.. then cut around its neck and pull the skin off like a sock..! something i want to try

for some reason 'eel' doesnt sound tasty to me... :shrug: but i'll try it anyhow!

 

[Spacemonkey]

Went casting in the local fields today and now can reliably hit 15 metres in a cast, so I'm getting there! Picked up some fake bread and sweetcorn so I can get some practice on a carp pond, as being in London, there's not much sea near here.... Fly fishing is so much more fun, that the other tackle is probably going to live in the cupboard for a while yet!

 

[spamel]

I did some handlining in Oman, I broke out my survival kit when our idea of trawling for fish with a mozzie net and a blow up mattress as our ship failed!!! It took me back to my childhood that, trying to make a hang glider with my brother out of an old cardboard box and a jump off the garage roof!!! Anyway, I digress...

I used about a foot of fishing line, hook one end and swivel the other, then tied on about 3 yards of army green string, like the stuff gardeners use to tie plants to sticks. Kick a crab and stick some meat on the hook, wade into the water up to your chest and wait for the bites. And we got a few bites I can tell you.

A few weeks later, some of the guys got a fold away fishing rod each, one caught a stingray and the other caught a small baby shark! The tail of the stingray was cut off with a torn coke can of all things as they didn't have a knife between them, and they took both up to the camp for the chef to barbecue. They said it was lovely!!!

 

[bushbasher]

Sea Bass is a fantastic Fish if it is prepared well, Stuffed with chopped olives, sun dried Tomatoes Garlic and Herbs before wraping in Kelp and cooking in a ground oven. Serve with Buttered New potatoes and lightly steamed Rock Samphire. A nice bottle of Chablis chilled in a stream is a perfect accompaniment.

I like to catch them from a Kayak using a hand line.

Mackerel is the perfect fish to cook over the embers of a fire. No need for any fancy preparation, just gut them and cook them on a stick or on a grill. If you use the stick method it is worth using several thin skewers through the main stick to prevent the fish from falling apart when cooked.

 

[Dhole]

Eep

Twas I the other Who caught Bass the week before Grahoom. And Dang tasty that was too. I can understand people thinking Bass is over rated , but thats what you get if you belive the hype. Makerel is the daddy fish , everyone should know that.
As for Eel I have eaten conger Eel (local caught) and that was rank, very fishy tasting and smelly. I did have some nice tinned chinese eel the other day. Very nice , smoked in a rich sauce. I think thats the way to cook it. Mix something string tasting with it. I will eat the next good looking eel I catch.

Ide like to give fresh water fishing a go. you just dont hear of people eating the fish thouygh. I cant be bothered to pull a fish out look at it and put it back. What is a tasty fresh water fish apart from something like trout or salmon ?

dave