Some good fishing off the Skyway Fishing Peir Saturday. Caught some spanish mackerel and snapper. Only one snapper was a keeper. Got to be 10 inches or more. And it’s the law you have to use circle hooks and that makes it a chalenge to hook em. Still lot of fun when there biting.
Skyway Pier Fishing
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Man, that sounds like a good day!
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Any day fishing is a good day. When you actually catch fish, it’s just a bonus.
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Those snapper are really good eating. That looks like a Mangrove Snapper. Nice catch.
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Used to see folks fishing from there all the time when I lived down there. Heard there was some monster groupers just waiting to be caught!
Butch B.
Ye
Yes some monster grouper for sure. Course I didn’t catch any. The dolphins were jumpin, herds of stingray. One guy caught a baby shark.
And I made a new friend
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I went out again today with my neighbor Joe. He has a boat so we anchored under the Skyway and by did we hit the jackpot. Fish dinner tonight.
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Alright!
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I envy you! We never catch fish like that off any pier in GA… you’re lucky to catch a red or trout. I’m headed to Port St Joe this weekend for some inshore fishing. I absolutely love fishing there. It’s awesome that you can see the trout before they hit
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@Roger113 Have you ever smoked your fish? If so, do you have a favorite brine and smoking method to share?
It wasn’t directed to me, but that never stops me 
Here’s a great recipe I use on salmon filets, but I would think it would work on other fish as long as it is a pretty decent thickness.
- Skin and debone the filets. Marinate the filets in dark rum for about 15 minutes. Drain it and blot it dry. If there are college kids around, you could probably sell the slightly used rum.
- Make a fish cure from 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup course salt and 1 tablespoon pepper.
- In a casserole dish make a bed of the cure with a little less than half the cure. Lay the filet(s) on it and put the rest of the cure on top (cover it). Pat it in there. Cover with saran wrap and put it in the fridge for about 4 hours.
- Rinse the cure off the filets and pat dry. They can hold at this stage for a while in the fridge if you aren’t ready to cook.
- Oil the grate well. Cook on indirect heat with lots of smoke. I do it pretty hot (300) and it’s done in 15 to 20 minutes. You poke it to see if it is firm and flakes (if so, it’s done). Some people like colder smoking. I’ve tried it and it didn’t make a huge difference to me. The kind of smoke is personal preference. I usually did pecan or hickory (they are similar). Others swear by fruit woods, but I am a southern guy.
- It is actually best at about room temperature or cooler. Admittedly, it doesn’t all make it to being cool again. I often eat a meal with it warm, but the leftovers are actually better.
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I’m glad you jumped in @Mike_R. Thanks for sharing!
Hopefully that’ll set a precedent for others to post their smoking tips and recipes!
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Holy cow, don’t smoke a snapper! Don’t deep fry it either. Snapper should be fileted, skinned, and fried “light.” In a hot skillet with just enough oil in the skillet to keep it from sticking. Snapper is a world class light flavored fish. Just squeeze a little lemon on the filet and you’ll have about the best fish dinner you can get.
If you get a spotted sea trout, prepare it similarly but throw some thin sliced almonds in the pan with the fish, brown up the almonds. Serve it with the almonds and lemon wedges. Flounder is the same, almonds are optional. Be careful with flounder, if you look at it, it is probably done. I’m in the camp with those that claim flounder might be the best tasting fish - no strike that. But flounder is really good. (More work to clean though.)
If you get a redfish you really have to blacken it. I like Obie’s blackening spice (look it up on the web, all his stuff is good). Have to have a fileted, skinned fish (the bones are tough to deal with, work around them or saw through and pull them out with pliers), apply the blackening spice as directed on the package, put it in a very hot cast iron skillet. It will smoke a lot, I only cook them when there is a really good ventilation hood or outside on a bbq. I don’t want to share my fish with the fire department. It cooks fast - less than ten minutes.
What do you do with grouper? Personally, I prefer blackening, but that is a fish that stands up to being deep fried. Grouper is good just about any way you cook it. You just can’t go wrong with a fish like that. Pompano is another outstanding fish. But they aren’t typically around in big numbers by the time I can vacation so I have limited experience with them.
Yep, I’m headed to the Florida panhandle for two weeks this year. Fishing every day and doing a lot of cooking. It is going to be great. I’m making myself hungry just typing this up.
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No don’t have a smoker but my neighbor has been smoking some chickens for me and he’s got me sold on getting one. I’ve had smoked mullet. That’s really good
mullet. isent that a hockey haircut.
im sorry english is not my native language.
i have to start using dictionary.
or else im gonna fit in the banjo reputation
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rofl good one
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