M
Modest_Man
While I would never eat any fish with the herp-a-lerp like in modest_mans pic. I learned from an old timer that if you havent tried it you can't say it sucks. Because of thhis feller I can tell you for sure that I absolutely dislike wild turkey kidney, liver, and heart. The gizzard was ok.
I have to agree with the old feller, Can't knock it unless you've done it. Not interested in trying it, so can't really say much more.
Onto the Fish that poor guy needs to be checked out by a doctor, so that The community at large can have a better idea what is going into rivers. As a newer resident of Oregon I know of the 2 major contaminations. In the San Fran delta , were I am from, I have never see a fish like that but have heard of of it a couple times.
Right on , I caught carp in clean clear water and they taste absolutely amazing. For smaller carp u can make small slices on the back to not feel the bonesAfter watching a couple videos on how to clean carp, I've been jonesing to catch one and try it out.
- getting a fillet
- deboning the fillet
- another fillet and deboning
Last Saturday the wife and I got an opportunity to try a lake about an hour north of Vancouver. We managed to catch our first carp.
No license required for carp fishing in Washington. We paddled a bit, dropping lines here and there then came across a bunch of them gulping air at the surface. Helps them survive when the oxygen levels get lower in the water. I tossed in a line, #4 hook baited with corn, and got a nibble. Re-baited the hook then tossed in again. My wife gets a fish and that’s when I realize I forgot the net at home. So I’m trying to help her get the fish landed when my reel starts spooling out. I have a fish on as well. My fish manages to break the leader (10lb test) so I go back to helping her get hers onto the boat.
Then the icky part of bleeding the fish out… Or was it the fisherman I’m supposed to bleed out? I cover both bases by cutting my finger while cutting the gills on the fish. While I’m waiting for the fish to expire in a bucket of water, I bandage up my finger before I start getting too light headed (I'm seeing a bright light at the end of the tunnel). Afterwards the fish is tossed onto ice in a cooler. Then, like a switch being thrown, no more bites the rest of the day. The fish weighed in at 7lbs. I didn’t measure it, probably two feet in length.
I cleaned and filleted the fish. Tried to debone it from what I could remember from the video. I need to watch it a few more times. Still got lots of bones. Cut away the red meat parts which are supposed to have the less desirable flavors and, for good measure, I put the cuts into a bowl of milk and lemon juice to marinade over night from a catfish video I saw to get rid of muddy tastes. It really didn’t seem like there was much left in the way of fillet meat, especially compared to the size of the fish.
For lunch the next day, I made a panko breading for the fish and fried the pieces up. With trepidation we tried them out and…. Wait for it…. Drum roll please…..
It was really good. No bad taste at all. And with my very limited fish pallet, I’ll go out on limb and say somewhere between cod and halibut in texture. There was enough to fill both my wife and I and there’s enough left over for a good lunch for the both of us today, so more than I thought. Did have to pick out a number of bones but wasn’t horrible. I would definitely try cooking one again.
I used about a half cup of panko breading, powdered garlic, about a teaspoon of potassium chloride (low salt diet), a pinch of basil, some paprika, and fresh ground pepper. Patted the fish dry, shook them in a bag of flour and then let sit in fridge for about 20 minutes. Dredged the pieces through two scrambled eggs in a pan and then dredged them through the panko mix before frying in oil (aimed for 375 degrees).
I've haven't done much fishing and would consider myself a rank amateur. Going after carp seemed like a nice way to try getting back into fishing.
First, get yourself a cedar plank.
Fillet the carp, put it on the cedar plank, and put it on the grill for about 30 minutes.
Then, feed the carp to the cat and eat the plank.