ocean striped bass.....????? help please

[panhead]

i am going out tonight from sheepshead bay brooklyn on a striped bass 5 hour fishing trip on a local party boat....if you know anything about striped bass in this part of the country you know that they are great this time of the year.....the fish have to be at least 28 inches to keep and i expect to get a 40 inch 30 pound fish......i hope anyway......what i need are ideas on how to smoke this monster or at least some part of it....do i need to brine it or not? any help would be appreciated ..thanks all

 

[shellbellc]

We got some striper earlier this spring from Delaware bay, it came to us filleted...now wait, I have to tell this story right. A bunch of the boys went out on a fishing trip over night for early morning fishing. They came home the next day. Well I was on one of my first experimental smokes with the new gasser so a smoked up a whole lot of different stuff and took it down to the VFW for a tasting. Well they came back from the trip and were loaded with fish, thirsty for beer, and hungry for food...I was able to help them with the beer and the food, I was rewarded with some striper fillets. Back up to the house I go. I put a fillet (about 18 inches) in the electric smoker, didn't have time to brine it, used cherry wood, some lemon pepper spices sprinkled on and drizzled with a little bit of GOOD evoo. I can't tell you exactly how long I smoked, but it was around 2+ hours. Took it back down to the VFW and passed out samples. It was excellent. I still have some in the freezer. Next time I will do it with some kind of a fruit glaze. Also, try blue in the smoker. Can't stand it any other way, but smoked is awesome!! Good luck!!!

 

[panhead]

thank you,,i am glad to hear that it needs no brine,,,i have had bluefish smoked and it is the only way i can eat it also...the bad news is that i will need to wait untill next week to get my striper .....i was out on the ocean,caught a few short fish,,,returned them back to the ocean then got hit with a huge storm....thank god we had a great captain who got us home alive,i never saw a storm like this on the ocean before......all in all it was a great experiance.like a 2 hour roller coaster ride.lol

 

[hawgheaven]

Glad you made it home safe and sound! Man, there's nothing like being out there when a storm hits... kinda puts things into perspective as to the power of Mother Nature and how we are pretty insignificant creatures against her!

 

[jaynik]

Glad you didn't die. I've never smoked them, but love to grill them in foil with some garlic, butter and lemon slices on top. Such a good tasting fish.....