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Winter Barred Surf Perch

In this video, we went out for a short trip in the morning. Little did we know, we would set up for a following year of epic fishing and friendship. It literally help kick off Hook2cook and the Hook2Cook Family to what it is now and what it will be in the future.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This episode really propelled the channel in a good direction. It Helped keep the focus on the fun we can have with friends and loved ones. It had a great mix of education as well as entertainment.

The reason we do what we do is to share some great experiences.

Minimize wasted meat when filleting fish

We get a few comments here and there about why we scale and gut fish if we’re filleting. There’s a few reasons for scaling.

One reason is breaking through scales with your knife can dull your blade.

Next is it’s just plain messy. It’s good to just handle all the mess and clean it and work with fish without a scale in sight.

Also, this helps remove all slime and creates a less slippery fish to deal with.

In terms of gutting the fish, this allows you to be able to give the fish a wash so when you’re done with your fillet job, you don’t need to wash the fillets introducing more water into the meat and washing away the flavor.

Sure these methods take more time, but in a sport and passion we love, it’s always good to take that extra time and enjoy the process instead of dreading it.

Here’s an image of how little meat we waste when doing it this way.

Salt Baked Striped Bass Catch & Cook

This was a challenging catch and cook. Fortunately, even with the tough conditions and slow lure bite, we were able to get 1-21 inch striped bass on the Calissa Suspending minnow (Sardine Glow)

Here’s the recipe for the Striped bass

you’ll need 1 pound of course salt per pound of fish

1 egg per pound of salt

add water to make your salt mix the same consistency as wet sand

prepare your fish by cleaning inside and out- leaving the scales on (this helps making skin removal easy later. Also, clip all fins.

Once you’ve prepared your fish, stuff it with the spices and herbs/lemon you’d like

encase your fish and bake it 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until your salt crust is golden brown.

after it’s golden brown, remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.

Break open and enjoy!