Fish Stories

[Rruuff Day]

Well... Back from my annual fishing trip and thought I would post a quick blurp for anyone at all interested .... After much consideration, my buddy Larry and I decided to go back to Northern Manitoba, albeit to a different lake than last year but with the same outfitter and to a lake we had been to before.
Wings over Kississing is an Air Charter service with a float plane base in Flin Flon,Manitoba. This is only a small part of the operation as they also offer executive, industrial, and other types of flight services in the North. The company is owned by Curt Enns and his family, and speaking from the experience of seven different fishing excursions with this outfitter, they couldn't come more highly recommended.
Anyway. This year we chose to return to Hassett Lake and it's next door neighbour lake, Guthrie lake, about 60 miles North of Flin Flon and all civilization. Hassett Lake is full (and this is not an exaggeration) of hungry lake trout and Guthrie teems with Walleye, Northern Pike, and the occasional perch. The Lake trout typically run about 4 to 7 pounds... the walleye about the same, and the Northerns.... well.... my largest was from a previous trip to this lake and measured 48 inches and 27 pounds.... This time around, although more plentiful it seemed, my largest was only about 3 feet long
No one believes my fish stories but I would not be amiss claiming that in five days of fishing, our party of four caught and released several hundred fish in all three of the species noted above. Oh.... and one perch...lol...
The weather for the most part was great right up until they came to get us Friday morning, which always makes for a fun flight back to Flin Flon.... Anyway... five glorious days with two lakes all to ourselves... no phone, no internet, no people, no stress other than the dirty looks I got as the poker money winner for the week... lol...
Enough babble....here's a few pictures...

This guy just gave us the dirty look for intruding into his domain....

Larry and Dave flirting with our pilot while Dick and I hauled the gear in

The '185' that flew in the rest of our gear and our cabin for the week

A typical midnight sunset

A very typical lake trout

A nice Northern

And one lonely little perch

Catching Lakers on the fly at our cabin

And finally the picture that should have been on our dollar coin....lol....

 

[nascar03]

Eric..
Great pics and wonderful stories.
That looks so peaceful to get away like that..
Thanx for sharing.

Graham

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Eric, great story and pictures. You must be getting travel writing tips from Brenda!

I see the essentials are sitting right on top, 16 rolls better be enough.

Glad you had another successful adventure and made It home safe and sound.

Thanks for sharing the trip with us.

 

[MikeysZ06]

Larry and Dave flirting with our pilot while Dick and I hauled the gear in

View attachment 9697


The '185' that flew in the rest of our gear and our cabin for the week

View attachment 9698]

Eric,great week and excellent pics. Can only imagine the ones that " got away ". Also,Gotta love a girl who flys a Dehavilland Beaver on floats. A legendary Canadian aircraft those are and a handfull to fly too. And the 185 floaty is a nice ride as well. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Rruuff Day]

16 rolls Murray?... That was just the BS cleanup supply.... There were another 16 there somewhere for regular duty...

That Dehavilland is a true workhorse... I have flown on it and with Claudia several times and in some nasty weather too. She is a great pilot and not hard to look at either.

 

[Jeremiad]

Thanks for posting this up, Eric! Fantastic pictures and great story! I was very happy to click into this today and enjoy a mini-vacation even if it was just for a few minutes! Thank you!

My wife is going to be leaving in a couple of weeks to go on another fishing trip that her company puts on every year. She was invited last year by the CFO, and this year she will be going with the Technical Operations group.

I am very proud and happy for her for getting this opportunity, but I am also so jealous that I am not allowed to go too. LOL. Life can be so unfair! haha.

After I drop her off at the hangar in Calgary she will board a private jet and fly to Prince Rupert, BC, where she will board a float plane to take her to the company-owned lodge where she stays in five-star accommodations the likes of which I have only seen in photos which I am not allowed to share. It is amazing. She will be forced to rise early and get on a magnificent boat with professional fishermen who will take her to a spot off the coast of Alaska where they use high-tech radar equipment to find the fish and set the depth of the rods and bait while her job is to choose a beverage and watch for the rod to bend. She does have to reel it in, and then Sven will pull it aboard and do the dirty work for her, including helping her hold it up for the picture. When they get back to shore, Klaus will cut and fillet, vacuum-pack and flash-freeze the fish for shipping back home while she chooses to mingle with her peers by the roasting fire on the beach or just go up to her room at the lodge to the heated bathroom floors for a hot shower and a massage.

Last year she got an award for the amount and the size of the fish that she caught, and even had to throw some small (<35lb) ones back so as not to exceed the license limits in the search for bigger ones. I am slightly embarrassed that my wife has never even been interested in fishing and yet she has caught bigger fish than I ever have in my 12-foot leaky aluminum puddle jumper with a 1983 Mercury 9.9.



This year will be extra special when she goes out wearing her Uncle Ray's fishing hat (he passed away from cancer 3 weeks ago) and catches the 50lb halibut that he always wanted.

 

[MikeysZ06]

Thanks for posting this up, Eric! Fantastic pictures and great story! I was very happy to click into this today and enjoy a mini-vacation even if it was just for a few minutes! Thank you!

My wife is going to be leaving in a couple of weeks to go on another fishing trip that her company puts on every year. She was invited last year by the CFO, and this year she will be going with the Technical Operations group.

I am very proud and happy for her for getting this opportunity, but I am also so jealous that I am not allowed to go too. LOL. Life can be so unfair! haha.

After I drop her off at the hangar in Calgary she will board a private jet and fly to Prince Rupert, BC, where she will board a float plane to take her to the company-owned lodge where she stays in five-star accommodations the likes of which I have only seen in photos which I am not allowed to share. It is amazing. She will be forced to rise early and get on a magnificent boat with professional fishermen who will take her to a spot off the coast of Alaska where they use high-tech radar equipment to find the fish and set the depth of the rods and bait while her job is to choose a beverage and watch for the rod to bend. She does have to reel it in, and then Sven will pull it aboard and do the dirty work for her, including helping her hold it up for the picture. When they get back to shore, Klaus will cut and fillet, vacuum-pack and flash-freeze the fish for shipping back home while she chooses to mingle with her peers by the roasting fire on the beach or just go up to her room at the lodge to the heated bathroom floors for a hot shower and a massage.

Last year she got an award for the amount and the size of the fish that she caught, and even had to throw some small (<35lb) ones back so as not to exceed the license limits in the search for bigger ones. I am slightly embarrassed that my wife has never even been interested in fishing and yet she has caught bigger fish than I ever have in my 12-foot leaky aluminum puddle jumper with a 1983 Mercury 9.9.

View attachment 9923 View attachment 9924

This year will be extra special when she goes out wearing her Uncle Ray's fishing hat (he passed away from cancer 3 weeks ago) and catches the 50lb halibut that he always wanted.

What a great time she's got coming up and certainly well deserved after what the last while has been like for both her and yourself. Happy for you both J.

 

[Rruuff Day]

Thanks for posting this up, Eric! Fantastic pictures and great story! I was very happy to click into this today and enjoy a mini-vacation even if it was just for a few minutes! Thank you!

My wife is going to be leaving in a couple of weeks to go on another fishing trip that her company puts on every year. She was invited last year by the CFO, and this year she will be going with the Technical Operations group.

I am very proud and happy for her for getting this opportunity, but I am also so jealous that I am not allowed to go too. LOL. Life can be so unfair! haha.

After I drop her off at the hangar in Calgary she will board a private jet and fly to Prince Rupert, BC, where she will board a float plane to take her to the company-owned lodge where she stays in five-star accommodations the likes of which I have only seen in photos which I am not allowed to share. It is amazing. She will be forced to rise early and get on a magnificent boat with professional fishermen who will take her to a spot off the coast of Alaska where they use high-tech radar equipment to find the fish and set the depth of the rods and bait while her job is to choose a beverage and watch for the rod to bend. She does have to reel it in, and then Sven will pull it aboard and do the dirty work for her, including helping her hold it up for the picture. When they get back to shore, Klaus will cut and fillet, vacuum-pack and flash-freeze the fish for shipping back home while she chooses to mingle with her peers by the roasting fire on the beach or just go up to her room at the lodge to the heated bathroom floors for a hot shower and a massage.

Last year she got an award for the amount and the size of the fish that she caught, and even had to throw some small (<35lb) ones back so as not to exceed the license limits in the search for bigger ones. I am slightly embarrassed that my wife has never even been interested in fishing and yet she has caught bigger fish than I ever have in my 12-foot leaky aluminum puddle jumper with a 1983 Mercury 9.9.

View attachment 9923 View attachment 9924

This year will be extra special when she goes out wearing her Uncle Ray's fishing hat (he passed away from cancer 3 weeks ago) and catches the 50lb halibut that he always wanted.

Good for her Jord! A fisherman/girl or not, there is not much any more healing and relaxing than a fishing trip whether guided and pampered or roughing it in your leaky puddle-jumper. And that big box of salmon, halibut and rock fish she will bring home doesn't hurt either. Get the smoker ready to go. Indian candied salmon is one of my favorite recipes.

 

[Jeremiad]

Well hey, feel free to share your recipe and any other smoker recipes here! I have a lot of salmon left in the freezer that I need to get rid of before she brings more home!

 

[Rruuff Day]

Sure Jordy.... Here's an easy one that makes great candied smoked salmon (actually it is a great candy recipe for any fish)

Hopefully your salmon is in filets...skin still on one side. The skin holds the smoked salmon together until it's time to eat it...

You need a plastic or glass (not metal) flat bottom dish with a cover. I use a rectangular plastic tupperware about 18" x 12" x 4" deep and do as much as I can fit in the dish (usually three layers deep)

Ingredients:
Salmon fillets with skin on one side (I find coho or springs better than pinks for smoking)
Demerara Sugar (This is a very dark brown sugar)
Coarse Sea Salt (I use sea salt for the purity but any coarse salt will work)
Pure Maple Syrup

Preparation:

• Rinse with cold water and cut the fillets into strips about 1 1/2 inches wide by about 6 inches long. Mix 4 parts brown sugar with 1 1/2 parts salt in a large bowl (How much depends on how much salmon but it takes more than you would think) Start with 4 cups sugar to 1 1/2 cups salt for about 5 pounds of salmon. Cover bottom of the rectangular dish with a 1/4 inch layer of the salt/sugar mixture
• Lay the first layer of filet strips (meat side down) on the mixture. Make sure there is a layer of mixture between the meat and the bottom of the pan. Try and leave a small gap between each filet until the first layer is complete.
• Now completely cover the filets with a 1/4 inch layer of the salt/sugar mix.
• Now lay another layer of filets (this time skin side down) on top of this layer of mix
• Again, cover this layer with the mixture as before
• You should be able to get one more layer in your dish. If not, round up enough dishes and repeat to use up the rest of the salmon you have thawed and cut.
• Finish off each dish with one last healthy layer of the salt/sugar mixture, cover it and refrigerate for a minimum of 24 hours.(I try for 36)

After you grow tired of your wife complaining because you are using up too much space in the fridge, take the dish out and get ready to smoke. Make sure you have about 6 hours of housework to do on this day as you will need to visit the smoker every 1/2 hour or so.

Getting ready to smoke:

• Get your smoker racks ready by cleaning the moldy remains of the last thing you smoked off and apply a fresh coat of Pam or some other non-stick concoction to them
• Remove the filets from the brine (yes... it's not a dry mix anymore. The salt and sugar have reacted to mostly form a briny brown liquid)
• Rinse each filet thoroughly under running cold water, ensuring there is no brine or chunks of salt left on the fish
• Gently pat down the filets with your wife's favorite bath towel and lay them single layer, skin side down, on your greased racks
• Now (and this is important), let the fish sit in a breezy fresh air place for 30 minutes or more until there is no sign of surface moisture anywhere. I usually place a fan in front of an open window and blow the air across the filets and into the remainder of the house.. (This also works great in drawing your wife's attention away from what you did to her bath towel)
• Since you are no longer welcome in the house, take a case of cold ones and the racks of almost air-dried salmon strips out to your smoker and while they finish air drying, heat your smoker oven up to about 150 degrees F (60 C) and have a beer. No smoke yet.
• After your first beer is gone, place the racks of salmon into the oven, leave the oven air vent to expel moisture, have another beer and allow the salmon to come up a bit in temperature (20 minutes or so).
• Now you can add your wood chips (Don't fret too much on what kind. I have a Bradley smoker and use whatever flavor wood pucks I have on hand). It's all good.
• Wait 30 minutes and then run back into the house to get the bottle of maple syrup, a small bowl, and a basting brush that you forgot.. (trying hard to ignore your wife's ranting about the smell of the house and why the laundry basket also smells like salty fish)
• Now for the easy part.... Brush each piece of fish with the maple syrup now, and every 1 1/2 beers from now on (about 40 minutes apart)
• Depending on your smoker, you might also want to rotate and turn the racks each time you baste them for even heat distribution
• I smoke for 160 minutes (give or take a few seconds) and depending on how dry or moist you like it, I heat for about another 2 hours without smoke.. still basting maple syrup every 40 minutes. The object here is not to actually cook the fish so be careful to keep the heat down around that 140 to 150 range...
• If you haven't eaten it all before now, and you can still stand after all the beers, remove the racks and put them somewhere to cool down for an hour or so. The house is probably no longer an option at this point so I would not even try....
• Once it's cooled down. I bag it about 6 pieces to the bag and freeze it

Remind people not to eat the skin... It's only there to keep the fish from flaking into little pieces. The skin will strip off really easy after it's smoked and you are eating it.
There are lots of variations you can play with for different tastes ... just before you put it in the smoker, some add bourbon to the mix....sprinkling a little pepper on the filets as well is another variation...

For anyone who doesn't have a smoker and wants to start experimenting, I highly recommend the Bradley Smoker. I got mine in the US before they were ever heard of up here and it still works great after over 20 years. The Bradley has a separate smoke generator that does not heat up the smoke chamber. This allows consistent heat control (separate burner) over your smoke oven and no heat at all if you just want to cold smoke. I have done raw roasts, chickens, turkeys, etc. froze them and cooked them later in a conventional over.... tasty tasty.... I have even cold smoked varieties of cheese this way.... And no... I'm not receiving any promotional graft from the company....lol...

Enjoy

 

[Dub]

Really awesome pics!

 

[Rruuff Day]

Thx Dub.

 

[Jeremiad]

Thanks for the recipe Eric, I will definitely try it!

Who wants some smoked salmon?

 

[MikeysZ06]

Who wants some smoked salmon?

Seriously?

 

[Riley P]

Sounds like a great trip!....and a great recipie for the smoker when you need to be forced out of the house.
Thanks for posting the pictures!

 

[Jeremiad]

Seriously?

No kidding! Honest Honkey! I have about 10 untreated steakettes left that need to go to make room for fresh stuff. I'm going shopping in the morning to get some stuff to try Eric's smoker recipe, and if you would prefer some untouched salmon to do your own thing, I can do that too. Let me know what you want, and come get some!

 

[Pep]

Great recipe but one very important question. HOW are you still married Eric?

 

[MikeysZ06]

Just want to post a very big thank you to Jordan and his wife for giving my parents more Salmon than they know what to do with. Jordan,my Mom says you went way to big !! She just looked at me with almost weepy eyes,I kid you not. So from my mother Janet and Father,Ron. Thank you so much for your generosity and for helping with my intake system. I'll be cleaning that this coming week.

Again J.