Keith Lusher 08.31.24
Croaker is arguably some of the scrumptious species of inshore fish. My historical past with catching croaker goes again to my highschool days when my pals and I might catch an ice chest stuffed with fish in sooner or later.
The equation was easy: discover deep inshore passes with a transferring tide and fish on the underside utilizing a drop-shot rig. All the things was gentle—gentle line, small hooks, and an ultralight rod and reel. For bait, we’d carry a couple of useless shrimp and use small items for the primary hour or so. Then, after we ran out of shrimp, we’d reduce the stomach meat from an undersized fish and slice up small items to make use of as bait for the remainder of the day.
After filling the ice chest with fish, we’d carry them again to the home, clear them, and stack the ziplock luggage within the freezer for future fish frys. Whereas the fishing was memorable, it was the fish frys that stood out probably the most. This occasion would offer a number of the best-tasting fillets we’ve ever had.
Not a lot has modified through the years; Croaker remains to be my favourite saltwater inshore fish to serve up. Nonetheless, I’ve adopted a method I realized from an previous Cajun pal named Ben Higgins. I used to be cleansing a large number of croaker sooner or later with Higgins, and I seen him operating his fillet knife down the center of the fillet earlier than tossing it right into a bowl of ice water. I requested what he was doing, and he merely said, “I’m splitting the ends.” Higgins defined that he was slicing about 2 inches off every finish of the fillet. Since one of the best a part of fried fish is the skinny finish, which fries crispy, Higgins was creating extra of what’s most individuals’s favourite part of a fried fish fillet.
Splitting the ends is finest carried out when initially cleansing the fish, however the fillets will also be sliced proper earlier than including them to the batter.
After all, this technique just isn’t solely good for croaker but additionally for all sorts of fish. I not too long ago fried up a couple of speckled trout fillets and replicated Higgins’ “cut up finish” model. I used to be rewarded with a batch of scrumptious fillets with crispy ends.
So, in case your favourite a part of the fish fillet is the crispy fried finish part, I extremely advocate making an attempt Mr. Higgins’ cut up ends approach! It’s a crowd-pleaser and may even be a dialog starter at your subsequent barbecue!
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