Posted by Silentpardner on 03/25/12 - 9:17 PM
#1
As I sit here reading with a belly packed full of Redfish Pontchartrain I prepared earlier, it occurred to me that maybe I oughta share with the group here what I have been doing with the Whaler lately.
I have been doing something that is unique for me actually, and it's working! I moved out here west of Austin TX from the Gulf Coast,(Freeport area), a few years ago after living down there for over 20 yrs. I was used to trailering my boats 1-5 miles to launch in the Brazos River and hit the Intracoastal Waterway to grab some quick bay Reds and Specks, and some flounder occasionally as well. All that changed upon my arrival here in the hill country. Suddenly, I was looking at trailering 180 miles to get back to my ol' happy fishing grounds, and the alternative appeared to be to learn to eat Bass...not really appealing to me.
I remembered way back reading about Texas Parks and Wildlife having a program where they were stocking Redfish in power plant lakes near San Antonio, only about 80 miles or so from where I am residing now, so I did a little research and located them. I joined a few local fishing boards around here and in San Antonio and gained insight on how the locals catch the Reds in freshwater lakes. They all said the most consistently succesful method for gettin' these fish in the boat was definitely using downrigger trolling techniques with spoons and plugs.
I have spent MANY days trolling offshore for Kings and Wahoo, as well as Tuna, but I never used downriggers at sea...I think I'll be doing that in the future though...anyway, I digress:)
So, I went to Austin and found a pair of Cannon Laketroll downriggers and mounted one on either side at the rear of the Outrage...I was so excited I couldn't sleep that night, so I worked all night until about 0300 getting them set up. My wife got up to feed her horses about 0700, and I talked her into going with me to Braunig Lake to try my newfound methods out. Long story short, I caught my first freshwater Redfish trolling a gold Johnson Sprite 3/4 oz spoon at about 12' in 40' water depth last December! It wasn't a monster like I was hopin' for, only 28", but I was amazed that this actually had worked!
My wife really does not care for fishing, but she enjoyed running the Outrage slowly around the lake with the Johnson 140 at approximately 1500 RPM following my direction and watching the Hummingbird screen for structure and fish holding. It was awesome for me, all I had to do was watch rods and make depth and direction calls based on the Hummingbird information. We purchased an annual park pass on our second trip, and we now go to either Calaveras or Braunig lake park a couple of times a week and have been filling the freezer just like I used to do back on the coast! I am eating well, the Whaler is running like a top, and the living is good!
I just ordered a bow mount trolling motor for the Outrage, a Minn Kota Riptide SP 70 with I-Pilot, got a couple of deep cycle batteries, ordered a 2 bank onboard charger and a set of connectors to mount all this up with and I am expecting it to arrive here in a couple of days. I am looking forward to visiting some other lakes around here for some crappie, the best freshwater fish I have ever tasted, during the spawn this month.
I have found a great recipe for Redish Pontchartrain on, believe it or not, a bowhunting site! I tried it tonight...well, I guess that explains this full belly! I blackened the fish after I made the sauce recipe...poured the sauce and ate till I was stuffed! I bet you could use any fish with this Pontchartrain sauce and it would be awesome, but I really enjoy eating it on the reds I've been catchin' :)
Here's the recipe if your interested...Bon Apitite'
¼ pound of shrimp peeled and deveined (can also substitute crawfish)
2 shallots diced (about 1 cup)
1 cup of celery diced
1 green bell pepper diced
5 cloves of garlic pressed
½ stick of butter
1 ½ cups of heavy cream
8 oz lump crab meat
2 tablespoons of Creole or Dijon mustard
2 count of sherry wine
Juice of one lemon
Salt & Pepper and your favorite Cajun Seasoning
Green onion for garnish
Redfish can be either grilled or blackened
topping
Begin by adding the butter to a medium size saucepan and sautéing the celery, bell pepper, and shallots over medium heat. Basically, this is the trinity of Cajun cuisine. Sautee until the vegetables begin softening.
Once the vegetables begin to soften add the garlic, crabmeat, shrimp and the lemon juice. Don’t be afraid to get a little of the juice from the crabmeat as well. Cook until the shrimp begin to turn orange. This should only take a couple minutes. While cooking the shrimp, and a little bit of sherry to the pan and reduce. Season with salt and paper and Cajun seasoning such as Tony's .
Add the Creole mustard and the heavy cream and bring to a boil reducing slightly. Slowly stir the sauce together until it is a happy marriage.
Squeeze whatever lemon juice is left in the lemon over the sauce to liven it up and garnish with the tips of green onion.
Pour over the grilled redfish and eat till you have to be rolled away from the table
If you don't know how to blacken redfish, here's the recipe for that:
BLACKENED REDFISH
Makes 6 servings
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter,
melted in a skillet
Seasoning mix:
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
(preferably cayenne)
3/4 teaspoon white pepper
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
6 (8- to 10-ounce) fish fillets (preferably redfish,
pompano or tilefish), cut about 1/2 inch thick
Note: Redfish and pompano are ideal for this method of cooking. If tilefish is
used, you may have to split the fillets in half horizontally to have the proper thickness. If you can’t get any of these fish, salmon steaks or red snapper
fillets can be substituted. In any case, the fillets or steaks must not be more
than 3/4 inch thick.
Heat a large cast-iron skillet over very high heat until it is beyond the
smoking stage and you see white ash in the skillet bottom (the skillet can-
not be too hot for this dish), at least 10 minutes. [Believe me, this will set
off your smoke alarm. We always do this outside. MG]
Meanwhile, pour 2 tablespoons melted butter in each of 6 small ramekins;
set aside and keep warm. Reserve the remaining butter in its skillet. Heat
the serving plates in a 250-degree [F.] oven.
Thoroughly combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl. Dip
each fillet in the reserved melted butter so that both sides are well coated; them sprinkle seasoning mix generously and evenly on both sides of the
fillets, patting it in by hand. Place in the hot skillet and pour 1 teaspoon
melted butter on top of each fillet (be careful, as the butter may flame up). Cook, uncovered, over the same high heat until the underside looks
charred, about 2 minutes (the time will vary according to the fillet’s thick-
ness and the heat of the skillet). Turn the fish over and again pour 1 tea-
spoon butter on top; cook until fish is done, about 2 minutes more. Repeat with remaining fillets. Serve each fillet while piping hot. To serve, place
one fillet and a ramekin of butter on each heated serving plate.
This works really well with snapper and grouper also, I have blackened both with awesome results!
Edited by Silentpardner on 03/25/12 - 9:29 PM