Cooking Your Catch - Fried, Grilled or Baked

Every fisherman has their ideas on how to cook their catch. Here are a few of mine

Fish Fry

My favorite way to cook fish, particularly panfish, like crappie or bream, or catfish, is fry them in a deep fryer. Make sure you start with clean oil in your fryer, important if you want a good flavor.

I prefer a good, old fashioned, Southern style corn meal batter. There are several commercial brands available but I like the Bass Pro Shops brand the best. Mix it with skim milk rather than water for the best results though.

Make sure that you don’t overcook. This is easy to do if you have the oil too hot or if you cook the fish too long.

I’d also recommend following up your fish with some corn meal hush puppies.

Grilled Fish

Grilling fish over open coals or on a gas grill is a bit tricky. They just don’t grill up like steaks since fish are much lower in fat. Trying to cook most fish like steak will result in something even the cat won’t eat.

There are two ways I’ve tried when grilling fish.

First, use an oil coating to seal the moisture inside the fish. You might want to try various flavored oils for this purpose. I tried a tarragon and basil flavored oil on some trout and this was quite good.

Another method I’ve tried is to wrap the fish in foil. This helps keep the flavor locked in. You can also add additional spices if you want.

I’ve also found it best to use a fish grilling basket when grilling fish. This makes it much easier to insure a consistent result and avoid overcooking.

Baked Fish

Baking is my least favorite way to cook fish. However, it is fairly simple. I prepare the fish the same way as I do for grilling although you can use a pan and float the fish in your oily spice mixture. Overcooking is a very common problem with this method since it’s so easy to just leave it in the oven and not check on the fish until it’s too late.