Mackerel

[Business Time]

With the Mackerel showing up in Barkley Sound. I was wondering what they are like to eat.

Anyone have any good recipes? I was thinking of smoking some.

Thanks,

BT

 

[CIVANO]

Best use for them is crab bait.

 

[scott craven]

Best use for them is crab bait.

yep, Too much oil in the flesh, they turn out soft and mushy.

 

[hambone]

I've heard they taste really good, but never had them myself.

Hali, crab or prawn bait. Or try them out in a large Jughead for springs??

 

[Sitkaspruce]

we used to smoke them back when they invaded the sound in the early 90's. no brine, just smoked over an open flame..they were palatable....

I hear they make great hali bait.

Cheers

SS

 

[getbent]

I always wanted to try and fish them ever since i cleaned a nice big spring with a 12 incher in his gut, poetic justice i said.

We use to camp at Toquart when the Macks were in and Bruce would run a little derby for the kids, one of the girls in our camp through some in the fire after boning them out, wrapped in tinfoil, we ate them with soy and wasabi, they were freaking great!!

If I remember correctly it was a pain on the butt for her to bone 'em though....

Actually My avatar is from Toquart and the little guy beside me won the mack derby...lol

getbent

 

[Business Time]

Thanks for the info guys. Seems to be mixed reviews on them so i'm going to try them.

My son was catching them from the dock at Poett Nook this past weekend and we kept some for bait. I will get some more this weekend and see how it goes. I read that they need to be bleed and iced right away or they go bad.

BT

 

[casper5280]

Best way to do them is on a cedar plank. Put it on a wet cedar plank, some spices and a little oil. Wrap in tin foil and then throw on the bar-b-que. remove from the grill and throw away the Mackerel and eat the plank.

 

[Degree of Freedom]

remove from the grill and throw away the Mackerel and eat the plank.

...ha ha!...

 

[Dennis.t]

Smoked Mackeral is great.I buy them and smoked eel from a Europeon Deli here in town. But i think they are a different type of mackeral(imported from europe) then the ones caught off our coast. White,oily meat,really nice flavor. When i was down in California on the many piers that alot of the beaches down there have,alot of people were fishing for them and keeping them to eat.When i used to fish Sooke every summer,we kept a few one time and threw them on the Bbq in tinfoil,they were okay,but did not taste like the smoked ones i buy.

 

[CIVANO]

Had them twice both times tasted terrible. Don't we have salmon, halibut, crab?, Why eat black oiley fishey Mackeral?

 

[Steelhead S2]

I caught piles of mac's when I lived in Halifax. They are a different species I think, and were good eating. I've tried the ones out here. I found the white meat to be palatable, but the dark meat less so. All in all, too much work to make them worthwhile for me. Though, as I am really just a big kid, I still fish them at the end of the day. On light gear you get a fun little scrap out of them (better than trout), and it's fun watching the school coming.

 

[Finished Business]

Best way to do them is on a cedar plank. Put it on a wet cedar plank, some spices and a little oil. Wrap in tin foil and then throw on the bar-b-que. remove from the grill and throw away the Mackerel and eat the plank.

This post actually had me laughin my butt off. TOo funny!!

My girl says she loves pickled mackeral. Its a sushi thing called "saba nigiri"...

 

[Dogbreath]

My girl says she loves pickled mackeral. Its a sushi thing called "saba nigiri"...

I love Saba too but Scomber Japonicus ain't the same fish that the Japanese call Mackerel.

 

[ComfortZone]

Best way to do them is on a cedar plank. Put it on a wet cedar plank, some spices and a little oil. Wrap in tin foil and then throw on the bar-b-que. remove from the grill and throw away the Mackerel and eat the plank.

good one!! LOL

I remember the 90's infestation...I was about 7 at the time. Caught a couple off my uncles dock in Bamfield...My dad told me to throw it back but I was far to proud of my catch off the dock!!! I had him bbq it that night, all the adults didnt seem very impressed, but I thought it was ok...but that is a 20 year old childhood memory

more recently my girls father cooked up a curried mackerel (fijian dish), and I was very impressed...

 

[Derby]

I always wanted to try and fish them ever since i cleaned a nice big spring with a 12 incher in his gut, poetic justice i said.

We use to camp at Toquart when the Macks were in and Bruce would run a little derby for the kids, one of the girls in our camp through some in the fire after boning them out, wrapped in tinfoil, we ate them with soy and wasabi, they were freaking great!!

If I remember correctly it was a pain on the butt for her to bone 'em though....

Actually My avatar is from Toquart and the little guy beside me won the mack derby...lol

getbent

My 2 girls just came back from there and had a blasted catching a million of them...still wish they were not a round

 

[anf1892]

I like this topic.

 

[Aces]

I like this topic.

Spam much?

 

[Seafever]

According to Clemens and Wilby , the Pacific Chub mackerel is similar enough to the Atlantic spanish mackerel that they consider them the same species. The only difference is in the swim bladder, but they said the similarities are close enough to be called the same.

My wife and I kept 7 mackerel from an Alberni Inlet trip the other day.
She wanted to smoke some which she did, using a wet brine recipe from Luhr-Jensen's smoker manual.

Now when we caught them, I did not bleed or gut them (didn't know any better), I just put them on ice and they stayed there til we got home.

Smoked them in a "Little Chief".

Results:- the taste itself was not bad at all as far as flavor goes.....seemed to have a "smoked oyster" affinity going for it.

But the one thing that turned me off:- the meat seemed to dissolve in my mouth like fish paste...and......once the initial flavor subsided there was a bit of a weird aftertaste.

Whether this had anything to do with not bleeding and gutting them I don't know.

However they did not taste like the European version to me.

 

[outback]

According to Clemens and Wilby , the Pacific Chub mackerel is similar enough to the Atlantic spanish mackerel that they consider them the same species. The only difference is in the swim bladder, but they said the similarities are close enough to be called the same.

My wife and I kept 7 mackerel from an Alberni Inlet trip the other day.
She wanted to smoke some which she did, using a wet brine recipe from Luhr-Jensen's smoker manual.

Now when we caught them, I did not bleed or gut them (didn't know any better), I just put them on ice and they stayed there til we got home.

Smoked them in a "Little Chief".

Results:- the taste itself was not bad at all as far as flavor goes.....seemed to have a "smoked oyster" affinity going for it.

But the one thing that turned me off:- the meat seemed to dissolve in my mouth like fish paste...and......once the initial flavor subsided there was a bit of a weird aftertaste.

Whether this had anything to do with not bleeding and gutting them I don't know.

However they did not taste like the European version to me.

you have to bleed and gut them right away

brought back two small mackerel from tahsis.caught dozens more,(one actually weighed just under 3 lbs) but kept two on the last day to give them the benefit of the doubt for smoking

one i bled, one i didn't. the one i did bleed flesh was quite firm and turned out really well! similar texture to that of canned tuna... just a smoky flavor and a bit drier.

the one i didnt bleed... well, the meat turned to mush on the fillet. didn't even bother smoking it. lesson learned.

for the record everyone - mackerel are actually quite good smoked. used a simple brown sugar and salt brine.