District Distractions : Bluefish Smokefest (September 2018)

I'd been looking forward to this trip all year. Matt, my salt-sensei and author of the excellent blog anywaterwilldo.com, booked a week on Virginia's Eastern Shore. I was planning to join for three days of serious fishing. Our primary target was cobia (more on that later), but in retrospect, my bluefish adventure was almost as thrilling.

Matt and I set out from the Patuxent River in his sleek Parker early Saturday morning. Two other fishing pals were meeting us on the Eastern Shore, while Matt and I boated down with the rods, coolers and beer. With a 3-4 hour ride ahead of us, we were glad to see calm waters and bluebird skies. Along the way, Matt schooled me in spotting cobia on the surface.

Heading to the Eastern Shore, stoked!

Once we arrived and picked up our friends, we were off to fish a rubble pile Matt knew of. For bluefish, my tackle included colorful streamers (tied by Matt), an 8-wt flyrod, and sinking line. I cast and let the current take out my line as we drifted. I stripped back aggressively. WHACK! First bluefish to the boat.

Provided we were over the rubble, almost every cast yielded a blue. They put up an exciting fight, especially on a fly rod. Blues are notorious for their sharp teeth, and the flies were quickly damaged by the aggressive fish. Nevertheless, ragged looking flies kept producing.

Bluefish Snacks

Ready for the next drift

My new friend helping me out!

Many other adventures were had Saturday, but enough foreshadowing. With a boat full of fresh bluefish, we headed home for the filet table and glasses of whiskey.

Heading home, but the bluefish adventure was just beginning...

Step 1 was filleting 15 bluefish...which took awhile. No complaints, though. Filleting fresh fish has become one of my favorite parts of saltwater fishing. With pounds of bluefish in the freezer, we tossed a few fresh cuts on the grill with garlic and butter. Delicious.

Bluefish has oily meat and can sometimes have a strong "fishy flavor". For this reason, many people don't cook them. However, I'd been tipped off that smoked bluefish was the way to go...and smoked bluefish pate was the pinnacle. My fishing buddies weren't too interested in the freezer bags of bluefish (which had recently been joined by cobia steaks), so I happily loaded my cooler at the end of the weekend and trekked the fish back to Arlington.

I faced an initial challenge to smoking bluefish. I don't own a smoker. After failing to enlist a friend's smoker (he's allergic to fish), I got desperate and began researching alternatives. Somewhere in the interwebs, I happened across instructions for turning a normal propane grill into a smoker. With my fillets beginning to stink up the freezer, I leapt at the idea. I invited over a buddy, Alex, with prior smoking experience (though only meat), and the experiment began.

First, I soaked the fillets overnight in a brine of soy sauce, saltwater, mustard seed and peppercorn. This adds moisture (important for the smoking process) and flavor.

The next morning, I dried the fish on a metal rack. After four hours, the fish was dry and tacky/sticky ...you want a dry surface for the smoke to stick to. At the same time, we soaked cherry woodchips, chosen to give the fish a medium-light smoke, and a touch of sweetness. We were ready for the grill!

Filets in brine

Soaking cherry chips

Turning the grill into a functional smoker was the hardest part, by far. The idea is to wrap soaked woodchips in tinfoil pouches, and punch a few holes through each. The pouches go under the grill grates, in the back corner, where the grill is hottest. We put the woodchips in and turned the grill to high. Before long, our chips started to smolder and produce smoke. Once smoke was visible, we turned off all grill burners but one, and put on the fillets.

The strategy now was to keep the grill at a low temperature (between 150-250) for several hours. This is where a real smoker is handy. We agonized over keeping the grill in the correct temperature range. Too hot, and the fish would cook before soaking up smoke. Too low, and the woodchips wouldn't produce smoke. I'd guess we averaged 225-250 degrees for several hours.

Sometime in the afternoon, without much precision, we decided to sample a filet. It was amazing! The cherry smoke was rich and sweet, and our bootleg smoker had left a crispy golden layer atop each filet. The four of us devoured the first piece, barely speaking. As Alex and I finished the thicker filets, A and Kara turned the first batch into smoked bluefish pate and bagel toppings. By the time I turned off the grill...a feast awaited.