Fri Night Capt Cook Bridge

[wdfish]

Hi fellow FR's.

Well hit the water Fri arvo about 5pm and headed out in the wind to anchor underneath CC bridge. Found myself a sheltered spot ( sort of ) and got stuck into it asap.

With a run in tide and sun setting it felt like I was going to land myself something worth while??

Earlier in the day ( as I work near the fish markets ) I bought a couple of fresh slimey mack's, so these were destined for bait. Used a light patternoster rig and cut long strips of slimey. Plenty of takers mainly all small and medium, most of the afternoon, so becoming frustrated by this time ...Anyway baited up again and cast just on the edge of a nice eddie behind one of the pylons when whack my line peeled off a short time later I landed a dancing 50cm tailor. Light fell, I was casting just on the edge of where the bridge lights create a shadow but nothing, maybe too windy. Not too many boats out, now dark so headed in about 8.30 pm as I was out by myself and wind was picking up.

Now have never kept tailor b4 so bled him straight away, dropped him into a nice cold esky with a slurry of ice and saltwater, cleaned him at ramp......had him on the BBQ the next night after keeping fresh in fridge, but my wife reported pretty average. Very bony and flesh not as nice as bream!!!

I may be cooking these guys the wrong way so if you have a fool proof recipe, I'd be pleased to hear it!!!.

I mainly wrapped him in foil lined with some butter garlic and lemon with a s%%%%%le of oregano and BBQ'd till flesh was just right, closer to firm.....

Anyhow did not come home empty handed and will hope luck is better next time out. Have read varying reports on fishing under CC bridge not sure what the opinion is of how good a spot or what really to target..so appreciate your views

Ok cheers until next time WD

[Gibbofisho]

Mate that's a nice size tailor, You should get two nice sized fillets of a fish that big, i'd have filleted, boned and skinned him, you prepped it properly though with the bleeding and icing. I find taier best fresh as possible but overnight in the fridge should be fine, they ahve more of a fishy taste than your bream and what not, but i find they go well rolled in flour, mix up some egg with minced garlic, dip in the egg and coat in a mixture of four and bread crumbs, 2:1, some salt/pepper and i like to add some shopped oregano (or you can use the jar variety). Shallow fry in some olive oil untill lightly brown, turn and lightly brown the other side and let the fillets drain on some crumpled paper towels, serve with salad/wedges of lemon and some tartare sauce or mayo. It sounds like alot but once you get everything prepped its pretty quick and easy, i do it with the tail ends of my kingfish fillets if i need a quick dinner!

[Gibbofisho]

Oh and for filleting advice, just ask!

[wdfish]

Cheers Gibbo,

Never thought of filleting as I thought I would tear it apart. Sounds an awesome way to cook them, or for that any fish cooked like that. You're on for the filleting advice. I need whatever I can get in the cooking dept

Cheers again mate WD

[Gibbofisho]

No worries mate, i'll give a quick rundown of how i fillet fish, it gets the most of the fish i find and doesnt take that much longer!

Over the weekend i'll try and take pictures of me filleting a fish to you can see the steps involved!

you need, one super sharp filleting knofe i have a Crane knife cost about $40 and i love it!

1. Place a verticle slice just behind the head and pectoral fins deep enough to hit the backbone but not all teh way through, then slice open the skin along and as close as possible to the dorsal fin from the top of your first cut down towards the tail, you don;t have to go all the way back to the tail though.

2. Using the top few inches of the knife start peeling back the meat from the fish from the top down to the back bone, i use glancing slices onthe strained flesh as i peel the meat back off the vertical bones from the backbone.

3. once the rib cage is located, push the knife flat side against the backbone into the fish, downwards so the point come out just after the asshole! with the sharp edge towards the tail. Hold the fishes head tight and drag the knife along the backbone towards the tail with a slight angle so the sharp edge scrapes the bones getting as much meat off the backbone as possible until you remove the tail meat from the tail.

4. All that should now be attached to the fish is the rib cage, use the point of the knife to run along the bones that stick out from the back bone at right angles above the rib cage to break them all, the its a simple matter of running the knife down the ribs as close tot he bone as possible to remove the meat from the ribs/gut cavity the slice the fillet from the underside of the fish and repeat on the other side.

5. To skin your fish, re run your knife over a steel to get the edge back up, possition the fillet in front of you so that if you are right handed, the skinny (tail) end is on your left hand side and the fat (head) end is on your right hand side, hold as much of the skin on the tail as you can, as close to the end as possible, some people use a fork to fasten the skin, but i just use my fingernails. I start by making a cut just in front of my fingers, angle the knife as flat as possible against the skin witha slight downwards angle and push the knife along the skin, if your knife is super sharp you should be right to just push it, other wise use a slight sawing motion. also you may want to stop halfway and get yourself a better grip on the skin.

6. Once the skin is off you just remove the little bones that usually sit above the rib cage, by cutting a v in the fillet, a real skinny v along the bones, use your finger to work out how far back they go and cut out as little meat as possible, and there you have it, nothing but meat, depending on how big the fish was or what you plan on doing with it, you can cut slice and dice the meat however you want now and the wont complain about bones! I know my missus is happy with this preperation!

Go through it in your head and if there is anything you're unsure on, just ask and i'll try to explain it a bit better!

Hope it helps!

[matt_nsw]

the bridge has been fishing very poorly lately. i chucked lures around lastnight for a few hours on the tide change/sunset for 3 flatties and 6 squid

the only way to cook tailor is to smoke them. bloody sensational with a beer

[wdfish]

bloody hell gibbo you're a master...hey you don't have a mate by the name of Jamie Oliver at all??

Excellent tip dude, really appreciate the effort. Will let you know how I go skinning that big kingie I'm goin to land on the w/end!!!

Have to have a laugh at myself..

cheers again mate WD

thanks matt, yep it just seemed very quiet there on Fri arvo, I've only fished a few times and usually I have tried a bit of chook pellet as burley and then slip a hawksbury prawn down with it and 9/10 usually get a good bite but zilch. The thing is the mongrelas are probably just hanging back watching our efforts having a laugh!!!

oh well when all alse fails there's always a cold beer

happy fishin

cheers wd

[Gibbofisho]

No Worries mate, its a pleasure, i alway's figure, that you might as well do the fish some justice and have it tasting as good as it can!