zmk1962 Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 Hey Raiders, Just a quick heartbeat post to indicate I'm still around and kicking 🤪. Maria and I ducked out for a quick fish last week. We both needed to get some fresh salt air in our lungs to replace the paint fumes we have been breathing for the past weeks. The plan was simple, hit the flatties of the Broken Bay ... grab a few livies at West Head just in case. Conditions looked ideal ... Seabreeze forecast waves around 0.8m, Deckee forecast waves around 1.4 (up to 2.8m) Bait: live yakkas, yakka strips and SPs Pre-day light saving launch at 5.45am ... sun is up. Collected 2 doz yakkas in no time and headed offshore. Well guess what - DECKEE was right ! The seas were up but we pushed out to the 50m grounds and started our drifts. The bites came quick and pretty soon we had 8 blue spot and one marbled flattie in the tank. Fish went 43 - 55cm. Only 2 were caught on Yakka strips the rest on lumo 4in Shads. Had a live yakka out the whole time we were bottom bashing, first at mid water and then on the bottom - only had one take that bit off the trace. Roll on warmer weather. Around 11 there was a change in conditions, the flatties went off the bite ... and shortly after we each brought up a 4ft port jackson. Drifted around a bit wider, but the wind came up and we called it. The lady in action ... Tha man in action .... Cheers Zoran PS - the lady in action (next day) ... Can't beat that ... not sure who posted the steamed fish with soy based marinade recipe but thank you ... its a killer! 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunc333 Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 good to see you using that weapon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryder Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 I’ve noticed Seabreeze and Windfinder have both been a bit off lately. Sounds like a good day out, those fillets look great, and the meal delicious and healthy. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 Nice work Zoran and Maria. You can’t go wrong with steamed soy fish with ginger and shallots. Most species are good that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFishyFisherman Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 Nice work! Those flatty fillets look amazing 🍽 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 5 hours ago, zmk1962 said: Just a quick heartbeat post to indicate I'm still around and kicking 🤪. Good to see you are still kicking. Nice bag of fish there Zoran, some good sized ones at that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bessell1955 Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 What a great feed, well cooked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larkin Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 Good feed of flatties! 👍 Bet it was nice to be out on the water again. You try over any reefs? That food looks 😋 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted October 10 Author Share Posted October 10 7 hours ago, dunc333 said: good to see you using that weapon Thanks Dunc ... it has delivered the goods so far ! Just a few more chores to finish, in time for the warm weather and it will see much more use. 7 hours ago, Ryder said: I’ve noticed Seabreeze and Windfinder have both been a bit off lately. Sounds like a good day out, those fillets look great, and the meal delicious and healthy. Well done. Thanks Ryder, I reckon its because the FADS are in ... so no realtime sea condition data flowing in. The day was a spur of the moment decision to do something different (to painting 😞) on our unofficial anniversary. What better than being offshore and bagging a few feeds was a bonus. 6 hours ago, Little_Flatty said: Nice work Zoran and Maria. You can’t go wrong with steamed soy fish with ginger and shallots. Most species are good that way. Hey LF ... was it you that posted your grandfather's recipe? What a treat! Cheers 6 hours ago, TheFishyFisherman said: Nice work! Those flatty fillets look amazing 🍽 Thanks mate. I have the filleting/skinning technique down pat and prefer to do all that at the ramp. We only need 400g between us for a meal so there's another 4 to go. A bonus on the day was that I managed to pass on the skill to another fisho at the cleaning table who was struggling with the flattie he had caught. He came back from his car to thank me again before he drove off as he was so happy 🤷♂️ 6 hours ago, Yowie said: Good to see you are still kicking. Nice bag of fish there Zoran, some good sized ones at that. Dave, Dave, Dave .... please behave. Yup - it has been a long time between fresh fillets. We have to tee up another outing mate when the weather warms up. Cheers 4 hours ago, bessell1955 said: What a great feed, well cooked. Thanks Mate. 4 hours ago, Larkin said: Good feed of flatties! 👍 Bet it was nice to be out on the water again. You try over any reefs? That food looks 😋 You cannot overstate how good it felt to be offshore !!!!!! We didn't try any reefs ... M was starting to turn green with the larger than expected rollers and we had a fair catch. Next time for sure. Cheers Z 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big Neil Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 A great post Zoran. Always a good idea to have regular breaks from painting, especially offshore ones to clear the lungs. I love the "freeze frame" photo of the cleaning table, depicting the gull hovering above and the Pelicans awaiting their share of the catch. Good to see Deckee providing the "good oil" regarding the forecast. What a beautiful vessel you have Zoran. bn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 5 hours ago, zmk1962 said: Hey LF ... was it you that posted your grandfather's recipe? What a treat! Cheers Might’ve been. I’ve posted a couple of versions, including one from starlo that is pretty authentic. Ironically I don’t cook flathead this way very often! Try a whole fish cleaned and scaled next time, if you catch something of the right size. You may need to score the sides for thicker fish. A whole 30-35cm luderick is a family favourite at this moment for my household. As are supermarket salmon fillets/cutlets, as sacrilegious as it may be to suggest this as an angler!🤣 I can imagine a snapper of a similar size would be nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 A great result Zoran (and Maria). Hard to beat flathead fillets. The Bo Choi, looks delicious in the pics. Good to sea Devocean getting a workout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted October 10 Author Share Posted October 10 3 hours ago, big Neil said: A great post Zoran. Always a good idea to have regular breaks from painting, especially offshore ones to clear the lungs. I love the "freeze frame" photo of the cleaning table, depicting the gull hovering above and the Pelicans awaiting their share of the catch. Good to see Deckee providing the "good oil" regarding the forecast. What a beautiful vessel you have Zoran. bn Thanks Neil, my least favourable maintenance chore is painting - hats off to the folks that do this for a living - a few more days and I'll be done and dusted. 4 boats came in around the same time and only myself and one other chap were cleaning fish - they had ventured to Longreef and only had a mowie and a flattie to show for the days efforts. Needless to say the pelicans were voracious that day - slim pickings for the birds. Maria captured the moment perfectly. 1 hour ago, Little_Flatty said: Might’ve been. I’ve posted a couple of versions, including one from starlo that is pretty authentic. Ironically I don’t cook flathead this way very often! Try a whole fish cleaned and scaled next time, if you catch something of the right size. You may need to score the sides for thicker fish. A whole 30-35cm luderick is a family favourite at this moment for my household. As are supermarket salmon fillets/cutlets, as sacrilegious as it may be to suggest this as an angler!🤣 I can imagine a snapper of a similar size would be nice. Thanks LF, we do a whole fish gutted, scaled, scoured and deep fried ... but frankly I am starting to be a bit like Yowie. Fillet most things, it's often simpler and much more versatile with fewer bones. We recently installed a steam oven so this was the a great opportunity to test it out as well. Everything served (apart from the sauce) was steam cooked in the oven - just pop things in at set times - it's amazing tech with zero flavour transfer ie. fish cooking next to riceleaves no fishy flavour in the rice. 👍 1 hour ago, Pickles said: A great result Zoran (and Maria). Hard to beat flathead fillets. The Bo Choi, looks delicious in the pics. Good to sea Devocean getting a workout. Thanks Bob. We both have to get our painting chores behind us to clear the deck - that offshore trip with Julie and Maria is long over due. Roll on the warmer weather. Cheers Z 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little_Flatty Posted October 10 Share Posted October 10 7 minutes ago, zmk1962 said: Thanks LF, we do a whole fish gutted, scaled, scoured and deep fried ... but frankly I am starting to be a bit like Yowie. Fillet most things, it's often simpler and much more versatile with fewer bones. We recently installed a steam oven so this was the a great opportunity to test it out as well. Everything served (apart from the sauce) was steam cooked in the oven - just pop things in at set times - it's amazing tech with zero flavour transfer ie. fish cooking next to riceleaves no fishy flavour in the rice. 👍 The steamed fish is probably responsible for my lack of filleting prowess, coupled with a lacklustre ability to consistently extract decent table fish! 🤣 We ummed and aahhed about a steam oven + a conventional oven when we redid our kitchen, but decided against it because of our small house. Jealous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted October 10 Author Share Posted October 10 8 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said: We ummed and aahhed about a steam oven + a conventional oven when we redid our kitchen, but decided against it because of our small house. Jealous! We rarely eat out, and cook every day. Maria is renown in our circle as a master chef so we went all out, but managed to get everything we wanted in two appliances. We settled on two combi ovens - one a smaller 45cm size microwave + conventional, the other a full 60cm size steam + conventional. The steam oven tech is next level - cook pasta without stirring no glug no stick, cooking time is same regardless of quantity, reheated meals come out like freshly cooked with no drying etc etc. No wonder they are the backbone of most restaurants. We’ll be experimenting with many other fishy specimens going forward. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenno64 Posted October 11 Share Posted October 11 Great post Zoran, that boat looks a dream and I love reading posts that finish with a plated up delight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted October 11 Author Share Posted October 11 13 hours ago, jenno64 said: Great post Zoran, that boat looks a dream and I love reading posts that finish with a plated up delight! Thanks Rob. devOcean just had her two year anniversary and still has me pinching myself. I also like to see how folks prepare their catch … picked up quite a few tasty ideas from them. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonD Posted October 11 Share Posted October 11 I tend to use willyweather most of the time but if Im desperate to get out I check all of them and go off the one giving the best forecast🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordoRetired Posted October 12 Share Posted October 12 Hard to beat a nice fresh Flathead fillet. Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zmk1962 Posted October 12 Author Share Posted October 12 6 hours ago, JonD said: I tend to use willyweather most of the time but if Im desperate to get out I check all of them and go off the one giving the best forecast🤣 Hahaha 😂… yup Deckee’s forecast wasn’t as good so I went off Seabreeze! … and guess which one I showed Maria 🙄😇 5 hours ago, GordoRetired said: Hard to beat a nice fresh Flathead fillet. Well done. Thanks Gordo … hope you’re not missing your tub now that the fishing is heating up. cheers Zoran 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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