Grilled (or BBQ’d) Bluefish

[cracker39]

Grilled (or BBQ’d) Bluefish

This recipe was invented by my Dad for smoking Mullet and I tried it with Bluefish on the grill and it is delicious. Even people who don’t care much for fish liked it. The only drawback is getting fresh bluefish. I lived in Maryland for 27 years and surf fished for them. This recipe works great for any oily fish such as Mullet or Bluefish, and I’ve used it on other fish, cooked in the oven or broiler inside. If you should camp on a beach and can catch Bluefish, try this recipe.

Ingredients:
Bluefish Filets prepared as described below
Mustard Sauce:
1 small jar yellow mustard
2 sticks margarine (½ lb)
½ cup vinegar (white or red)
Juice of two lemons or 2 tblsp concentrate
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Prepare the sauce several hours prior to cooking the fish. Put all ingredients in a sauce pan on medium heat. When the margarine is melted, mix well and turn heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool and refrigerate prior to use. This will be enough for several cookings of two filets and will keep well in the refrigerator. The mustard sauce will give the fish a delicious tang, and the vinegar will help temper the inherent strong flavor of oily fish, but you won’t ever taste the vinegar.

Preparing Bluefish for the grill is simple. Just cut the filet off a fish (2-4 lb fish are ideal size), leaving the scales on. Start your charcoal or preheat a gas grill to medium, spray the grill surface with cooking spray, and place the fish filets scales down on the grill. It is important not to cook the fish too fast. If using charcoal, you’ll have to keep the coals from getting too hot. I use a spray bottle of water on the coals occasionally.

First, let the fish cook for about 15 minutes for each inch of thickness of the filet. This will allow some of the natural oil in the fish to cook out. You can blot the surface of the filet occasionally with paper towels if desired. Then, baste the fish with the mustard sauce for about 30-45 minutes, depending on the thickness of the filet. Do not ever turn the fish. The scales will harden into a shell from which you will eat the fish. The edges of the fish will start to turn brown and crisp, but don’t let them burn. When this happens, the fish should be about done. Test the center with a fork. It should flake esily.

When done, use a spatula to put half a filet on a paper plate, and serve with your favorite fish accompaniments: cole slaw, baked beans, cheese grits (for us southerners), French fries, etc.

(BTW, Bluefish migrate from Florida to the northeast, starting in early Spring. They usually reached Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay around mid June and stayed until mid-late Oct.)

[IraRat]

You surf-fished for blues? I never heard of that.

They DO come real close to shore, the smaller ones though, and the blue fishing in New York. 30 years ago, used to be fantastic and ran like clockwork. Like you always knew they would be there a certain time in the summer.

But I never heard of catching them from the beach--only the pier. Guess it's the same thing when you think about it.

[TomS]

You surf-fished for blues? I never heard of that.

I surf fish for blues and stripers on Cape Cod. I've had my best luck right around dusk. I tend to catch way more blues than stripers.

I usually put a big chunk of frozen mackrel on big hook with a wire leader and a small float to keep it near, but not on, the bottom and a 3 or 4 oz. lead sinker about 12 - 18" from the hook. I use a 9 or 10 foot rod and open face spinning reel with 20Lb test. I cast it as far out as I can get it. I set the rod into a PVC sand spike. Sit down in my beach chair and wait for the fish to start biting.

[cracker39]

That's the way I did it Tom. Except I used a wire bottom spreader rig with the sinker at the end and two hooks on wire leaders above it. I sometimes put a float on the leaders to keep them just off the bottom (and from the crabs that will clean off your bait quickly). And, Wire is the only way to go for leaders. Blues have really sharp teeth and will cut nylon leaders in a second.

As for fishing from the shore, I did both surf and short piers. From the shore, my biggest was 13 lbs. They usually ran from 2 to 8 lbs when they really got to the bay.

Speaking of their teeth, their attitude sucks too. Don't ever put your hand near their mouth. Many times, I've had them actually swing their head and try to bite me. I put my foot on them and reach for the hook with pliars to remove it.

[asianflava]

Thanks for the tip on your rig. So far, I have had no (meaning zero) luck fishing in the surf, unless you count finger mullet with the cast net . I will be going to the coast the week after Inks Lake to fish/camp. I don't even think I'll bother bringing my surf rod. Too long to pack and no results. I'll stick to fishing in the channel and jetty.

[cracker39]

Thanks for the tip on your rig. So far, I have had no (meaning zero) luck fishing in the surf

Another think about catching Blues in the surf. They will come up into shallow water when they are in a feeding frenzy (and I do mean FRENZY), but I fished mostly where there was a slight drop-off just past a sand bar about 60 yards out. I'd wade out to the sand bar, cast into the drop off and wade back to sit and wait on a strike. You have to get to know an area and fish it a lot in order to be able to fish it well.

[asianflava]

When the Blues are running, we would catch them like crazy out at Sebastian Inlet. The guys I fish with here have never heard of them. Then again, it seems that I am the saltwater fishing expert when it comes to my group. One year we caught some blue crabs in the flats. I had to teach them how to eat crab!

[IraRat]

When the Blues are running, we would catch them like crazy out at Sebastian Inlet. The guys I fish with here have never heard of them. Then again, it seems that I am the saltwater fishing expert when it comes to my group. One year we caught some blue crabs in the flats. I had to teach them how to eat crab!

Do you mean Sebastian Inlet in Florida? If so, I LOVE that place, and it's pretty good (or at least used to be) for blue crabs and also has some good clam beds.

Funny story when I first moved here, and a freind took me out clamming:

What the hell did a Brooklyn guy know about clamming? He wades out there, I can't wade out QUITE so far or I am now underwater, and I see shark fins swimming around him. Scared the hell out of me and I'm yelling at him and running to the shore like a maniac.

Of course, not sharks--just dolphins.

[cracker39]

Asian, Do you remember which month the Blues were biting at Sebastian? I presume in the Winter as they migrate north for the Summer. I've been wanting to get over to Sebastian to try to catch some since I've been back in Florida, but haven't yet. Maybe this year...

Ira, I've never been clamming or crabbing in Florida. I did lots of crabbing in Maryland though while I lived there. In the 60s and 70s I used to go shrimping in the intercoastal waterway, or rather in creeks off of it, between Daytona and the Cape where I worked. We'd go at night after work, use lanterns that would make their eyes shine red and catch them with a wide, deep, find-mesh dip net. The first time I went with a guy from work, my half of the catch filled up a styrofoam bait bucket.

[IraRat]

I don't think the crabbing in Sebastian is going to compare to Maryland. As a matter of fact, when I was a kid in the 60s, the crabbing, even in Brooklyn (Sheepshead Bay, Coney Isalnd) was SPECTACULAR.

This changed not just because of pollution, but because of migratory patterns.

As far as the clams in Sebastian inlet go, there are some good beds there--with a lot closed off to only commercial clammers. (Even though they're farming them now down in the Keys.) The authorities also close the good beds for "health" reasons, but again, we don't believe them. Other interests involved here.

However, clamming there is a total pleasure. Great weather, sunshine, nice water...

It's not exactly the same "kind" of clamming they have up north, where people do it seriously and for real. Also, the town needs a few more good bars.

[asianflava]

I don't remember when the blues would run, I was in elementary school at the time so it was a long time ago. A couple years ago, the wife and I went out to Sebastian. We were kinda dissapointed that the North jetty was closed. It looked like they were doing major work to it. It is probably open now. We went for walk around the tide pool instead.

During the Summer, we would also go shrimping and/or crabbing along one of the causeways on the Indian River. We used to catch things but by the time I was in middle school, it seemd that we hardly caught anything anymore (in the river) just catfish. It was a total lazyman's sport, you put shrimp traps out along the seawall and sit around. Or you throw a chicken neck out on a string and slowly pull it back in, and scoop up the crabs with a net. By the time I was in high school, I had interests other than fishing so I haven't been to the causeways since.

Kinda funny story, I was supposed to go fishing with my cousin out in the Gulf because he joined a boat club. I didn't bring my rod so I thought it would be a great excuse to buy a new one. I went to a store near my parents home in Melbourne and bought a rod, reel, and Power Pro. The girl asked for my ID and said, Oh Round Rock, I know where that is. She got totally distracted that she forgot to ring up the PowerPro.