Fish ID

[Angry Perch]

Friend of a friend caught this out of Port Angeles and had never seen anything like it. Mackerel of some sort?

[dylanb]

yeah, mackerel. we caught probably 100 of them at the cr bouy this year salmon fishing. they’re supposed to be great eating but we kept them for wrapping our plugs and stuffing superbaits.

[metlhead]

Mack. Kept lots of them last year. Easy to clean and make great tacos. The carcasses got ground up for stuffing Brad's Cutplugs.

[Shrimper]

Macks make great shrimp bait too.

[wadu1]

They also smoke well, 

[fishngamereaper]

Sekiu was loaded with them as well
Caught at least 100 of them.. kinda annoying
They BBQ up good skin side down with some seasoning..
Make good bait as well...

[Mfowl]

They make good halibut bait too!

[Alchase]

They also smoke well, 

 

Mackerel smoke up fantastically!
We would smoke up a few large loads then can them. They are awesome with crackers and good cheese.

[pianoman9701]

Mackerel are great grilled if you eat them the day you catch them. They are oily and that gets fishy really fast. My dad and I would go deep sea fishing for Atlantic macks and catch a boatload. Clean 'em on the boat and freeze most of them. He wasn't into smoking at all. I didn't start doing that until I got out here.

[birddogdad]

Mackerel are great grilled if you eat them the day you catch them. They are oily and that gets fishy really fast. My dad and I would go deep sea fishing for Atlantic macks and catch a boatload. Clean 'em on the boat and freeze most of them. He wasn't into smoking at all. I didn't start doing that until I got out here.

they can well too, again SAME DAY you catch them.. flavor goes away quickly but fresh are wonderful to work with..

[pickardjw]

If they're anything like Kings and Spanish in the Gulf of Mexico, it's critical to remove the bloodline and we always eat them same day. Don't freeze well.

[Angry Perch]

Well, turns out he brought it home for me. It was caught Saturday and we didn't eat it until yesterday so I was worried based on the comments, but it was delicious! It may have lost some flavor, bur was not fishy at all. It cut like a tuna, so I portioned it in loins. Not knowing what I was getting into, I did an aggressive marinade with soy, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, etc. and cooked it on a hot grill. It was whiter meat than tuna, with great texture and flavor. Next time I'd just do salt and pepper. I'll definitely never throw one back.

[pianoman9701]

Sounds delicious. Good job, AP. 

[pickardjw]

The aggressive marinade probably helped a bunch. When we caught big kings in the gulf, we would steak them out and grill em hot.

Not the biggest one we ever caught but a respectable King.

[Bullkllr]

The aggressive marinade probably helped a bunch. When we caught big kings in the gulf, we would steak them out and grill em hot.

Not the biggest one we ever caught but a respectable King.

Holy Mackeral!

[Angry Perch]

The aggressive marinade probably helped a bunch. When we caught big kings in the gulf, we would steak them out and grill em hot.

Not the biggest one we ever caught but a respectable King.

Holy Mackeral!

Right? I imagine that's like fighting a rocket!

[pickardjw]

Right? I imagine that's like fighting a rocket!

Oh yeah, they fight hard. A lot like other pelagic species, though I'd rather eat a wahoo or mahi any day. We used to run 4 miles out in a 16' cape horn to "farewell buoy" where the ships waiting for captains to navigate the Mobile bay ship canal would stage. Troll around them and we'd pick up kings, spanish, mahi, and cobia pretty frequently. Offshore fishing in the Gulf is fun!

[Angry Perch]

Right? I imagine that's like fighting a rocket!

Oh yeah, they fight hard. A lot like other pelagic species, though I'd rather eat a wahoo or mahi any day. We used to run 4 miles out in a 16' cape horn to "farewell buoy" where the ships waiting for captains to navigate the Mobile bay ship canal would stage. Troll around them and we'd pick up kings, spanish, mahi, and cobia pretty frequently. Offshore fishing in the Gulf is fun!

Sounds like a blast!