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!