mad gaffer bottom fishing report June 23 Friday

[Capt Ray Mad Gaffer]

We ventured out into the mud hole today, despite a crummy weather forecast , we wound up with an excellent catch a ling. Pretty much if you dropped your line down you had a fish on, and they were all nice big fish. Not too many flounder, we would've needed to fish a little deeper, and the ling fishing was up-and-down , and the weather was deteriorating so I opted to stay and catch the ling. As it turned out the wind held off long enough , and we didn't have to be a ride home. There seems to be a good deal of ling around, so maybe that will fill the void of the loss of our Sea Bass fishery. We are booked up, for a few days , but we will be running an open boat starting Thursday call for information and reservations PS we are also excepting chargers and have prime dates available throughout the season

[Capt Ray Mad Gaffer]

Great catch of quality ling

[Togfather2530]

From my experience they didn't freeze well. Being a single person I'm not into getting a bucket full of fish that freezes like shit. I use a vacuum sealer for all my fish. Maybe someone here can tell give me a tip to change this and get better results. I guess they would be good for fishcakes frozen. I've had them fresh and they were ok. Either way it's pretty crazy to be limited to only keeping ling.

[rumster]

Kept ice cold, ling are absolutely delicious fresh..... Tried a new way of freezing them this week. After placing them in a beyond freezing saltwater ice slurry to thoroughly clean the fillets, I then place them on paper towels to dry them off. Once most of the water is off of the fillets, I place the fillets on a cookie sheet lined with saran wrap and flash freeze them for about 20 minutes. Then they are vacuum sealed. This was recommended to me by a fellow fisherman who swears by the process to the point that he claims you cant tell the difference between fresh vs frozen. Can`t wait to try them myself!
As much as we do have restrictions on our catch that I personally to do not agree with, responsible bag limits to some degree are not a bad idea. 20/25 Ling, 2 flounder and possibly a cod is a lot of meat, let alone some delicious eats.

[Togfather2530]

Thanks rumster. Please pm me when u get the results. Seems like a lot of work but worth it if it produces results. I want fish that are good months later vaccuum sealed or they are worthless to me. I eat fish once a week tops. I'd probably try making fishcakes out of them. It sad that this is the bottom trip that charter guys have to sell now. It will soon be time to lay up the blue water boat and go back to fresh water and hunting. As u can tell I'm f******* irritated with this bs.

[Togfather2530]

I don't waste what I take and I eat everything I kill. I threw a keeper fluke back the other weekend bc I still have tog I'm finishing in the freezer from last winter. God put these resources on the eart for a reason. What's the old saying " teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime". Wtf is the matter with these liberal retards in this country anymore?

[Harpoon]

Why do you have to freeze ling? I bring a bag home and the neighbors are all over me! If by any chance there are some left from that...the guys at work eat them straight away. In return I get some nice back straps and other assorted goodies later on in the year.

Keep your holiness to yourself and wish the capt the best on his good catch. The fishing business has a hater with the govt, they don't need more.

[tautog]

Some people need to make more friends. Only time I can't easily give away all my fish is right around holidays when everyone's fridge is stuffed with leftovers.

[tropics]

Originally Posted by rumster

Kept ice cold, ling are absolutely delicious fresh..... Tried a new way of freezing them this week. After placing them in a beyond freezing saltwater ice slurry to thoroughly clean the fillets, I then place them on paper towels to dry them off. Once most of the water is off of the fillets, I place the fillets on a cookie sheet lined with saran wrap and flash freeze them for about 20 minutes. Then they are vacuum sealed. This was recommended to me by a fellow fisherman who swears by the process to the point that he claims you cant tell the difference between fresh vs frozen. Can`t wait to try them myself!
As much as we do have restrictions on our catch that I personally to do not agree with, responsible bag limits to some degree are not a bad idea. 20/25 Ling, 2 flounder and possibly a cod is a lot of meat, let alone some delicious eats.

I have been doing all my fish like that for years
Richie