ROUND 3 OF SALMON FISHING!

At last the rain came down hard for almost a full day and I knew that with plenty of water in the river, the salmon were going to make a nice run for the breeding grounds. This time I brought a friend from church who is an avid fisherman and loves to fight the bigs ones as well to my favorite spot. The river was high and moving fast and we knew that our fishing hole was going to be full of fish. As soon as we got to the spot we saw 2 other fisherman successfully landing fish after fish and we knew it was going to be a good day. And so it was, we each caught 3 in 1.5 hr. Packed up and headed home. That's my kind of fishing.

AND THEN ROUND 4 ON THE RIVER!

I never liked to fish by myself and there is something fun about bring a friend or two with you. This time a couple family members came up from Binghamton to fish salmon for the first time. My biggest worry was that if they don't catch something then they will feel like it wasn't worth the trip. However, it all turned out nice. One of the guys didn't officially land any but had a few not the line. The other guy actually caught the last fish of the day, which was very exciting to see, after losing several fish earlier. Nevertheless it was a successful day with a full quota of 12 fish for the 4 guys. Everyone was going home with plenty of fish. It also turned out to be my last salmon fishing trip for the season so it was a going ending.

Total season catch: 10

# of trips: 4

FISHING WITH THE BROTHER-IN-LAW!

My brother-in-law, Victor, decided to give salmon fishing a try this year. We had talked several times about the big fish, adrenaline rush, and successful trips. With the wives and kids relaxing at home we decided to hit the river.  

After a few days of no rain, the salmon was slow coming up all rivers and creeks flowing into Lake Ontario. We decided to head to my favorite fishing spot to see if any fish came up the night before. After seeing a couple, we decided to head down river to see if we could come across some in the deeper pools along the edges. The three that we came across were spooked and there was no luck there. We continued walking until we came across an area with deeper water and several other fisherman having some better luck. We decided to give this fishing hole at try. After 2 hrs of fishing, we still had no fish to our name. Meanwhile our "friends" from NJ fishing next to us were hammering them like crazy. After getting some tips and pointers from them we slightly modified our technique and soon enough we hooked a couple each but couldn't land nigher one. Victor hooked one really well and with our friends help we landed a large salmon. We continued to fish but without any luck. We decided to make the mile long trek back to the car and then find a cleaning station to get it all cleaned and filleted. I was happy that we didn't go home empty handed.

Congratulations Victor on your first salmon!

BROTHERS HUNT: DEER # 2

It's always more exciting to get a buck then a doe! Maybe it's a male thing--male vs. male! Or it's just a hunters phenomena! But once again my brother got a nice buck. It want a trophy buck and definely not wall mountable but the rack still looked nice: a 5 pointer!

The hunt: bow hunting in aluminum tree stand. Shot at 25 yards. It was a nice clean shot to the vitals. My brother said he actually saw where he fell before heading to get the truck and camera. I was home that Saturday so it was my pleasure helping my brother get the deer. It was also an opportunity to try out my F & S 1000 Thinsulate boots. The buck ended up running into the swamy area on the boarder of my parents property. He was laying in about a foot of water. It actually made good picture. 

After some nice pictures we knew we would have to haul him out of the water before we could gut it. Straneous but a quick haul to the truck. Once on the truck it was a straight shot up the hill to the barn. But it didn't turn out to be as straight forward as anticipated. Lots of rain the night before and bald tires didn't make a good combination. We got stuck in the field. So we just hauled the deer on foot. That wasn't the fun part. After gutting it, hanging it, and skinning it we were ready for a break. 

The lungs revealed a double lung shot. 

The next day after nicely cooling the meat, my brother and I butchered the meat and bagged it in about 1.5 hrs. We had a rough estimate of about 60 lbs of meat for jerky and sausage. 

Congratulations little brother on another big one! 

MOUTH WATERING SMOKED SALMON

Last year was my first year salmon fishing in the river so I call it my year of figuring things out: how to fish, how to fillet, and how to smoke it! I'm still learning things this year such as pay $3 and have some professionals fillet the salmon for you because it takes so much time and it's a bloody mess. This time around there was some of my own blood mixed as I gave myself a nice cut not the finger.

Last season I tried out several marinade/cure recipes as well as a few different rubs and they were all good but this year I nailed it on the head with a very simple one. After again doing some reading on blogs and other web resources I came to realize there is nothing that is going to make the fish meat better tasting then 2 ingredients Kosher Salt and Light Brown Sugar. It seemed too simple at first to the point where I almost added a couple more ingredients but last minute decided to stick to the original plan. 

This is my own recipe with a couple suggestions on technique taken from other sources.

STEP ONE: Cut your salmon fillets into 2 inch pieces. Place a baking sheet and line it with plastic wrap. Place the salmon on the sheets with enough room in between for the cure mixture. 

STEP TWO: For 2 salmon fillets you will need 1/3 cup Kosher salt and -------- Brown Sugar. The ratio needs to be 2:1 salt:sugar unless you like your fish sweeter. Cover the pieces evenly with the mix. This part of the process is called the curing part. Cover up the salmon with more plastic wrap. Place into refrigerator for 4 hrs. If your pieces are more than 2 inches thick then the curing process should be 8 hrs. 

STEP THREE: Remove from the refrigerator. During the curing process some fish juice will seep out onto baking sheet. Carefully drain all the juices from the pan. Gently pat down the fish with a paper towel. And allow the fish to stand at room temperature for about 1 hr. This drying period allows for the fish to develop a dry outer coat which will absorb all the smoke. The dryer the outer surface of fillets that better the smoke will adhere to the fish.

STEP FOUR: I like to get my smoker started about 30-45 minutes prior to setting the meat inside. I make sure that the water in the basin and wood chips are all warm and ready. Ideally the smoking temperature for salmon is 155-160 degrees F. I get the smoker to at least 200 degrees F before I put the meat in because you loose a lot of heat by opening the door and then the cool fillets will also bring the temperature down as well. 

STEP FIVE: Salmon meat is a very delicate meat and therefore the temperature has to be watched every carefully. Having a meat temperature probe is the best idea. Except this time my probe broke and I couldn't get it to work. Another mistake that I made was leave the meat for 45 minutes to run an errand at the store. Normally it would take about 3-4 hrs for the inside temperature of the meat to reach 140 degrees F. Then remove from the smoker and let it sit on the baking sheet for 30 min. Then take a piece of paper towel and gently pat down the fillets from any remaining oils and moisture. Allow it to stay in room temperature for another 1-2 hrs. The dryer it will be the longer you will be able to store it. 

STEP SIX: If you make plenty of fish, don't forget to share with friends and family. But make sure you sit down and enjoy some yourself. It can stay in the refrigerator up to one week but 2 wks would be okay as well. We had only two pieces from the fish below that lasted more than 3 days. Freezing it is also an option.

MY BROTHERS HUNT

This year I feel like my brother and I established some outdoor hobby roles. For the past 3 years in a row I decided not to hunt due to lack of time and proper practice. On the other hand it's been my third year successfully fishing salmon in the fall. For the my brother it's his third successful year of hunting. First year it was a nice trophy 8-point buck, second year a large doe, and this year a nice size doe. Not so much fishing, with the exception of their private pond.

So now my freezer is slowly filling up with chicken (butchered 12 in July), venison, and now salmon. This also means there will be a lot of mean smoking as the fishing and hunting seasons come to a close in the near future. Although we don't solely depend on this food as a means of survival, it does remind me of one of my favorite shows, ALASKA: The Last Frontier or Yukon Men. It's been an exciting  fall so far. 

Some great recipes and photos coming in the near future. 

MAKING HOMEMADE CAVIAR! (Recipe #1)

It all started last year, when I brought home some river Salmon and there was 2 out of three that had a ton of roe. Both my wife and I love cavier and so I decided to research on how to prepare it yourself. I used several internet resources and a friend from church who makes it all the time. So I compiled all the suggestions and recipes making some really delicious cavier. I had both sides of the family try it out and sure enough it was a hit. So this year when I brought home a female with roe there was no excuse not to make some for us and to share.

This is a compilation of recipes from multiple resources so I'm calling it my own SAMMIE CAVIAR RECIPE.

STEP ONE: During the gutting process the roe will be in a sac (clear but tough membrane holding eggs in place). Remove, set aside in a sieve and give them a nice rinse with cold water without breaking apart the sac too much. 

STEP TWO: Dissolve 1/3 cup of Kosher salt in 4 cups of cold water. Soak the roe sacs in the water in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

STEP THREE: Get the faucet to run hot water, as hot as it will go (roughly 100-120 degrees). Place roe sacs into a sieve and run it under hot water, gently moving the sac around so that the hot water reach all areas of the sac. The membrane sac will contract and the eggs will fall out into the sieve on their own. Take your time and be gentle. Repeat with other skein. (Notice contracted sac in second photo)

STEP FOUR: Prepare a bowl with ice and water. With all the eggs in the sieve, place the eggs with sieve into the ice water. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Pour the water out and let them sit in the sieve as the water drains out.

STEP FIVE: This is probably the most trickiest step of the process. Fill a pot full of water, double the amount of roe that you have. Place a slice of a potato the size of small marble into the water. Being heating the water and mixing in Kosher salt. The indicator that the water has enough salt is when the piece of potato floats near the top of the solution. The water shouldn't boil. Cool the water so that it's lukewarm or close to room temperature. Then pour in the roe. At first the eggs will sink to the bottom. Small egg particles will float to the top, use a fine sieve to collect the particles and other debris. Gently stir the eggs from time to time. In 20-25 minutes the eggs should rise to the top or float. Drain the water.

STEP 6: I like to prepare ahead the mason jars that I will use to store the eggs. I usually give away 3/4 of the eggs because it's a large quantity. The eggs can be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 weeks. However, it's very unusual if they last a week in my house. 

STEP 7: The step of completeness! Prepare some crackers and Greek Cream Cheese and place some caviar on top garnished with some onions and you have a delicious snack or a meal.