Keith Lusher 08.31.24
Croaker is arguably one of the scrumptious species of inshore fish. My historical past with catching croaker goes again to my highschool days when my mates and I’d catch an ice chest stuffed with fish in someday.
The equation was easy: discover deep inshore passes with a shifting tide and fish on the underside utilizing a drop-shot rig. All the things was mild—mild line, small hooks, and an ultralight rod and reel. For bait, we’d convey just a few useless shrimp and use small items for the primary hour or so. Then, once we ran out of shrimp, we’d lower the stomach meat from an undersized fish and slice up small items to make use of as bait for the remainder of the day.
After filling the ice chest with fish, we’d convey them again to the home, clear them, and stack the ziplock luggage within the freezer for future fish frys. Whereas the fishing was memorable, it was the fish frys that stood out probably the most. This occasion would supply a number of the best-tasting fillets we’ve ever had.
Not a lot has modified through the years; Croaker remains to be my favourite saltwater inshore fish to serve up. Nonetheless, I’ve adopted a method I discovered from an previous Cajun pal named Ben Higgins. I used to be cleansing a large number of croaker someday with Higgins, and I seen him operating his fillet knife down the center of the fillet earlier than tossing it right into a bowl of ice water. I requested what he was doing, and he merely said, “I’m splitting the ends.” Higgins defined that he was slicing about 2 inches off every finish of the fillet. Since the very best a part of fried fish is the skinny finish, which fries crispy, Higgins was creating extra of what’s most individuals’s favourite part of a fried fish fillet.
Splitting the ends is finest finished when initially cleansing the fish, however the fillets can be sliced proper earlier than including them to the batter.
In fact, this technique is just not solely good for croaker but additionally for all sorts of fish. I lately fried up just a few speckled trout fillets and replicated Higgins’ “break up finish” type. I used to be rewarded with a batch of scrumptious fillets with crispy ends.
So, in case your favourite a part of the fish fillet is the crispy fried finish part, I extremely suggest attempting Mr. Higgins’ break up ends approach! It’s a crowd-pleaser and may even be a dialog starter at your subsequent barbeque!
