The Hook and The Cook

Man oh Man oh Man, the fishing has been so good this past week. I had a couple of days with some clients that called me up and wanted to catch some fish that they could eat. What we call the ole Hook and Cook. So the plan was go out catch some table fare be back by 2:00, clean it all up and get down on the freshest fish you could possibly get.  Let me tell you that plan worked out perfectly. Day one we headed out toward the gulf and set up on a nice little wreck.  It was a small wreck, but it held some big Snappers. We proceeded to catch all the Mangrove Snapper you could want. Most being in the 3 pound range, but some I bet were pushing the 5lb class. Those are good hard fighting fish on light tackle.  You have to really get on them to keep them from heading straight in to the structure and breaking you off. We even had a few grouper join the party. Lucky for them it isn't Grouper season.  That all happened so fast we had more time to kill and I was asked the common question. "What is the best eating fish down here."  My answer is always the same "most people will agree that the best tasting fish in the area is Hogfish." "Oh can we catch some of those?" So we packed it all up and headed out to the patch reefs. While there we caught the expected culprits. Grunts, snappers, porkfish, groupers and mixed in some Porgies and Hogs. Our day was complete. So we headed in to the marina. Where I filleted, bagged and Iced all the fish. After a quick cleaning of the boat we headed over to the Shrimp Shack for a feast! I always suggest clients take their catch to the Shrimp Shack. They do an outstanding job at a reasonable price. Who doesn't like that?