Opening Weekend

Last weekend was the first weekend that walleyes were in season. Pan fish [such as crappies] are in season all year long. The lakes are filled with fishermen who are anxious to get the very best walleyes. So what do we do? We go on a weekend trip to fish for crappies.

John and Geri own the boat, and John's sister owns the cabin where we stayed, and Geri made almost all of the food, so they single-handedly ran the show this weekend. We are just glad they invited us along.

Connie and Mark - is it just me or does everyone look cold? The only way to distinguish people is by their coats. In the background you can almost see some of the 23 boats who shared this bay with us.

Here's Kevin with his big crappie. The crappies in the Twin Cities are big if they are 10 inches. We drove 3 hours so we could squeeze out another 5 inches - our biggest crappie topping out at 15 inches. Actually, Connie and I drove up together and missed one turn. Then we followed that up with several wrong turns and turned our drive into a 6 hour adventure.

Here's Kevin with a great northern who ate his hook. It looks more like a snake or an eel than a fish to me. Back into the lake for him.

Here's the wide mouth bass. It was big, but not in season so John threw him back. How do I know he is a 'him'? I have no idea how to tell the difference, but this one has sharp fins that won't hesitate to make you bleed, so I can only guess that it is a man. Let's not even approach the question of why John caught the biggest and the most fish....

Inside the Mind of a Minnesotan Fisherman

Kevin was very agitated in the garage yesterday. He was grumbling and looking around. He said it was because he couldn't find his fishing pole. That's a big problem because he was getting up at 4:30 AM this morning to go fishing.


I didn't know where else to look, so I went upstairs where I was greeted by a bunch of fishing poles. Horray! Kevin must have taken them out and forgotten about it. I rushed downstairs to tell Kevin that his poles were upstairs.

But he didn't want any of those poles. He wanted his nice pole that he couldn't find. WHAT?? There were 4 fishing poles upstairs, 2 more in the garage and he was upset that he couldn't find his pole?

That's when I learned about the intricacies of fishing. You need one pole for crappies, one for walleyes, some medium weights, some light weights, some ultra lights. Then we got into the line. It starts at 2 pound line and goes up to 10. Walleye is the biggest fish he fishes, so he is lucky because he can keep his fishing gear to a minimum. (HAH!)Hang on a minute while my head stops spinning.

It was still too icy to fish on the river, but, luckily the boys were headed to Red Wing. The river is warmer there, but Kevin said that they still got hit with a bunch of big ice chunks. Why is the river warmer you ask? Because it is just downstream from the nuclear power plant that releases hot........water?......into the river. Which has absolutely no contaminants in it. At all. But it still gets me thinking about....

Blinky from the Simpsons!! He is the product of a nuclear leak. Ain't he cute? Just for the record, we always eat the fish Kevin brings home from Red Wing.

Sour Cream Fish

This is supposed to be halibut, but we had sun fish. You are supposed to marinade it in wine, but we had apple juice. You are supposed to use paprika, but we are fresh out, so we used "Mural of Flavors" from Penzeys instead. Sheesh....it isn't even the original recipe at all anymore. It would probably be lots different with all the original ingredients, but it is a nice change from the steamed fish with lemon pepper we usually have.

One benefit of having a husband who fishes is that we get to eat a lot of fish. A lot is about once a month. The rest gets put in the freezer for 'later.' Last week at church a guy was talking about self reliance, and he quoted the old standby, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime....and in Minnesota if you teach a man to fish you'll never see him on the weekends."

Sour Cream Halibut
1 pound fish
1 cup white wine (I used apple juice)
1 t salt
4 T bread crumbs
2 T mayonnaise
2 T sour cream
1 T chopped onions
paprika

Wash fish and pat dry. Marinade in the salt and apple juice for 1 hour. Drain fish and lightly blot with a paper towel. Dip both sides in bread crumbs and place in a greased baking dish. Mix together the mayo, sour cream, and onions. Spread over the fish and top with remaining bread crumbs and paprika. Bake at 500 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until browned and the juices run clear. Serve on a bed of rice.

Walleye Appetizer

My coworker Al likes to tease, and he also likes to get teased. I don't remember how it started, but we both tease each other about keeping "Bankers Hours." He isn't in my direct group, but I often see him in the hall and we have worked together on previous projects.

If he first sees me one day at 11 AM he will stand there, slack-jawed, until I look at him. Then he will act shocked and ask if I just got in because he didn't think I would be at work already. I smile, raise an eyebrow, and reply, "Yep, and I am going to leave in about 15 minutes." When I see him first, the act is replayed with the roles reversed.

Al is also a fanatic fisherman. He has talked about how great fresh Walleye is when it is boiled. Yes, I just said boiled. This recipe is from Al. You may question the sanity of someone who wants to boil fish, but you absolutely must try it before you judge it.

I have not tried it with any other kinds of fish, and Al is adamant that you have to use fish that has never been frozen, and it only works on fish that is 0-2 days old or else it will be too fishy. Walleye has a very mild flavor, and other types of fish may taste too fishy for this recipe.

Here is one fishy fish screaming at you to stop eating fish. He is so angry his eyes are glowing! On second thought, he is also gutless, so his opinion shouldn't matter all that much. Kevin brought the fish home tonight. He left the house at 5 AM this morning to go fishing with John and Mark. Those guys are crazy....

Walleye as an Appetizer

Cube up your walleye. Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Dump in the fish cubes all at once. Cook for a few minutes until the flesh flakes. Drain fish and then drizzle it with butter, lemon juice and salt. Eat with toothpicks or with a slice of toast.