The Tampa Bay Times
By Neil Taylor
The arrival of wintertime cold fronts changes opportunities in the area. One that a lot of people don’t utilize: The silver trout. This week, they arrived in better numbers. Very light tackle, they fight good for a small fish. I use pompano jigs and teasers. The situation is pretty easy. Find the fish and if your lure is on the bottom, you will catch them. They will eat just about anything you sink down to them. There are no regulations on the species. Their size, they don’t fillet out exceptionally well, unless you are into really big silver trout. I de-head them, gut them and throw them on my smoker whole. It is a process: Peeling the skin and the rows of bones away from the meat. The pile of fish that comes out of the smoker is turned into fish spread. Some people like to eat the smoked fish by itself. My fish spread is made this way: The fish, prepared from out of the smoker gets soaked with Key Lime lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. The other ingredients are combined together. Mayonnaise, cream cheese, celery salt, Basil, Dill and Cilantro (squeeze tubes from the grocery store). In my chopper machine I dice up onion, jalapenos and black olives. I stir all of these ingredients together. Then I add the fish and then stir it all together for a few minutes. I spoon it into containers and then you want to get it chilled before serving. Club crackers are my choice but any will do. I like to add Sriracha sauce. Some people use Tabasco. Use whatever you want. This is a great party snack and the fish are here and can be caught easily if you know where to go. They show up to the same locations every year. Look for them along boat channels and near the passes and bridges. Whiting might also be caught fishing for silver trout. They can be utilized the same way.
Neil Taylor, Strike Three Kayak Fishing
727-692-6345
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