Charlotte County Fishing Report with Frank
Here is a new fish cooking idea. Bonita, Ok I thought the same thing at first, cook it on leather add a lot of spices then slow grill for two hours, toss away the fish, eat the leather.
Well he had a great idea, Smoke it, Now I can say for sure smoked Jack Crevalle is one of, if not the best smoked fish I ever ate, So why not Bonita?
He said when you catch it, cut the tail and the gills, it is important to really bleed it out, and just as important to keep it cold, you must put the fish on ice as soon as possible. When you get back, fillet the slabs off then keep them on ice. For them to turn out good, you have to smoke them before you freeze the slabs,
This really sounds like it could be something. He said it reminds him of belly meat from a blue fin. Now before you think about doing this, smoking fish is an art form, it needs to be done slowly over as much time as it takes for the meat to be ready. This is not a quick meal.
But I am going to try it. I have eaten Bonita when I was a commercial fisherman up in the pan-handle. When we would catch one, as soon as it was brought on board, you would hold it out the first mate would cut slabs out from the sides of the fish, while it was still kickin. Put it into a hot skillet with butter and something else which I wish I had paid attention to. It was like eating seared Tuna, really, really good.
So with that in mind there may be something to this Smoked Bonita, After all when I got here to Florida, Red fish was a salt water Carp not good for anything. I believe that changed.
Good luck. Have fun out there and be safe
Fishin Frank