Flounder
Flounder fishing is the most popular activity that anglers practice at Chincoteague Island. Fishing for flounder begins in April and extends thru October.
The fish are caught using a number of techniques and rigs. The most popular method invloves drifting a double rig of squid strips, fish strips, whole silversides, live minnows or some combination of these.
Flounder is delicious and highly sought after as a seafood item. The fish is filleted and fried or baked. A favorite local recipe includes baking the fillets with a crabmeat topping which is an excellent choice.
Tuna
Readers that have been lucky enough to enjoy fresh caught tuna know how delicious a fresh grilled tuna steak is. Tuna is delicious grilled, blackened, or as sushi. Those of us that still love tuna salad can enjoy tuna from the can or use leftover grilled tuna to create a unique and delightful tuna salad with a unique flavor.
Smoked fish lovers will be thrilled to know that tuna is excellent when smoked. The finished smoked product makes fish dips, salads or just eaten alone.
Wahoo
Wahoo are beautiful pelagic fish and are excellent table fare. Wahoo live in the open ocean and are sometimes caught off Chincoteague. Wahoo should be rinsed well and then the fillets can be removed from the body. The flanks can then be cut into steaks with the skin on or the entire sections can be skinned before cutting into steaks. Wahoo is delicious grilled, fried or smoked.
Mahi Mahi
Mahi Mahi, also known as dorado or dolphin fish are fast growing, pelagic fish. Mahi Mahi are brilliant green, yellow and flourescent blue when live. The meat is mostly white with a high content of oil. Mahi Mahi is best grilled or smoked. Fresh Mahi Mahi is available Virginia from June Thru October.
Striped Bass or Rockfish
Cooks have a variety of favorites for cooking rockfish. Whole fillets of school sized fish or steaks of larger fish are delicious fried. Other choices for cooking striped bass include grilling, broiling, fish cakes and more.
For top quality striped bass or “rockfish” as table fare, it’s important to take care of the fish prior to cooking. The fish should be chilled on ice and laid out flat until cleaned. Once the fish is home, it can be rinsed thoroughly and filleted. Several cleaning methods exist and each angler learns their favorite style.
The fish can be scaled and the skin left on, filleted and then skinned or the skin can be cut around the perimeter of the fish and pulled off with pliers. The skin-on version is nice when baking or grilling smaller fish.
Skinning the fish before filleting has some advantages, the most important being speed. Filleting the fish and then cutting the skin off removes the most dark meat and leaves the highest quality portion, although some fish is lost in the process.
Black Sea Bass
Black sea bass are common catches at Chincoteague. The fish are caught from April Thru December. Black Sea Bass are excellent table fare, having firm, white fillets that are delicious. Sea Bass are superb fried, grilled, baked or broiled. Sea Bass are easily skinned and filleted. They are best fresh and do not freeze well.
Tautog
Tautog are excellent table fare. The fish are incredibly slippery! It is best to rinse them thoroughly and lay them out on a rough surface. A sharp fillet knife is needed to cut around the outline of the fish, making the front cut behind the head and pectoral fin. Then the skin can easily be peeled off by using pliers and peeling from the head to tail.
Once the skin is off you can fillet the fish normally. There are a few rib bones which can be cut out after filleting. The meat is firm, white and mild flavored. Rinse the fillets and immediately store on ice or refrigerate them. Tautog is delicious fried, baked or grilled.
For a wide a range of seafood recipes, online seafood, seafood news and articles on fish and shellfish, visit www.fresh-seafood.net