Keith Lusher 08.31.24
Croaker is arguably some of the scrumptious species of inshore fish. My historical past with catching croaker goes again to my highschool days when my buddies and I’d catch an ice chest stuffed with fish in someday.
The equation was easy: discover deep inshore passes with a shifting tide and fish on the underside utilizing a drop-shot rig. All the pieces was gentle—gentle line, small hooks, and an ultralight rod and reel. For bait, we might deliver a number of lifeless shrimp and use small items for the primary hour or so. Then, after we ran out of shrimp, we might minimize the stomach meat from an undersized fish and slice up small items to make use of as bait for the remainder of the day.
After filling the ice chest with fish, we might deliver them again to the home, clear them, and stack the ziplock baggage within the freezer for future fish frys. Whereas the fishing was memorable, it was the fish frys that stood out essentially the most. This occasion would offer among the best-tasting fillets we’ve ever had.
Not a lot has modified over time; Croaker continues to be my favourite saltwater inshore fish to serve up. Nonetheless, I’ve adopted a method I realized from an outdated Cajun buddy named Ben Higgins. I used to be cleansing a large number of croaker someday with Higgins, and I seen him working his fillet knife down the center of the fillet earlier than tossing it right into a bowl of ice water. I requested what he was doing, and he merely acknowledged, “I’m splitting the ends.” Higgins defined that he was slicing about 2 inches off every finish of the fillet. Since one of the best a part of fried fish is the skinny finish, which fries crispy, Higgins was creating extra of what’s most individuals’s favourite part of a fried fish fillet.
Splitting the ends is greatest carried out when initially cleansing the fish, however the fillets can be sliced proper earlier than including them to the batter.
In fact, this technique will not be solely good for croaker but additionally for all sorts of fish. I just lately fried up a number of speckled trout fillets and replicated Higgins’ “cut up finish” model. I used to be rewarded with a batch of scrumptious fillets with crispy ends.
So, in case your favourite a part of the fish fillet is the crispy fried finish part, I extremely advocate making an attempt Mr. Higgins’ cut up ends approach! It’s a crowd-pleaser and may even be a dialog starter at your subsequent barbeque!
