Absolutely. It is amazing to me how many surf fisherman don't think or speak so highly of Jack Smelt, and yet I have been catching and eating them for years and love the species. Plus, there are some days when you go out there, and that is all that will show up on the beach, so you have to make the best with what is available . . . i.e. if you want to catch and eat what is fresh and local. They do taste a lot better when you fillet and remove the skin. I put 'em right up there with some of the best fish n chips fish when battered and fried.
Oh, and do get rid of the blood line on both sides as that is just what they are . . . blood . . . it is not dark fish meat, and does not taste good at all.
Accidentally caught a JS this morning - - my first one in months - - and so I decided to use this video as a guide to clean it up. I lucked out in that there were no worms to be found at all which was kind of a shocker, and once filleted and skinned as shown here, I mixed it with some Cavendar’s seasoning & cayenne, then pan fried in some butter. Holy crap was it tasty! Now I see what I’ve been missing out on.
Yeah, Smelt have some really tasty meat. Have you ever had the small type smelt (3-4 inches) battered and deep fried? When they are small you can deep fry them and then eat the whole thing, bones and all and they are also very good that way. Seems odd, of course, eating the bones and all, but when you eat canned sardines, you are doing something similar. I'm not sure how they prepare those canned sardines, but the bones are still in them. The bones in the deep-fried small smelt are crunchier and the meat is whiter than in sardines.
Yeah . . . Smelt are often overlooked when people talk about edible ocean fish. I'm not sure why, but why battered and deep fried they are extremely delicious. Nice white meat and very tasty.
Bubba Blade. Here is a link to where you can get this one on Amazon: www.amazon.com/Bubba-Blade-Tapered-Fillet-Knife/dp/B00987L3O8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512395301&sr=8-1&keywords=bubba+blade+7+inch
Oh all the JS I catch are from the coast, not the bay. I think though that it has more to do with the amount of seals in the areas where I fish since they are a primary contributing factor to those specific types of worms found in JS. Still, that’s pretty cool that most of the JS you’re harvesting have very little worm issues! I imagine they cook up similar to other oily fish like mackerel?
I get the Safeway brand of Italian seasoned bread crumbs, throw them in a Hefty one gallon, and then throw the fillets in with the crumbs and shake them up. Then I fry them in olive oil. They taste like some kind of specialty fish stick is the only way I can describe it. Yeah, I've seen other people cook them up, and I think they think the blood line is just dark meat and cook it with the rest of the fish. It changes the flavor when you get rid of those blood lines. It changes the flavor to cook just the white meat, and remove the rest of the fish from the pan like that.
Great tips on cooking them up, thanks for sharing! I’ll make more of an effort to try and harvest some of the JS I catch this winter and try out your recipe instead of using them for dungie bait 👍🏻
I'll see later on if I can find the info on it. I think it was credible, coming from Fish and Game, that said that the Smelt parasites were safe to eat after you cooked them.
Yours is the only video I found with a proper tutorial on how to fillet smelt. Thank you.
Absolutely. It is amazing to me how many surf fisherman don't think or speak so highly of Jack Smelt, and yet I have been catching and eating them for years and love the species. Plus, there are some days when you go out there, and that is all that will show up on the beach, so you have to make the best with what is available . . . i.e. if you want to catch and eat what is fresh and local. They do taste a lot better when you fillet and remove the skin. I put 'em right up there with some of the best fish n chips fish when battered and fried.
Oh, and do get rid of the blood line on both sides as that is just what they are . . . blood . . . it is not dark fish meat, and does not taste good at all.
Accidentally caught a JS this morning - - my first one in months - - and so I decided to use this video as a guide to clean it up. I lucked out in that there were no worms to be found at all which was kind of a shocker, and once filleted and skinned as shown here, I mixed it with some Cavendar’s seasoning & cayenne, then pan fried in some butter. Holy crap was it tasty! Now I see what I’ve been missing out on.
Yeah, Smelt have some really tasty meat. Have you ever had the small type smelt (3-4 inches) battered and deep fried? When they are small you can deep fry them and then eat the whole thing, bones and all and they are also very good that way. Seems odd, of course, eating the bones and all, but when you eat canned sardines, you are doing something similar. I'm not sure how they prepare those canned sardines, but the bones are still in them. The bones in the deep-fried small smelt are crunchier and the meat is whiter than in sardines.
Awesome, jacksmelt is one of the most underrated fish to eat
Alot of work for a delicious fillet nice job
looks great!
Yeah . . . Smelt are often overlooked when people talk about edible ocean fish. I'm not sure why, but why battered and deep fried they are extremely delicious. Nice white meat and very tasty.
I put em on bread with ketchup
What brand of fillet knife do you use ?
Bubba Blade. Here is a link to where you can get this one on Amazon:
www.amazon.com/Bubba-Blade-Tapered-Fillet-Knife/dp/B00987L3O8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1512395301&sr=8-1&keywords=bubba+blade+7+inch
You seemed to have caught the one adult jacksmelt out there not riddled with worms. I'm very jealous.
Yeah, in the ocean Jack Smelt I catch, I find very few worms in the skins like you find on the Jack Smelt caught in the Bay.
Oh all the JS I catch are from the coast, not the bay. I think though that it has more to do with the amount of seals in the areas where I fish since they are a primary contributing factor to those specific types of worms found in JS.
Still, that’s pretty cool that most of the JS you’re harvesting have very little worm issues! I imagine they cook up similar to other oily fish like mackerel?
I get the Safeway brand of Italian seasoned bread crumbs, throw them in a Hefty one gallon, and then throw the fillets in with the crumbs and shake them up. Then I fry them in olive oil. They taste like some kind of specialty fish stick is the only way I can describe it. Yeah, I've seen other people cook them up, and I think they think the blood line is just dark meat and cook it with the rest of the fish. It changes the flavor when you get rid of those blood lines. It changes the flavor to cook just the white meat, and remove the rest of the fish from the pan like that.
Great tips on cooking them up, thanks for sharing! I’ll make more of an effort to try and harvest some of the JS I catch this winter and try out your recipe instead of using them for dungie bait 👍🏻
if you bleed them when you catch them will that get rid of the blood line?
do you fish in pacifica California?
sounding like a minecraft villager
Its safe to eat cooked parasites?
You mean if you catch the Jack Smelt with the round worms in the skin?
The worms inside the meat
I'll see later on if I can find the info on it. I think it was credible, coming from Fish and Game, that said that the Smelt parasites were safe to eat after you cooked them.
Pacifica Fisherman didnt i meet you today?
Right . That was me on the beach at Grey Whale Cove.