Water to Table

Well another weekend comes to a close. Let me tell you about my Saturday and Sunday. Very similar activities compared to last week, better in some aspects.

Saturday I spent the first part of it delivery driving. I don't know what it was but it wasn't all that busy. Sadly I probably just made over the break even point. Only a few dollars earned after filling up with gas and getting something to eat. I needed something to change my mood and brighten my day.

I decided to check a local park not far from my place. The place is called Big Lake Park. It contains three separate ponds. All are rather small but the main pond, Gilbert's Pond offers the best fishing. It was about 3:30 p.m. when I got there so I had about 2 hours of daylight. It was around 50 degrees Fahrenheit with a rather heavy breeze. It's a good thing I had something else in mind in attempts to keep me moving to keep warm. It worked what I did do except the hands got a little cold.

Well where there's water there may be fish, haha. Did you not think I was going to fish? I can't believe it's the third time this week getting some fishing in. I tell you it's a good feeling fishing in this park. The park has a busy railroad track that passes just outside of it. It's pretty cool to listen to the diesel freight locomotives blow their whistles and hear the many cars rattle across the tracks.

I give you a special look into what I used to target a particular species of fish. These are small jigs with hints of pink in them. I usually only use these colors when I fish for trout. Well the target today is just that, rainbow trout. You see about a week ago they stocked this pond with them. The day they stocked them, hundreds of people were fishing for them. I never go on the day they stock them. Why? Too many people, I just don't like elbow to elbow fishing. Also the fish are a bit spooked after being dumped. The soonest I will go is day 3, often that is the last day for many fisherman. I was among just four other people fishing, day 7 since they were stocked. There will be opportunities to catch them for another 3 to 4 weeks. Many think they are depleted after heavy pressure for 3 days, wrong!!

I fished for quite some time before I started to catch some. In total I fished for about 2 hours. I didn't catch a trout until about an hour and half in. Once I caught the first fish the second and third we're close behind it. I did miss two bites or else I would have had the limit of 5. I fished until the sun told me it was time to go. Well if I make it Sunday I know where to go first.

I got home ate some dinner and afterwards I filled the cooler with more ice. I decided to clean the fish the next morning. I was just a bit tired and didn't want to mess with them.

Well my Sunday morning kicked off early at 5:00 a.m. The first thing I did was get some coffee in me. I really wanted to prepare the trout whole for grilling but with colder temperatures it's challenging to keep the grill at the proper temperature. So I filleted the fish and will enjoy them oven baked. Trout taste best grilled in my opinion but are good baked and pan fried. I think batter deep frying them is a mistake. Once I cleaned them I placed them in a bowl of water than placed in the refrigerator.

Not long after I was on the road delivering. It started good and I was thinking it's going to be a good earnings day. Than the lunch hour rush came and my phone had no Internet service.

I had to go home and call my service provider on a different device. I was on the phone for over an hour. I tell you I wanted to hang up several times. The agent was slow and it was hard to understand them. About half way through the agent started to snore. That's a first for me, call someone to help and they fall asleep on you. I wasn't mad I actually thought it was quite funny. I just pretended to clear my throat kind of loud and they woke up 😂

Once my phone was connected back to the network I decided not to continue to drive. I watched a little football than went back to the park I went to yesterday. The weather was much better today no wind and it was warmer.

Well the conditions were better but my luck was not. I guess I got the hat to blame. It's a hat I have owned for quite some time but I have never worn it until today. The Fish Gods weren't happy with my Master Bait N Tackle hat. I fished for two hours in the spot I had success at yesterday. I only caught two but the depressing thing was I missed six of them. Trout are notorious for spitting the hook out right as your about to lift them out of the water. I had some not so nice words I said each time this happened. When I finished fishing I headed to the nearest Walmart to pick up somethings for the dinner I was going to prepare. Which was yesterday's catch, accompanied with a sweet potato and steamed vegetables. Let me show you the fish preparation.

These are the ingredients you can choose to use. Very simple list: salt, pepper, garlic powder, butter, lemon and crushed red peppers. Anyone I believe can do this, let's continue.

The first thing you have to do is damp dry the fish. I just use paper towels. After that don't do anything with the fish until it reaches room temperature. Since it was in the refrigerator in a bowl of water this will only take a few minutes.

Next step is to get some aluminum foil. Very important don't forget to spray it with some cooking oil. Place filets on foil (skin side down) than start by spreading melted butter over the top. I use a small cooking brush to accomplish this. After that is done sprinkle garlic powder, salt, pepper and red crushed pepper over the top. Next step is to cut two or three slices of lemon than cut each one in half. Last step before placing in oven is to fold foil so everything is sealed.

It's a quick oven meal. Set the oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 15 minutes. The size of the filets will make the times vary. Start checking on it around the 10 minute mark. It is done when it flakes when a fork touches it with not much pressure.

Rainbow trout is super tasty and healthy with a good amount of protein. The vegetables and the sweet potatoes went very well with it. I personally like the fish skin but if you don't the fish flakes well enough so you don't have to eat it.

Well another weekend comes to an end. If your counting I went fishing four times this week. The last two times fish for me on my table 😊 The two I caught today will probably be pan fried and incorporated into a salad for lunch at work this week.Thanks for stopping by I really appreciate it. Take care, be safe and enjoy the week ahead.