A few weeks ago, frequent customer Glenn Thill brought some smoked rockfish on the boat that was great: sweet, not too dry, good flavor. You wanted another piece after trying it. Glenn shared the ingredients with Capt. Andy, who tried a few versions before settling on this recipe.
Smoked rockfish is easy to make and delicious. This recipe yields a moist, sweet treat, and can also be used for salmon and other fish.
1 cup Yoshida’s original sweet teriyaki sauce 1 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
For those who like a more salty flavor, increasing the soy sauce to half a cup, or adding 1/3 cup salt is optional.
The main ingredients are brown sugar, Yoshida’s original teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce.
Cut the rockfish into small pieces, roughly three or four pieces per fillet.
Cut the rockfish fillets into small pieces. Each fillet will yield four pieces.
Brine in the Yoshida’s, brown sugar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce mixture for at least 12 hours.
Add the fish to the brine, and leave in the refrigerator overnight. The fish can be brined for two to three days
Without rinsing place on a drying screen for one hour.
Allow the fish to air dry in the smoke with the lid off for at least an hour before turning on heat and adding chips.Use thee pans of chips to smoke, then leave in smoke several more hours to finish.
Smoke, with three pans of chips, for 4 to 8 hours. Brush with sweet chili sauce and continue smoking until fish is done. You will know when fish is done when it easily breaks apart and turns from a translucent color to white inside.
After three pans of chips have been used, apply the first coast of sweet chili sauce. This will help keep the fish moist, and add a delicious sweet flavor.After smoking for three or four hours, brush the fish with sweet chili sauce again.
We’ve tried lots of smoked rockfish recipes. Rockfish tends to dry out quickly, and also can easily by too salty. This brine yields a moist piece of rockfish with a firm texture without being stringy.
The finished product, sweet chili smoked rockfish.Glenn Thill of Shady Cove, Ore., shared the ingredients for sweet chili smoked rockfish with us. Glenn is a frequent customer on our charter boats.
To catch a limit of rockfish to make your own smoked rockfish, visit our web site, www.brookingsfishing.com, or call our booking office, (541) 813-1082.
Just as the lingcod and rockfish action accelerated out of Brookings, and our charters were getting nice limits of both, new measures from the state of Oregon to combat the coronavirus pandemic have sidelined our charter boats for right now.
Brookings Fishing Charters has suspended ocean charters at this time, in accordance with the governor’s executive order regarding coronavirus. Happening during the busy Spring Break period, with many of the reservations made months ago, this is an especially difficult decision. We will be contacting customers booked during the upcoming two-week period to reschedule or process refunds of deposits. We hope to be fishing again sometime in April or early May. Our thoughts are with the countless families and small businesses here on the Oregon Coast financially impacted by this, the medical workers dealing with the pandemic, and our customers who will have to fish with us some other time. No cases of coronavirus have been confirmed on the Southern Oregon Coast, and obviously we hope that remains the case. We sincerely hope the spread of COVID-19 is quickly contained, and wish a positive outcome for anyone who comes in contact with it.
Limits of lingcod aboard the Miss Brooke in early March 2020.
Before we temporarily shut down, lingcod fishing was very good. We were seeing a nice grade of fish, with limits most trips, and limits of nice rockfish as well.
6 limits of lingcod caught aboard the Miss Brooke of Brookings Fishing Charters in March 2020.Nice limits of rockfish caught aboard the Papa B in March 2020.Glenn, a longtime customer, with a nice lingcod caught in March 2020 aboard the Miss Brooke of Brookings Fishing Charters.More lingcod limits caught aboard the Miss Brooke in March 2020 near Mack Arch.
A nice vermilion rockfish caught aboard the Miss Brooke in March 2020.
The 2020 ocean lingcod and rockfish season out of the Port of Brookings is off to a good start. The Brookings Fishing Charters fleet was the first charter company in Brookings to begin running charters this year, and the Miss Brooke, Papa B and ‘Bout Time have already run several dozen trips. When the weather is nice, fishing has been good, with limits of lingcod and rockfish. During rough weather days, rockfish are still biting well, but catch rates for lingcod have dropped.
A nice canary rockfish caught March 8, 2020, off the coast of Brookings aboard the Miss Brooke of Brookings Fishing Charters.
Overall, lingcod fishing has been good this season. There are big numbers of smaller male lingcod in shallow water, preparing to spawn. These fish are abundant and aggressive, and readily bite baits and jigs when the swell settles down. During a big swell, they hunker down and are somewhat more reluctant to bite. We have been catching lingcod as close at Chetco Point and south of the harbor, but generally are doing best between Bird Island and Mack Arch. We have already ventured to Mack Arch and Arch Rock several times this season.
An average-size lingcod from March 2020 aboard the Papa B. Lingcod fishing has been good so far this season.
Limits for rockfish and lingcod are unchanged for 2020. We can keep five rockfish a day, with any combination of black, blue and canary rockfish. Two lingcod a day may also be kept, in addition to the rockfish. The minimum size of lingcod remains 22 inches.
Ocean salmon season is expected to open in May. Final seasons will be set by the PFMC and ODFW in April. Pacific halibut season opens in May. We should start to see California halibut in early July. Brookings Fishing Charters Capt. Andy Martin was very successful at finding the CaliHali in 2019 near Brookings.
Pacific halibut season opens May 1 in Brookings. California halibut, like those pictured here, arrive in late June and early July. Capt. Andy will be running CaliHali trips again this summer in the guide sled.
We are now offering daily trips, as the weather allows, aboard the Miss Brooke, Papa B, The Dash, ‘Bout Time and guide sled. In March and April, trips will depart between 7 and 7:30 a.m. We will bump up the time in May.
Limits of lingcod from early March aboard the Miss Brooke. We have gone to Mack Arch several times already this season.
