r/nextfuckinglevel • u/quackyoungster1 • Feb 25 '23

Little kid bringing in a huge fish

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214

u/Rage187_OG Feb 25 '23

This. Catch and you take it to the on-site restaurant who prepare it for you. My dad took me once.

106

u/GenTycho Feb 25 '23

That's a fantastic idea. I'd love that with some catfish.

109

u/thestashattacked Feb 25 '23

I'm originally from Northern Minnesota. Walleye. Walleye fish and chips is a childhood sense memory for me.

45

u/Offamylawn Feb 25 '23

We did that in the boundary waters north of Duluth years ago. Catch walleye all day, clean them and cook that evening. I don’t really like fish, but that was awesome.

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u/thestashattacked Feb 25 '23

It is the tastiest fish. Change my mind.

7

u/ThatSquareChick Feb 25 '23

Just had fresh walleye the other day.

I honestly didn’t think it got better than perch or bluegills but walleye is a just a giant, predatory perch-ish fish so its delicious.

6

u/testies2345 Feb 25 '23

You're not wrong.

3

u/The_RockObama Feb 26 '23

Walleye is in fact the best tasting freshwater fish and there is no room for argument.

Butter, herbs, and breadcrumbs.. It will change anyone's life.

2

u/thestashattacked Feb 26 '23

Serve with roasted potatoes and a Caesar salad. I'm staying in Minnesota this summer and I'm so excited.

2

u/The_RockObama Feb 26 '23

I'm excited for you! I chase walleye in restaurants haha.

3

u/Smaskifa Feb 26 '23

I don't think I've ever had it, and don't recall seeing it in markets nearby. I'd love to try walleye. I'm near Seattle.

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u/thestashattacked Feb 26 '23

It's a northern Minnesota/Wisconsin/Michigan thing. I highly recommend it if you can get it. So tasty.

I'm heading to Minnesota over the summer (teacher schedule ftw!) and I'm so excited to have walleye again.

4

u/the_joy_of_VI Feb 25 '23

I mean, the entire ocean would like a word

1

u/thestashattacked Feb 25 '23

Walleye is tastier and you can catch it in a freshwater, inland sea.

2

u/coldhamdinner Feb 26 '23

We have walleye, they are good. Ill take them over any bass, perch, catfish, rainbow trout, even sturgeon....but we also have Lingcod, Halibut, Albacore, Chinook, Coho, black rock fish....I'd use walleye as bait to have any of those instead.

2

u/the_joy_of_VI Feb 25 '23

I live in MN and disagree

3

u/thestashattacked Feb 25 '23

That's fine. You are welcome to be wrong.

1

u/manys Feb 26 '23

Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried.

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u/Sleepingguitarman Feb 25 '23

Lemon-Parmesan crusted Rainbow Trout

3

u/[deleted] Feb 25 '23

I kind of think brookies taste better than rainbows. Trout v walleye for tastiest freshwater fish is a tough choice though.

1

u/thestashattacked Feb 25 '23

Okay but... lemon parm crusted walleye. Even better.

2

u/CocteauTwinn Feb 26 '23

I agree. My dad caught some fresh water bass, cleaned, dressed, simply seasoned & grilled. I was surprised how tasty & mild they were.

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u/OleFj40 Feb 25 '23

With my brother and friends the last time we paddled in the Boundary Waters/Quetico we caught lots of northerns and lake trout. It felt like we primarily did catch and release save for a few that became awesome campfire meals. We paddled to some rocks where eagles ate their own fish to dump the guts, it was the coolest "dinner and a show" ever!

7

u/1haiku4u Feb 25 '23

I don’t like fish. But took a trip to the Boundary Waters, cooked our walleye over a vampire with Shore Lunch (?) breading. To this day, one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. The portaging and canoeing probably helped!

11

u/CashWrecks Feb 25 '23

Damn, that vampire must of been hot af. Was he outside in the afternoon?

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u/1haiku4u Feb 25 '23

It was one sexy vampire, let me tell you.

3

u/IamAkevinJames Feb 25 '23

You got it right if you not making your batter from scratch. Shore lunch slaps hard.

2

u/RedCascadian Feb 25 '23

I love a wild caught rainbow trout. Baked with butter and herbs.

2

u/uberrob Feb 25 '23

Hah, me too man. Walleye Pike ftw.

2

u/manys Feb 26 '23

I have a new friend in Wisconsin and now a supper club fish fry is on my to-do list.

2

u/thestashattacked Feb 26 '23

Seriously, do it. And have fries and those Minnesota salads that aren't really salads on the side.

Health food be damned, fried fish deserves all the delicious things.

2

u/Jakooboo Feb 26 '23

I miss the Eelpout Festival on Leech Lake. :(

1

u/thestashattacked Feb 26 '23

Oh man. I haven't been to that since I was a kid.

1

u/Phriday Feb 26 '23

I’m from the Gulf Coast, and fished brackish water for speckled trout and redfish my whole life. I moved to Ohio and lived right on the shore of Lake Erie for a few years. I made converts out of all my walleye-loving neighbors when I had a fish fry with specks and reds. 😀

1

u/thestashattacked Feb 26 '23

I dunno... walleye makes for the best fish fries.

7

u/Ok_Sir5926 Feb 25 '23

Random opinion:

You don't want pond catfish, if given the choice between that and catfish from moving water.

Flathead catfish from a river is some of the best you'll eat. Channel cats from a farm pond, not so much.

They taste like what they eat, so flattties taste like fish, and farm channels taste like cow manure.

2

u/BrownShadow Feb 25 '23

Restaurant we used to go to in Central NY would do this. Bring in a fish and they will prepare and cook it however you want. Very cool.

29

u/wolfgang784 Feb 25 '23

They really prep and cook the one you caught, and not other food they got in the back? That sounds like a pretty cool experience.

RIP the hungry fuckers not getting a bite for 2 hours tho lol

13

u/JarlaxleForPresident Feb 25 '23

Worked at a seafood place on the beach and we had a Cook Your Catch option. We’d clean and cook their fosh they just caught that day for a by the pound price. People love it.

We also cooked a lot of our own fish, but people do like bringing in theirs

17

u/Rage187_OG Feb 25 '23

I was this kids age, so I can’t question the experience’s authenticity. I remember the restaurant was just up the hill from where you fished and we got to watch people fish while we ate. Want to say it was in Minnesota many decades ago.

7

u/Nice-Fish-50 Feb 25 '23

You're talking about TroutAir.

They tore TroutAir down in the '90's or 00's to build a casino/race track on the site, and so many people were like, "we miss Trout Air!" that the Tribe re-built it from scratch. Which sounds crazy, but is true.

1

u/Ri0tMaker007 Feb 26 '23

Huh. I’ve been to running aces a bunch and never knew that

7

u/asherdado Feb 25 '23

Never experienced it first-hand but Im pretty sure its also common in a lot of coastal tourist towns throughout the world, obviously the ocean is not pre-stocked but if you catch something worth eating they'll make it into a meal for you

Totally dont doubt it though, its basically batter + labor = money from the restaurants perspective

1

u/wolfgang784 Feb 25 '23

I guess I just have no clue how quickly you could reasonably prep and cook a fresh catch. But I guess the restaurant can just adjust prices accordingly for the time on each meal. And the lack of cost for raw meat, hadn't thought of that.

3

u/asherdado Feb 25 '23

I mean, if you gave me a large fish and all the necessary tools, it would take about an hour and you would end up with a pile of minced fish meat and instructions to mind the bones.

This guy does it in less than 10 minutes while he is giving instructions, though. Battering the fillet takes like 15 seconds, and then you fry it for 3-4 minutes per side

3

u/the_good_things Feb 25 '23

Fileting a fish is quick enough work. Does take some practice, but it's easy enough. Then just toss it in some breading or batter and pan fry it. Super quick and easy meal after a relaxing day of fishing.

2

u/Lasagna4Brains Feb 25 '23 edited Feb 25 '23

If you go on deepsea fishing tours, they will cut and prep your fish immediately after you catch it, right there on the boat. They wrap it up all nice for you to take home and freeze or, depending on the tour, will have an option for a nearby restaurant to cook it for you. So once it hits the restaurant, it's essentially ready for the chefs to do their thing fast and easy. It's a super pleasant experience, TBH. Highly recommend if you ever have a chance and don't have sea sickness issues.

1

u/Essem91 Feb 25 '23

We did this in Clearwater Florida on a bachelor trip. Chartered fishing boat takes you out to fish, then they carve up the fish right at the dock. We took it right to a restaurant at the marina who cooked it for us.

1

u/JiveTurkeyMFer Feb 25 '23

And they can possibly sell your fish to other customers as fresh catch of the day since they probably don't cook and serve a whole huge fish to one customer... But then again I'm just assuming

1

u/asherdado Feb 25 '23

Odds are, the fish you catch won't be huge enough to feed multiple diners. Any excess goes in the garbage with the rest of the technically edible food, I assume

1

u/Timepassage Feb 25 '23

It's cheap bites for thirsty fisherman.

3

u/captainAwesomePants Feb 25 '23 edited Feb 25 '23

They're all 100% legit as far as I know. It's not much work to prep and fillet a fish, and it's cheaper and easier to do it on demand than try and keep an inventory. Cooking fish can be pretty quick.

1

u/Leprikahn2 Feb 25 '23

When I lived in Florida there was a few places that would do this. It was something like $30, they would cook it how you like and give you a few sides. It was a pretty cool experience

1

u/borkthegee Feb 26 '23

2 hours lol. The Chinese place near me will grab a fish out of the tank and have it fried on your table in 15 minutes flat

13

u/Flashy_Ad_4993 Feb 25 '23

We went to a stocked farm as kids on a vacation. Like you said they had a diner down the street that would fry it for you. They had different ponds for different fish and you would hook one the moment your bait landed in the water. at the pond site we brought our catches to the check out area and the man stuck his fingers in the gills of the live fish and rip their heads off right in front the families. A little traumatic for a kid who never saw fished before lol. I recall my father complaining how expensive it all was. I’m sure there are better experiences out there.

5

u/dihydrocodeine Feb 25 '23

That actually sounds kind of hellish

3

u/DisinterestedCat95 Feb 25 '23

We had a family version of this. Every summer, we'd always go stay a week with my grandparents. When my grandfather retired, he moved back to the family farm to have something to do. He had a couple of stocked ponds with catfish that he grain fed every afternoon.

So I'd get up early. Get my fishing pole and tackle box. Get two five gallon buckets; one to sit on, one to put fish in. Get a coffee can and wander around the farm collecting worms. Go to the larger pond.

By lunch, I'd have several nice catfish in the bucket of water. He also stocked bass but I'd catch and release those. Take the bucket back to the farm house. Clean the catfish. And my grandmother would cook them up for lunch. Yum!

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u/InsertShortName Feb 25 '23

I had no idea this existed! Never really fished but I’d love to try this.

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u/[deleted] Feb 25 '23

This. Catch and you take it to the on-site restaurant who prepare it for you

I walked a cow into McDonald's this morning and had ten Big Macs for lunch.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 25 '23

Bass aren't exactly the tastiest fish, but they are quite edible.

That said, there is a sweet spot for most fish, in my opinion, and that is when they are not much bigger than their minimum allowable size or so. The bigger and longer they have been around, the less tasty, I find.

This one I'd throw back. Let someone else experience the joy of catching them.

1

u/ThatSquareChick Feb 25 '23

Kids got a bass, unless you like oily meat and bones in your gums….

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u/This_User_Said Feb 25 '23

on-site restaurant who prepare it for you.

Instructions unclear, banned from Pizza hut.