Rockfish Breakfast

Here's another report from two weeks ago...

My nephew Jake flies back home this afternoon. Last night before we went to bed he asked, "Uncle Shawn, do you think I can catch one more rockfish before I leave?" He didn't have to ask twice. I looked at the tide tables and decided our best chance to match the low light/high current pattern was daybreak this morning. The tide turned at 5:40 AM, so we were on the water by 5:00. There were some small fish around the sewer pipe but we found some bigger schools up near the outside edge of the dumping grounds. A few fish started breaking just about the time the sun came up over Kent Island and the charter fleet arrived. We chased the breakers for a little while, but they were skittish and scattered, so we settled-in to jigging a school of 16 to 20 inch fish farther inside. We had fun for a while, but I hoped for something a little bigger so we moved even farther back to the 12' mark and found better fish. Jake wanted to keep a couple so we threw a 23" and 24 incher into the cooler. The current waned, so we headed back. We were off the water by 7:30.


When we got home, Dianne had the grease hot and the biscuits started. Jake asked to learn to clean a fish, so I showed him how to handle an electric filet knife.


I chunked up the rockfish, egg washed it, then rolled it in a dry batter of white grits & Martha White corn meal mix seasoned with salt & Old Bay. It fried up nice and golden brown.


Our tomatoes have come in good now, and they went nicely with Dianne's biscuits & gravy. Breakfast was delicious. We used to have fish in the morning a lot when I was a kid. I don't know if it's a Southern thing, or an Appalachian thing, or just a fishing thing, but it's a tradition I hope to renew. Now, I'm gonna take a nap.