Buzzbaits

Fishing structure in shallow water is one of my favorite ways to fish for bass. There are many lure options to choose from when fishing shallow. I personally like to fish fast and cover a lot of water, and the buzzbait is a perfect choice for this style of fishing.

When fishing a buzzbait you want to make sure to keep the bait in the strike zone as long as possible. Fish these lures parallel to the bank, grass lines, or any other visual structure. Often you will see a wake coming at your bait before the fish strikes.

A couple of my favorite buzzbaits are the Booyah Buzz and the Accent Jacob Wheeler Original Buzzbait. These two baits are ready to go right out of the package. There are some modifications you can make that allows them to work a little better.

I like to add a trailer hook to my buzzbaits to ensure when a fish strikes, they’re going to get hooked. Many times bass strike buzzbaits so aggressively that they miss the bait and miss getting hooked. Adding a trailer hook greatly increases your chances of catching a fish.

Do not spend much time in one spot when fishing a buzzbait. Keep moving and covering new water. If an active bass is around, it almost always strikes on the first cast. Buzzbaits are perfect when the water temperature is hot and the fish are shallow. A buzzbait is an excellent way to put fish in the boat.

Grilled Sweetcorn

If you grew up in Indiana, I think it’s a given that you like sweetcorn. I’ve been eating sweetcorn as long as I can remember. You know summer is in full swing when you have the first sweetcorn of the season.

Most people cook their sweetcorn in boiling water. I love it this way, but it also tastes great on the grill. If you have never tried it this way, I think it’s worth giving it a shot.

Here’s how I cook it.

Peel back the husks about to the base. I like to peel it in two sections; it wraps back up better this way. Don’t peel it too close to the base (the husk may fall apart) or peel it all the way off (you’ll never get it wrapped up).

Remove the silk just like you normally would do.

Wrap the kernels back up with the attached husks.

Fill a container or sink full of cold water and allow corn to soak for 20-30 minutes.

Shake off all the excess water. Pull off any loose or straggly husks at the end (they will just burn off anyways).

Put corn directly on preheated grill.

Cook for about 15 minutes on medium to low heat. I like to turn them often.

You know they are done when the husks get a good charring on them.

Season them to your taste and enjoy! This is a quick, clean, and tasty way to cook a summer favorite.

 

Lake to Plate

There is nothing quite like fresh walleye or sauger. I caught a big sauger on Saturday and we cooked it on Sunday. I really wanted to cook it on the grill since it was 60 degrees outside. Unfortunately, when I caught the fish the weather was much worse. It was 35 degrees, but the fish didn’t seem to mind.

I tried a new style of cooking fish. I have cooked fish on the grill many times, but never  in an aluminum foil packet. I also cooked sliced potatoes the same way.

I started out by patting the filets dry. Then, I drizzled lemon juice over the entire fish. Next, I sprinkled many different seasonings on the filets including, salt, pepper, Lowry’s, Old Bay, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder. I topped the fish with butter and wrapped it up in the foil.

The potato packs were seasoned with salt, pepper, and Lowry’s. I added two slices of bacon for some extra flavor. If you haven’t tried using bacon on potatoes this way, I highly recommend it!

I cooked the potato packs for about a half hour on the grill, flipping about every 10 minutes. The fish took about 15 minutes total, flipping once. Don’t be afraid to take a peek in the packets when grilling this way. You would hate to open it and have them a little too crispy!

This recipe took about 10 minutes to prepare and about 30 minutes to cook. Most of the time was dedicated to peeling and slicing the potatoes. The fish took 3 minutes to prepare. I was surprised how evenly the sauger cooked in the packet. The packet also held the fish together, and it did not fall apart when flipping. We will be cooking fish again this way in the future

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Buttery Oven Baked Fish

On these cold winter days, it is nice to have an excuse to start the oven to help warm the house. I baked fish yesterday and it turned out very tasty! This recipe is full of flavor and very quick to make.

I started out spraying cooking spray in a 9 x 13 baking dish. I sprinkled some St. Elmo seasoning on the fillets.

Next, in a separate bowl I melted 4 tablespoons of butter.  To the melted butter I added more St. Elmo seasoning, Kosher salt, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, lemon and lime juice.

I drizzled the seasoned butter over the fish fillets. If you like a little crunch, you can add Panko bread crumbs to the top of the fillets. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.  That is it! This was a great dinner with virtually no clean up afterwards. That is my kind of baking.

Ingredients

3-4 whitefish fillets [Any whitefish will work]

A sprinkle St. Elmo seasoning over the fillet

4 tbs of melted butter

1/2 tsp of St. Elmo seasoning

1/4 tsp of Kosher salt

1/4 tsp of paprika

1/4 tsp of onion powder

1/4 tsp of garlic powder

1/2 tsp of lemon juice

1/4 tsp of lime juice

Baked Fish Recipe

What do you do when you want to grill fish, but run out of propane shortly after firing the grill up? You bake it! Running out of propane did not stop us from having a great dinner.  When baking fish I like to keep the seasoning simple. I want to taste the fish, not the seasoning.

This recipe is great for any mild fish. Walleye, tilapia, and redfish are my favorites to bake or grill.  Smaller fish, such as bluegill and crappie, seem to fall apart too easily, so I prefer frying these types of fish.

I start out by making a non-stick aluminum foil boat with a small amount of lemon juice poured in. Next, I sprinkle the fillets with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, Lawry’s seasoned salt, and Old Bay seasoning. I only season one side of the fillet, but you can do both sides if you prefer.

I cooked the fish for about 10-12 minutes per side in a 425 degree oven. Be careful to avoid breaking the fillet while flipping.

This recipe is very easy, but it turned out great.  One other thing I really like about this recipe is the prep time is less than 5 minutes.

Check out my fried crappie post here.

One of My Favorites

Bass fisherman have many “favorite” lures. They change from season to season and year to year, but this lure really is towards the top of my list. The Strike King Fat Baby Finesse Worm is my go-to worm for fishing ponds and busy lakes. It is almost too easy to use and catch fish on. In fact, I caught a bass today on this lure.  I love having a pond in the backyard!

There are many different ways to rig this worm, but I stick to three main techniques. I use this worm Texas rigged, on a shakey head, and wacky style.

I like to use this worm Texas rigged when fishing near vegetation and stumps.  This style of fishing allows you to fish any structure in the water without getting snagged. I use a 1/0 or 2/0  Owner Twistlock light worm hook.

I will use this worm is on a shakey head or football head too. This technique is great for fishing deep water. The worm will stand almost straight up on this style of jig head.  I like to use a 1/8 ounce or 1/4 ounce shakey head most of the time.

Wacky style is the technique I prefer most of the time. I like to use a small wide gap hook through the middle of the worm and let it fall very slowly. This style works very well when you know there is no structure to get hung up on. The exposed hook allows for easy fish hook ups, but also allows the lure to get snagged easily.  One trick I like to use is put a very small split shot weight about 8 inches above the hook. This allows the worm to fall just slightly faster.

The Strike King Fat Baby Finesse Worm is also injected with coffee scent and salt. The bass seem to like coffee as much as my wife does.

 

 

 

Fried Crappie Recipe

Who doesn’t love fried fish? Especially when you caught them yourself. Crappies are one of my favorite fish to eat. We caught these crappies from Lake Shafer in August.

We decided to cook these up for dinner one night. The seasoning I chose to use was Open Season, but I really like Uncle Bucks available at Bass Pro Shops. I like to mix together their original seasoning with their spicy flavor. I also add bread crumbs for a little extra crunch.

I use paper plates, because it makes clean up much easier. The only dishes I have to use are the bowl for the egg wash and the skillet.

Pat at the crappie fillets completely dry. Once dry drop them into the egg wash.

After they have been soaked in the egg mix coat them with the breading mix. Don’t be afraid to make the breading is thick.

I like to cook the fish outside on the grill gas burner. This keeps the fried fish smell outside. You also don’t have to worry about the fish splattering. Put enough oil in the skillet to cover at least half of the fish. Cook the side down until it turns golden brown. Flip the fillet over and cook the other side to golden brown. The fish will come out crunchy and ready to eat.

I almost like eating them as much as I like catching them. Okay, not really, but they sure are tasty!