grayfingers
Cave Dweller 
Member since November 2007
Posts: 4,575 
|
Post by grayfingers on Jun 15, 2012 10:01:20 GMT -5
Life (and deaths) have kept me from getting into the mountains for the past three years. I can't complain too much though, I have been able to do some river fishing and hounding this past half year. Still, the mountains are my favorite place to be. The last time we hiked into our favorite nearby lake we were in our 40's, and we were eager to see how we would do now that we are 50 +. Life slips by too fast, and I am realizing that there will come a day when we cannot make it far into the woods. So, to celebrate my birthday, yesterday morning we got up at dark-thirty and headed out. We left the trail head just before 6 am. The hike gains a lot of elevation so it takes three and a half hours to hike the eight miles in. It was a perfect and beautiful day for hiking, 42 degrees when we started out, it had lightly frosted up higher. The high for the day up there was in the low 60's. The sights, sounds and smells of the forest springing to life are a tonic for the soul. We held up fairly well physically, considering. We both were walking around like arthritic orangutans this morning though. Here are a few shots, Bill         Between my wife and myself we caught 11 Cutthroats and Brook Trout, up to 16". (Caught one more while I was cleaning the rest.) I will brine and smoke some of these.  |
|
|
|
Post by rockpickerforever on Jun 15, 2012 10:12:59 GMT -5
Gorgeous photos of some spectacular scenery! Looks like you had a great birthday! Have you recovered yet? Thanks for taking us along... Jean
|
|
|
|
Post by NatureNut on Jun 15, 2012 11:12:09 GMT -5
All I can say is Wow! Dangit, we skipped the mountains this spring to come home to see the kids and take care of my Mom's estate. This really makes me wish we had done it differently. Glad you finally got to have this trip and it looks like you enjoyed every second of it!
How did the fish taste?
Jo
|
|
Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,723
|
Post by Fossilman on Jun 15, 2012 11:42:34 GMT -5
Yuppers,nothing better than the mountains!!!! Montana still is my fav. state too because of them...Looks like great fun and scenery......Smoked trout "does it get any better"..........
|
|
|
|
Post by Pat on Jun 15, 2012 12:50:04 GMT -5
Arthritic orangutans? : ) Beautiful scenery, great company, and tasty fish. Did you also catch any rocks?
|
|
grayfingers
Cave Dweller
Member since November 2007
Posts: 4,575
|
Post by grayfingers on Jun 15, 2012 13:28:31 GMT -5
Jo, The trout are indeed tasty. All the fish around here live in water that is melted-ice cold, and clean. The fish from this lake are especially succulent, they have dark orange meat due to the freshwater shrimp that make up a large part of their diet. I season them with sea salt, freshly ground pepper and a shake of garlic. Then coat them with a mixture of flour and cornmeal and fry in a combo of olive oil and bacon grease until the skin is crispy brown and the meat is firm but moist. And the smoked ones, I have a brine recipe that is a killer mix of salt, honey, and various spices. After smoking over cherry and apple wood with a hint of hickory, one has a delicacy worthy of royalty.
Forgot to mention that the ice has been off this lake for probably not more than 3 weeks.
Pat, I did not pack out any rocks. I had to try to turn a blind eye to all the formations of basalts with quartz, mica and pyrite as well as various metamorphic granites along the way. I wish to return with a pick and search for float on a couple of side creeks that fall steeply into the main canyon. I also saw calcite, I suspect there may be some agatized material in the area. There is a petrified forest not far from here, and the area around the lake is ancient upturned fossil shale mixed with conglomerate lava flows.
Bill
|
|
|
|
Post by helens on Jun 17, 2012 4:06:09 GMT -5
Very kewl scenery and gorgeous fish!!!
Will you share how you smoke the fish? I always wanted to try that but really have no idea how to smoke fish.
|
|
|
|
Post by kk on Jun 17, 2012 9:00:40 GMT -5
Belated Happy B'day Bill. Great trip, beautiful scenery, sub-herb catch and most of all, no people around. That sounds like half way to heaven to me.  |
|
grayfingers
Cave Dweller
Member since November 2007
Posts: 4,575
|
Post by grayfingers on Jun 17, 2012 16:46:19 GMT -5
Helen, Here is my brine recipe. Took a bit to find the file so I wouldn't have to type it out. I use a Little Chief smoker for most of the meats I smoke. It has an electric burner that heats a chip pan. I have a larger smoker built from a 1950's refrigerator. They were made of heavy metal, and could easily be stripped of insulation. The base has a hinged access and is ideal for a small hard wood fire.
Smoking is an art in itself, there are nuances such as soaking the chips to produce a heavier slower moist smoke. Cold smoking requires temperatures below 80 degrees F. for several days. Hot smoking brings the internal temp to 160 which is deemed the safest (and fastest) way. Cold smoked fish is more dries by smoke, whereas hot smoked is more cooked than dried, and requires more refrigeration.
Wild Bill’s Fish Brine
Makes around 2 quarts of brine.
1 ½ cups Sea Salt
2 tsp. Onion Powder
1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Black Pepper
1 tsp. Dry Mustard
½ tsp. Allspice
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
½ cup Honey
½ cup Dark Molasses
½ cup Soy Sauce
2 cups Hot Water
***3 cups Cold Water*** Added after the hot water
Use only glass or plastic container for brining.
Mix salt and other dry seasonings, add remaining ingredients and mix with the 2 cups of hot water until pretty well dissolved. Add the 3 cups of cold water and mix well. pack fish into container, cover with brine and refrigerate overnight. (Up To 12 hours.) Remove fish from brine. Do not rinse. Allow to dry for a while to glaze the surface before smoking over apple, cherry, hickory or your favorite mix of chips for 8 to 11 hours depending on the heat you are smoking at and the thickness of the fish. Yum.
Oh yeah, I also use this brine on cold water carp, pheasant, geese, ducks, grouse and such. The recipe can be tweaked with ones favorite spices tailored to the meat. If one does not do wild game, a chicken or half a turkey is tasty smoked up.
|
|
|
|
Post by helens on Jun 17, 2012 23:24:13 GMT -5
Wow! Thank you so much Bill!! I meant to clarify that I wasn't asking for secret recipes, but I don't know how to 'smoke' fish. The recipe sounds wonderful, and will definitely make it when I can try smoking some fish!!! I thought you smoked fish by building a wood fire and just putting the fish on top of a grill over it... I'll go look up smoking fish in a minute, this sounds really interesting! We haven't gotten lots of fish in a while. The last few years have been rough for us, we sold our boat 2 years ago because my husband lost his job when his company went under, and had to take a lower paying job, so we had to cut costs. Our entire economy is still digging out of the mess that started in 2007. Before that, we would go fishing quite a bit on our 20' Searay. In a good few hours, we have gotten 10 BIG sea trouts, and I definitely wish I knew how to smoke fish then!! Actually, I still have some family pix online of our boat (I was playing with my new underwater camera that day, so was shooting from the water) - hubby with my 2 boys:  Hubby, son, my puppy:  They were staring at the manatee playing with our anchor line:  Hubby catching his own bait, thought this was a neat shot with NASA's VAB bldg in the background.  Florida's space coast has loads of little deserted islands you can camp, fish, swim with dolphins and manatees from, that you can only reach by boat. There are a few pods of dolphins that live in that bay, so you see them any time with their babies, and the manatees play with you too at the islands - I got taken for a ride on a manatee once!! I don't have it online, will attach a photo of me petting the manatee, but since I had the camera, I couldn't get a full body shot. Hopefully we can buy another boat in a few more years, and if any of you swing by the state, we can take you fishing:). |
|
|
|
Post by texaswoodie on Jun 18, 2012 10:21:05 GMT -5
Awesome Bill! You are one lucky dude to live where you do.
Curt
|
|
grayfingers
Cave Dweller
Member since November 2007
Posts: 4,575
|
Post by grayfingers on Jun 18, 2012 12:02:18 GMT -5
Helen, cool pictures! You have a great looking family, and manatees are neat critters. Nice boat too. We have a 1959 Crestliner 14' semi v hull aluminum boat with a vintage Monkey Ward's Sea King outboard. I restored it years ago when one could still get wide planks of mahogany for transom and seats. Not fancy, but a good fishing boat. Though I love the mountains and get all jumpy and nervous-like when none are in sight, I do envy those who live near the ocean. The old boat  Curt, and Kurt, yes I do feel very blessed on many levels, getting to live somewhere like this. The ability to spend a day or longer without seeing another human is a great way to re-boot. Years ago, I almost chased the mighty dollar by moving away. This beautiful country and my sense of responsibility to my aging parents (I was only living child) kept me here. As the years passed I came to realize that a simple life lived close to the land is for me, the way to be alive while I am alive. Material wealth and possessions are meaningless if one wastes their life attaining them. I believe that time well spent is that which is shared with family and friends, and studying /experiencing the natural order that the land itself as well as the plants and creatures adhere to. The timeless stillness one feels when sitting on the edge of an alpine lake brings healing and offers wisdom to the spirit as well as the soul. Bill |
|
cardiobill
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 881
|
Post by cardiobill on Jun 18, 2012 20:05:25 GMT -5
Wow!! Spectacular scenery.
Bill
|
|
|
|
Post by helens on Jun 19, 2012 13:56:24 GMT -5
When we get another boat, your boat's the type we'd be looking for, a nice flat bottomed aluminum boat with an outboard.
When we bought the SeaRay, we thought that it'd be more adaptable because it was an ocean as well as lake boat... and found that the draft was way too deep for a LOT of the rivers in Florida, so we were really stuck with the ocean (which tossed us like a bob) and very deep bays, and could barely take it into shallow inlets or the Keys, where there are a ton of invisible sandbar propeller eaters. It was also not good for diving, as we couldn't always go where we wanted (lobsters are in the little inlets).
For fishing, we need a jonboat, and that's what we're probably going to get, or try to find a jonboat type with a ladder at the sides for swimming/snorkling. Your boat sounds wonderful!!
As for the moving away, it's good you didn't! We actually moved to Florida to get away. I spent my early childhood in Manhattan, then Long Island, then DC for school. When we moved to Orlando, it was as rural as I'd ever been... 15 minutes drive to the grocery store! Whoa!!
As odd as it sounds, it's only been since I've come to THIS forum that I've even met people living in a more rural setting than even where we live (which compared to some of the photos I've seen would be considered big city). The photos I've seen here, where you guys go rock hounding, fishing, and just hanging out completely fascinate me.
I don't think you've lost a thing from not moving away. You are very fortunate to be born in an area with that amount of wilderness in the first place. People work a lifetime in cities to be able to move to where you grew up. I think it may be true that 99% of people who live in big cities chasing money are doing it to be you someday:).
|
|
petthefish
off to a rocking start
Member since July 2012
Posts: 20
|
Post by petthefish on Jul 11, 2012 11:22:31 GMT -5
Great looking trip and great catch. I'm jelouse.
|
|
