South African Fishing

PICKLED FISH
 

                   l.5 kgYellowtail, scaled and filleted, with skin on
                   2 large onions
                   5 garlic cloves
                   ½ cup water
                   ½ cup brown sugar
                   1 cup grape vinegar
                   8 peppercorns
                   4 cloves
                   4 allspice berries
                   2 bay leaves
                   1 Tablespoon Marsala or curry powder
                   2 teaspoons ground cumin
                   2 teaspoons ground coriander
                   1 teaspoon turmeric
                   coarse salt as needed
                   oil for frying
 

·        Chop the garlic
·        Peel and slice onions into rings
·        Sprinkle coarse salt on both sides of the fish to firm up the flesh
·        Allow to stand in a glass bowl for 25 – 30 minutes
·        Rinse the fish under running water
·        Cut the fish into serving portions leaving skin on
·        Heat oil in frying pan and fry fish as is – no batter or flour
·        Fry until cooked through
·        In a large pot, bring the rest of the ingredients to the boil, stirring to ensure that the sugar dissolves and does not burn at the bottom of the pot.
·        Allow to simmer for ± 8 minutes until the onions are cooked but still crispy
·        Layer the pieces of fish and the sauce and onions alternately in a glass serving dish, ensuring that the last layer of fish is covered with sauce
·        Delicious served cold with a green salad

• When making knots in fishing line always moisten the knot with saliva before making the final pull, this will lubricate the line and prevent the line from burning whilst going into the knot, thus making a week link in your tackle, and remember to gradually pull the knot tight to avoid damaging the line.
• When adding new line to your reel, place the spool into a bucket of water, the drag generated by the water will help lubricate and put a slight stretch on the new line letting it wind evenly onto the spool. Remember to still add some pressure to the line while spooling to avoid bird’s nests.
• Should you manage to hook a fish in the back of the throat and want to release it, do not try to get the hook out, this will most likely damage the gills and cause the fish to bleed to death.  Simply cut the line and and remake your hook trace, the hook will rust away in a couple of days and cause no further damage to the fish.  Hooks are cheap enough guys!
• The old rule of neat presentation applies!  Use nail clippers to trim your knots after making up traces.  Use long nose pliers to hold on to hooks while making up steel traces and to cut the ends off neatly.  The long nose pliers is also useful to remove hooks from toothed fish.
• Take the trouble to check beaches after rough and stormy seas, small stones and shells washed up could be an indication of holes that have opened up, fish will be feeding in these newly opened holes for days afterwards.
• When buying tackle buy the best you can afford, buying a quality rod and reel and then filling the spool with cheap inferior line could make your chances of landing that once in a lifetime dream fish less likely.  The dream fish could come along at any time, always have the correct tackle, no short cuts.
• When undecided on the size of hook to use, always opt for a smaller hook.  A fish with a small mouth will find it extremely extremely difficult to mouth a large hook whilst a bigger fish could still be hooked on the smaller hook.
• Always remember to rinse your reel in warm water with the drag tightened after every fishing trip.  Don’t forget to loosen the drag to relieve pressure on the drag system and washers, this will extend the life of your reel dramatically.
• If a powerful fish starts running line off your reel, the decreasing line on the spool may actually increase drag tension, you may need to loosen the drag to avoid being broken up.
• Always clean and dry all fishing rods before storing them, wet and salty rods will deteriorate with time. Do not store to close to the roof of your garage, the heat will cause serious damage to rods.
• The best way to see if any hook is sharp enough, drag the point over your finger nail, it should hold onto the nail.
• When cleaning your fishing reels, use an inexpensive paint tray.  Soak all the parts in the deep end of the tray in petrol.  Use a toothbrush or paint brush to scrub the parts at the raised end, excess petrol will run down into the tray.
• A sharp knife is a safe knife, always try to keep your knives as sharp as possible.  Have a good sharpener in your tackle box and use it often.
• To preserve wonderworm,bloodworm and mussel worm, place them on some old newspaper and cover them in course sea salt, this will extract most of the moisture from the worms, preserving them.  Roll the newspaper and store in the freezer for the next fishing trip.