VIDEO: Clam Digging in Coos Bay Oregon for Gapper Clams

This video shows how to dig for Gapper Clams in Coos Bay.

Tags: Clamming in Oregon, Coos Bay, gaper clams, tutorial

Halibut Season Mad Dash & Stumble

The Halibut Fleet Heading Out

The 10 hour Halibut Season this year was a struggle for us on the Harvester.   We stayed up the night before baiting with octopus, squid and herring.  We set 30 tubs of gear (each tub with about 180 hooks) off Cape Arago with the hopes of catching 70 – 100 fish to fill our quota.   Weather was great.  It was  blowing like crazy the day before but it was flat calm on the opening.  This time of year our spot is usually pretty good since the Halibut spawn shallower in the spring and move out to deeper water later on.   We’re pretty sure the halibut moved out deeper than we figured, since we know some boats who did better out there, so we basically got skunked catching only 10 fish at  230 pounds.  That’s one fish an hour plus all the prep time it was pretty dire.  Since you only get 10 hours you basically have make an educated (or not so educated) guess where they’ll be for those few hours when you are allowed to catch them.  We guessed wrong

Video One of the Few to hit the deck

Now its 2 days of going through the gear and fixing hooks checking the gangion, cleaning the gear really good with soap and bleach and putting it in the barn for the rest of the year.  There may be other openings but its too much work for too little fish with the prices being down.  We’re moving on to the Tuna which are coming closer in with the warm summer waters.

Stay Tuned for the Albacore Tuna!

-The Harvester Captain & Crew

Another Cool Video: Cabazon Fishing

Tags: 2009, cabazon, commercial, halibut, video

Muck rakers

With a minus tide, clammers dig in for dinner

Gaper Clam Example

CHARLESTON – Jeff Hawk wanted a shot at the big clams that have been hiding all year.

So by 6:30 this morning, the Talent man and his son Jesse, 12, were scouring the mudflats of the South Slough in Charleston, digging for clams and trying to take advantage of 2009’s lowest tide yet.

“If you figure it’s been a year since someone’s seen this dirt, this is probably a good place to look,” Hawk said. “They’ve been sitting here, maturing all year.”

The pair had a bucket full of gaper clams already, but they were there for the experience more than the seafood feast.

“I like it when you get dirty,” Jesse said.

They picked a good time – for digging clams and for getting dirty. This week’s streak of minus tides exposes rarely seen parts of the bay and makes for prime clamming.

Read more…

Tags: Charleston, Clamming in Oregon, low tide

Soft-Shell Crabs

Darker purple crabs are what you are looking for!

Male Dungeness crabs have begun molting.  Soft–shell crabs are not worth keeping because they contain mostly water and very little meat.  Dungeness crabs grow by molting.  Female Dungeness crabs molt during April, May and June.  Breeding with the hard shelled male crabs takes place while the female crabs are molting.  Male crabs molt during throughout the year but most often during July and August.  It takes one to three months for the crab’s shell to harden and gain usable meat.  Gently squeeze the center of the large section of the first walking leg to determine if they are hard shell crabs.  If the leg gives in while being squeezed return the crab to the bay.  Recently molted crabs are lighter in color and weigh less than their hard shelled brothers.  Recall all of the crabs that were just a little too short to keep latst year. They are the crabs that have molted today and the crabs we will harvest this fall. Crabbers are encouraged to return soft crabs to the water so their shells can harden and fill with the succulent sweet meat that we find so desirable.  As always good digging,  Bill the Clamman

Tags: Crabbing in Oregon, crabs, dungeness, soft shell, tips

Herb Crusted Halibut

Aqua Blu’s Miso Herb Crusted Halibut offers a bold fusion of flavors. Coated in miso on one side and Panko bread crumbs on the other, the Halibut is prepared to offer an array of textures, but the recipe doesn’t stop there. A side of crisp, fresh vegetables and a decadant Lemongrass Kaffir Lime Leaf Cream adds a dimension of decadence.

Ingredients

Directions

In a bowl combine miso, sugar and water. Mix until smooth in texture. Place the Halibut in a small pan and cover with the miso mixture. Let sit at least four hours. Coarsely cut the basil, parsley, and lime leaves. Finely chop the lemongrass. Combine herbs and puree in a food processor, about 15 seconds. Mix with Panko breadcrumbs in large bowl.

After 4 hours, preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Heat oil in saute pan or flat iron skillet over medium high heat. Remove halibut from marinade. Dip only the top of each piece of fish in Panko-herb mix and place in oil, Panko side face-down. Brown the Panko-herb side and turn over. Sear bottom for 1-2 minutes. Transfer to baking sheet and finish cooking oven for 4-5 minutes, depending on the thickness.

Serve by placing vegetables (see recipe) on center of each plate. Top vegetables with one piece halibut, Panko side up. Ladle lemongrass kaffir lime leaf cream (see recipe) around halibut.

Recipe: Grilled Cabazon with Sumac & Green Peppercorn

We had a few Cabazon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus) late tonight so we filleted them kind of rough before heading home:

cabazon have no scales!

just one row of pin bones

Filleting a cabazon is a bit tricky as there are a row of pin bones running down from the upper mid head (hah .. its mostly head!), so you want to cut a full fillet from the belly up till you hit those row of bones, then skip over them for the main chunk. Then you can cut a small fillet from the remaining and pull the bones using plyers.

mini-prep cuisinart handy for making spice rub

toss in bowl with garlic, rub and olive oil

Made a rub using about 2 teaspoon Turkish Sumac, 1 teaspoon of green peppercorns and a few good pinches of kosher salt in the food processor and then dosed the fillets with some light olive oil and a clove or two of garlic & mixed them all in a bowl.

Read more…