Conference wahoo::fishing

       I have a Brinkman smoker I bought out of the Bass Pro cat.
    I have smoked cod and haddock fillets, they were great! One time
    I used the recipe called for in the book that comes withthe smoker.
    Tasted TOO salty to me, but still okay. The other time I used the
    white meat seasoning that Brinkman sells, much better. I used apple
    wood.
       Any of you guys out there that don't have a smoker, you don't
    know what you're missing. I've done Turkey, chicken, pork chops,
    pork roast, ham, and fish. K-Mart also has them, maybe not in the
    winter though. I saw one at Prime Value Mart in Fitchburg last
    week-end, But Bass Pro has just as good a price as anyone.
                                                Denny

    
     I've been smoking fish for three to four years now.I fish lake
    ontario alot so I usually have a few pounds of Salmon fillets(100
    or so LBS.)I made my smoker out of an old wood stove.(box type)
    I can smoke around 30-40 lbs. at a time.Depending on how big the
    fillets are it takes around 12-14 hours of smoking.On some of the
    bigger fillets it's taken up too twenty-four hours.
    
     For the brine I use a big cooler to soak the fish in.30-40 lbs
    is hard to fit in a bowl.
    I put enough water in so it looks like it will cover the fish when
    added.Now comes the salt.I take an uncooked egg(in the shell of
    course)and add it to the water,then start putting in the canning
    salt until the egg begins to float.This seems to get the salt 
    content just about right.(not to salty) After I get the salt right
    I hit the spice rack,anything goes.USUALLY garlic,onion powder,tobacso
    sauce,worchester sauce.After you finish conjuring up your brew,emerse
    your fish and let set for 20 or so hours.
     Now take the fish and rub brown sugar into the flesh and let sit
    over night.This draws the liquid out of the fish,and also adds to
    the flavor.
     The fish is now ready to add to the smoker.I myself us green apple
    wood.not as in "green apples",but green wood.I take my chain saw
    and cut up small chunks,then soak the chunks in water over night.
    this slows down the burning process.You don't want alot of heat
    because your supose to be SMOKING fish not COOKING it,like the small
    electric smokers you can buy DO.(2-4 hours to SMOKE/COOK).I use
    a very minimum amount of charcoal to get the wood SMOKING not BURNUNG
     Around two hours before the fish is done I pat the fillets with
    brown sugar again.
    
     The only problem with brown sugar is,that it doesn't stay preserved
    as long as the Indians would have.BUT my fish usually doesn't last
    long enough to go bad.
    
     As far as wood goes any hardwood cut into chunks will work.Fruit
    and nut trees are best but oak and maple work fine.
    
     Any questions drop me a line duncan::silk
    
                                                  REDEYE
     

    The only way my family will eat bluefish is if I smoke them.  The
    easiest and best method I have found is quite simple.
    
    Fillet the fish as soon as possible after catching them.
    Soak in brine (1 cup kosher salt to 1 gallon water) over night in
    the fridge.
    Wash thouroughly with plent of fresh water.
    
    Smoke as usual (about 2 hours on a Brinkman charcoal smoker)
    
    I have had good luck with mesquite, hickory, maple and apple.
    
    My wife makes a dip of mayo, wiskey and other things.  I will post
    it here if I can find it. 
    
    
    Good luck
    	JOE D
    

	I have wanted to try smoking my catch but don't know if the 
resultant product will keep long enough. I'm the only one in the
family that likes smoked fish. How long will smoked fish last?
Can they be frozed? Canned? etc? Conversely, can you freeze fillets 
and smoke them in small quantities all year round?

Paul 

       Yes, you can freeze and then smoke them. That's what I do with
    all the cod from party boat trips. I still have some in the freezer.
                                                   Denny

    On a lighter note,all of this talk has me confused.Naturally I
    know people smoke cigarettes,cigars,and recreational pharmaceuticals.
    I even know people who go for smoked ham and bacon! But fish? Since
    they spend they're lives in water,does it make them harder to light?
    This must be some new YUPPIE creation.You can count me out on this
    action!
    
      I know,I know.Just couldn't help going for the frivolity.Must
    be the season.HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all,and may you open gifts bearing
    BASS PRO logos tomorrow!
    
    KEITH
    

    I LIKE BLUES, SWORDFISH, SHARK, ACTUALLY ALL FISH COOKED ON A WEBER
    KETTLE OVER CHARCOAL. I THROW HICKORY CHIPS OVER THE COALS AFTER
    SOAKING THEM IN WATER FOR A 1/2 HOUR OR SO. CAN'T BEAT IT.
    
                                  NIGHTCRAWLER~~~~~~~~

    
    Hey WORM, try using your Weber as a SMOKER.  Place a small metal
    pan in the middle where the coals go and pile the coals around it.
    That way you don't get the direct heat directly under the food.
    Keep the pan filled with spiced water for wet smoking.
    I suggest using a lighter smoke chip with fish. Apple ect.
    Hickory, Mesquite, ect. for game.
    
    On the 20th of Dec. I smoked:
    
    1 Duck
    1 Rabbit
    1 Turkey
    2 trout
    
    What a hit over the holidays ( BTW, I flew the smoked chow to
    California were I spent the holiday.)

    Great to be back in NEW ENGLAND

    TBDW
    

    When i lived in california, a friend of mine would smoke Marlin,
    and add orange peels to the wood. along with the brown sugar, it
    gives a great taste to oily fish(marlin, blues, etc.) Give it a
    try!!!
    

    	Someone from my archery club brought in some smoked smelt and
    bluefish the other night. The smelt was pretty salty (which is OK
    because I like anchovies) and the bluefish was excellent. I'm sold
    and will probably have a smoker by this weekend.
    
    	A couple questions, 
    
    	If the meat comes out to salty, should you A. Decrease the
    salt in the soaking solution or B. Decrease the soak time ???
    
    	Is it the salt or the smoking (drying) or both that preserves
    the meat ??? In other words, would the smoking alone preserve the
    meat without soaking it in salt ??? 
    
    	I've seen in this same topic where people have smoked things
    from 2 to 20 hours. What determines the smoking time and how do you 
    tell when something is done ???
    
    	How critical is the temperature in the smoker ???
    
    	RAYJ

    re.-1
    
    I smoke a lot of blues every fall.  The saltiness is most affected
    by how well you rinse the fish in freshwater after it has soaked
    in the brine.  You have to use plenty of running water and then
    let the fish sit on wire racks at least 1/2 hour before you put
    it in the smoker.  This sitting time is important because the flesh
    has to build up a coating (I forget what its called) before it will
    smoke properly.  I have also found that you can use about half the
    salt (Kosher) called for in most of the recipes, without affecting
    the quality of the end product.
    
    Your info about the time is correct.  The time varies greatly with
    the outdoor temp, fire temp, starting water temp and other things
    that I haven't firured out yet.  I usually take it off the grill
    when the edges of the fillets start to turn a golden color.  The
    process is so slow that it doesn't hurt if it's overdone by about
    an hour or so.  It should take at least 2 1/2 hours for a whole
    grill full, if it takes less time your probably cooking the fish
    not smoking it.
    
    The only recomendation I will make is that you look for a smoker
    with as much grill area as possible (two levels is good) because
    the fillets shrink quite a bit during the process.
    
    
    Good luck
    		JOE D
    

    	No sooner said then done. I went out at lunch time to Service
    Merchandise and got the double-wire rack Brinkman for $34.95. I
    was looking through the recipe book and it doesn't have anything
    in it for fish (which is very surprising). Earlier in this topic
    someone mentioned adding kosher salt to water until an egg was just able
    to float in it. I'll probably try that and take another recommendation
    and add some garlic salt, pepper, and lemon juice to start. Another
    suggestion I think I'm going to try is to put the brine solution
    in the water pan.

    	One thing I didn't realize is that a water pan sits above the
    charcoal/wood chip pan. I would guess then you must have to put
    a tray of water in a gas/kettle charcoal grill that you use to smoke
    things also. 

    	RAYJ_who_won't_be_releasing_all_his_bluefish_this_year

         Don't forget to try pork spareribs.  Just take them out of
    the package and put them on the smoker for about 6-8 hours.  When
    they are done split them apart and dump them into your favorite
    barbecue sauce, open several beers and dig in......
    
    JOE D_who's_starting_to_get_very_hungry
    
    

    	After spending more time with the recipe book they did have
    fish recipes. For the standard brine it was 1/4 cup salt to 4 cups
    of water. They also had an alternate consisting of white wine, water,
    and lemon juice I believe. They also said to remove the fish from
    the brine, rinse thoroughly, and allow to air dry for 20-30 minutes.
    
    	I tried a spiced up brine as follows:
    
    		8 cups water
    		� cup kosher salt
    		1 Tblspn soy sauce
    		1 Tblsp. worcester sauce
    		1 Tblsp. brown sugar
    		2 tsp. lemon juice
    		1 tsp. Mrs. Dash
		� tsp. garlic powder

    	I started soaking the fish last night and am going to smoke it after
    work today. Will post the results tomorrow.
    
    	RAYJ

    Hey .... don't forget  RABBITS, TURKEY, DUCK, CHEESE ect.
    

    An coon, an almadillon, an possum, an blackbirds, an quail, an ....
    Wit enuf seasonin a coonass will anyting!!!!
    
    Coonass

    	Well the first attempt was a failure. I got the amount of charcoal
    and water mixed up (i.e. to much charcoal, not enough water) for one 
    but that shouldn't have mattered to much as I didn't run out of water. 
    
    	Other than that I pretty much followed the book. I soaked my wood 
    chunks for a � hour, took the fish out of the brine and placed them on 
    racks to air dry for about 30 minutes. I got my charcoal going real
    good before I put my wood, water, and fish in. The book said to smoke 
    small whole fish 2-3 hours. I did mine for 2� without peeking. The
    book said you cannot overcook something in a smoker. Well, I'd say
    these fish were made for walking cause them puppies came out as tough 
    as shoe leather. 
    
    	I can't figure out what I did wrong. Two things I noticed are
    that the temperature gauge barely got above warm and that my dome
    top doesn't seem to seal very well. There were up to 1/4" gaps between
    the outer lip of the dome top and the inside diameter of the smoker
    body. Is this acceptable or did I get a factory defect ???? Any
    hints/suggestions as to what went wrong from you successfull smokers 
    out there would be appreciated so that I can try again.
    
    	RAYJ

    Sounds like the temp was too high.
    
    The Doctah

    	I was checking with one of the people here that smokes fish
    and I showed him the results. He said they were in there for about
    1 hour to long. He also said that I should try placing the charcoal
    in an even layer in the pan. I left the middle completely open which
    I was told would normally be the hottest part of the coals. That
    may explain why the temperature didn't come up to high. I was also
    told that the gap is normal and required to let some of the smoke
    out.
    
    	When they wrote the recipe book with the cooking times for
    different meats, a small fish to them was probably a herring or
    a mackeral. I don't think they considered REAL small fish like smelt.
    Although the recipe I used was basically OK, I thought it was to
    salty. It also was not nearly as good as the fish I tried at my
    F+G club. I am going to get the recipe on Tuesday and give it another
    attempt with the fish.
    
    	The bottom line here seems to be just because the book tells
    you something IN BIG BOLD PRINT like don't peek, and you really
    can't over cook something in a smoker, etc., don't necessarily believe 
    it. Had I checked my fish earlier I wouldn't have wound up with fish 
    jerky (a.k.a. dog treats).

    	RAYJ

       I know that when I do cod fillets, it only takes about 45 min.
    and not the 1-1/2 to 2 hours they say. It;s best to 'peek' with
    fish.
       The air gaps are normal.
                                                        Denny

    re:20
    
    	Do you have an electric or a charcoal smoker ??? The times on
    the recipe book are shorter for electric models when smoking some
    types of meats. I think fish is one of them.
    
    	RAYJ

       I have charcoal.
                                             Denny

    Well, guys, I'll tell ya.....
    
    I've had the exact same problems with fish.  If I try to get the
    thermometer inton the "ideal" zone, everything is dried out in 
    about 2 hours.  I agree with one smker a few notes back that said
    not toi trust the thermometer.  Don't.
    
    As for meats, I can do a real nice job with them.  I have made ribs,
    chicken, jerky, and other meats to perfection.  No problem.
    
    But in all my attempts at fish, I have not had reasonable success
    once.  I have even tried recipes from a book that Eric Petersen
    loaned me.  It improved the meat, but the fish is still a wash.
    
    Every now and again I think my fish is close to right.  Then I go
    buy some in the local store.  The "indians" in the NW have the
    concession on smoked salmon all sewn up.  When I compare theirs
    to mine, there is no comparison.  This, my friends, is *so*
    frustrating.
    
    I have asked some indians on occasion how they smoke fish.  They
    say they mix equal amounts of salt and sugar (1/2 cup each) and
    some honey in cold water.  Soak fish over night.  Then just cook
    it.  I've decided that theirs is coated with something though. 
    I think it is honey and brown sugar.    When I have tried their
    recipe it comes out salty as a bas****.
    
    One point they make is to use cold, cold water and leave in firdge
    at night.  They say warm water will start the heating process and
    hose up the taste.
    
    I am using trash fish like Cod and Halibut because I work to hard
    to catch the Salmon to ruin it in the smoker.  When you guys get
    the fish smoking down, can you please tell me what you did?
                                 
    I have had good luck with scallops of all things.
    
    By the way, in addition to coal, various woods make the taste better.
    There is a lot of hoopla around mesquite these days.  Personally,
    I've decided that mesquite ruins the taste for my like....makes
    it taste too "sharp".  I cut down a couple cherry trees near my
    house and the cherry wood isn't bad.  Apple is good too.  This is,
    of course, a matter of taste.
                                                     
    Brett.
    

       Try the fish for 45 min. if its golden brown around the edges
    and flakes with a fork, it's done. I find the fish better if you
    DON'T use the salt brine. I just put the untreated fillets right
    in the smoker. 
                                                           Denny

	This is a step by step of what I did. I have had store bought
    fish and liked this BETTER.
    
        	Here is the recipe as told to me:
    
    	1 Cup water (This is NOT a typo)
    	1/2 Cup kosher salt
    	1 Cup brown sugar
	1 teaspoon ginger
       	3 dashes of worcester sauce (about 2 teaspoons)
    	3 dashes of tabasco sauce (about 2 teaspoons)
    	approx. 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
    
    	Contrary to what you might think, this does make a liquid, not
    a paste. The above quantity was more than enough for one full rack
    of fish.
    
    NOTE: I reduced the salt in my recipe to 1/4 cup. If you do this,
    you may want to reduce the brown sugar to 1/2 or 3/4 of a cup. I
    used the full cup and thought it was slightly to sweet but this
    is a matter of personal taste.
    
     	Mix all above ingredients after work and place in a big ziploc
    bag. Place fish in bag, remove all air and roll bag so mixture covers
    the fish. Place bag in refrigerator and occasionally turn bag a couple 
    times to insure fish gets well marinated. 
    
    	The rest of the following steps are in sequence. 
    
    	1. Next day after work, (this allows fish to marinate 24 hrs.)
    place ONE even layer of charcoal in the charcoal pan and pile charcoal 
    about 2 1/2 layers high ONLY in the middle of pan. Put starter fluid
    ONLY on charcoal in middle and let soak in. 
    
    	2. Spray rack/s with PAM and place fish on rack after RINSING it
    off with cold water. Allow fish to sit on rack about 30 minutes
    before placing it in smoker. 
    
    	3. Soak a small handful (1/2 to 3/4 cup) of wood chips 30 minutes.
    I happened to use hickory only because thats all I have right now.
    
        4. Spray water pan with PAM and/or line with tin foil. Pour
    remainder of marinade in and add about 1 quart of water (i.e. 1 1/2
    to 2" of liquid in pan).

    	5. Light charcoal and allow MIDDLE coals to get going well (about 20
    minutes).
    
    	6. Place most wood chips in middle but scatter some on outside
    coals that are not quite going yet. This should give you more smoke
    over a longer period as the outside coals get going. This also seems
    to give better regulated heat.
    
    	7. Put water pan and the rack/s with fish in smoker and put
    top on smoker.
    
    	8. Smoke for 1 1/2 to 2 hours depending on filet size. I used
    pollack fillets that where a maximum of only 1" thick. I also skinned
    the fillets and had no problems with them sticking to the racks.
    
	9. Try tasting fish to see if they are done. Don't rely on looks
    alone. When done, remove fish from racks and place between layers
    of paper towels and pat dry. This will remove any fish oil that
    is sitting on the surface.
    
    	This produced some REALLY good tasting fish. You may have to
    play around a little with the amount of ingredients/wood chips to
    suit you personal taste, but try the above as I did for the first
    time through. I do not think you will be disappointed.
    
    	RAYJ
    
    BTW - If you try it, let me know what you think. Sorry for being
    so long but anyone with a smoker will know that small details can
    make a big difference.
    

    	One more thing that I noticed is that the fish tasted BETTER
    after it sat in the frig. overnight wrapped in paper towels. The
    slight overly sweet taste and the slight overly smoked taste (I
    used about a cup of wood chips) went away. Some of the sweet/smoke
    taste soaked deeper into the meat and some was drawn off by the
    paper towels. 
    
    	I brought some into work and had a few people taste test
    it and they said it was perfect. I even liked it better cold the
    next day vs. fresh out of the smoker.
    
    	RAYJ

    	After trying the smoker a couple more times, I've noticed that
    the smoking times are real sensitive when it comes to fish. Other
    types of meats don't seem to matter if you give or take an hour
    on the smoking time. For real small fish or thin fillets it could
    be done in as little as 1 hour so watch them closely after an hour
    if doing small/thin fish.
    
    	Other than large whole fish, I would guess that a 2" thick bluefish
    fillet wouldn't take much more than 2 hours tops. 
    
    	Another thing, if you can't get consistant thickness on the
    size of fish/fillets, you will want to remove the thinner pieces
    earlier then the thick pieces. You probably don't want to put them
    on later as it seems most of the smoke occurs in the first � hour
    and cuts down drastically after that.

    	RAYJ

    
    hey Ray J......
    
    regarding "the smoke occurs during the first hour or so".
    
    Just add more smoke chips if you start to loose smoke.

    re:more chips
    
    	I seem to get more than adequate smokey flavor. I am also supposed
    to be using chunks instead of chips but I screwed up when I bought
    them and decided to try them anyway. I think the chips (flakes ?)
    are for use with the electric smokers. 
    
    	RAYJ

    If you'e using chips, try soaking them overnight as well as the
    fish (different container).  I find this will drag them out.
    
    I don't know.  My fish smoking attempts have benn very close in
    procedure to Rayj, but they never come out right.  I'm going to
    print yours today and follow it exactly over the weekend.  
    
    All I have is some nice fat Cod fillets......and of course some
    salmon.  However, I refuse to waist the salmon until I get this
    to work.  Maybe in a better year......but we're averaging about
    1 salmon per trip and ya gots to get up at 3:00 to pull that off.
    
    One of the things that everybody stresses is not to lift that lid
    unless you really have to.  Most people claim it lets the moisture
    out.  I try to resist temtation.
    
    A lot of smokers insist that you need to keep a long smoking fire
    going that doesn't get so warm.  Many think that a smoking batch
    should take about 4-8 hours.  Admittedly, I can never keep anything
    in it longer than 3 hours and that is usually something like a chicken.
    
    Brett.

       If you're doing cod fillets, check them after about 45 min. 
    One trick on thin areas, such as the tail of the fillet, is to fold
    it under so it makes a thicker area.
       You don't have to have smoke constantly, this will make the flavor
    too strong. The flavor gets into the meat and drips into the pan
    and the flavor stays in the cycle. You should only have smoke at
    the beginning of the process.
       I use both chips and chunks. 
                                                    Denny

    Well, I used the recipe that rayj posted and I must say that this
    is the closest I have come to total success!  I think the brown
    sugar was the secret.  I have been using regular standard sugar.
    The brown sugur gave it a whole new taste.  The only problem is
    that it was a tad salty.  Next time, I will cut the salt in half.
    One of the reasons for this could be is that I used a marinade in
    place of the Worcestashire sauce.  It is sort of a sweet, salty 
    terryaki sauce (sweeter, milder).
    
    All in all, the fish was very good.  I gave it to two others to
    try and they didn't seem to think it was salty, but it led me to
    inhale a quart of milk within minutes.
    
    The Cod fillets were *very* thick, so I didn't fold them over. 
    To the Salmon fishermen here, Cod are a pain, which is funny because
    I used to fish for Cod in the East.  But when I catch a particularly
    fat Cod, I keep it.  It smokes up pretty well.  
    
    I am now ready to maybe try a Salmon.  My wife and I nailed a King
    and 3 nice Silvers yesterday.  My boss and I are going back this
    evening and then we will try the morning bite.  With rayj's recipe
    and a few extra salmon fillets, I may just give it a shot.
    
    I'm curious about one thing.  What are the fishes that y'all favor
    for smoking?  I think some don't taste so good and others taste
    more better.    Salmon is my favorite and Cod turns out to be pretty
    good.  Halibut comes out Okay too.  What do you guys prefer???
    
    Brett.

    	So far I've done smelt, pollack, and cod. The smelt was destroyed
    and it was also my first attempt. The second attempt was the pollack
    and that came out good (using the recipe I posted with � the salt).
    The cod came out fairly well but I tried smoking it in a little
    longer (2 hrs) and this was just to much for the thinner pieces.
    
    	Another thing I noticed is that the marinade time for a thinner
    and less fishy tasting fillet (i.e. cod vs. pollack) can go with less 
    marinade time as well as less cooking time. 
    
    	This winter I will try smelt again and hopefully white perch.
    I also hope to get some bluefish before the years out and try those.
    I will probably use the full amount of salt in the recipe for the
    bluefish since they tend to be on the fishy tasting side.

	All in all the recipe seems very close to perfect and at least
    puts you in the ballpark for making very good smoked fish. As
    time goes on some practice and experimentation will hopefully help 
    on making it even better.
    
    	RAYJ

    Wait! Stop the presses!
    
    I mentioned yesterday that I thought the fish was a little salty.
    Then when i gave some to my fishing partner yesterday morning, he
    oddly said he didn't think it was salty.  I thought about that all
    day.  When I got home, I tried it again.  Son of a gun, it was not
    salty.  Somehow it lost that saltiness from sitting.
    
    I'm going to add one more step to your recipe which was discussed
    previously:
    
    ) Let sit 24 hours.
    
    I'm definitely going to risk some salmon.  Thanks for the tip rayj.
    
    Brett.   

    re:34
    
    	I had noticed the same thing and put it in note 549.26. When
    I had tried it fresh off the grill, I thought it was a little to 
    sweet and smokey tasting. The next day when I brought it to work
    it was fine. I came to the same conclusion the same way you did.
    
    	RAYJ

    	I had an opportunity to spend some time talking to the person
    that gave me the fish recipe I posted here. He said it comes from
    Florida (no specifics) where everyone has a smoker and they're all
    going when the snapper blues run.
    
    	He also confirmed my assumption that he's using a dry smoker.
    It's a three shelf rectangular shaped electric model called an Old
    Chief. By the description he gave it's exactly like the Totem Electric
    Smoker found in Gander Mtn. catalogs for $58. At any rate it operates
    with a lot less heat so you smoke things longer.
    
    	I had a chance to try a fish spread/dip he makes with the smoked
    fish. It was real good and fairly easy. The recipe follows:
    
	    	1 cup sour cream
		1� cups smoked fish (ground)
    		3 Tbs. horse radish
    		1 tsp. lemon juice
    		3 shakes tabasco sauce
    		3 shakes worcestershire sauce
    		pinch of garlic salt
    		Blend till smooth and add mayonnaise to thin

    	Real tasty stuff on a Ritz cracker.
    
    		RAYJ

    re: .36 
    
    A non-electric smokers seems more official or something.  There's
    just something about electric that doesn't seem quite right.
    
    You've caused me real problems around here Rayj!  I smoked up the
    side of a king last weekend.  I brought about 1/2 of it to work
    for some of the "experts" to test.  Bad move.
    
    Everybody thought it was great.  I admit that I enjoyed it myself.
    The problem is that my boss comes over every day to ask if I brought
    anymore.  Big decision:   Do I do the spineless thing and smoke
    more or just kind of stagnate at present position?
    
    :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)
    
    I've had that dip just like you described.  It's great.
    
    Brett_who_needs_to_catch_more_fish_to_support_the_salmon_smoking_habit.

    re:37
    		I made a reply but I guess it didn't make it for some
    reason. 
    
    	As far as your problem, I can relate. I've been going through
    my fish twice as fast as I normally would since I got the smoker.
    I guess this is the price of success :-)
    
    	Regarding the salmon, if it was me I'd probably keep the salmon
    to/for myself. As I remember you had what you called an abundance
    of trash fish (i.e. cod, haddock, etc.). I would just bring that
    in if anything.
    
    BTW - The cod and especially the haddock are far from being considered
    trash fish around these parts. The only salmon I've got around here
    so far are the land locks and I'd rather catch/have the "trash fish".

    	RAYJ

    	I tried my first batch of fish dip and had people tell me I
    should bottle and sell it. I made this dip from what is considered
    the ultimate trash fish around these parts. I used almost all smoked
    sand shark. Believe it or not, the sand shark was pretty good smoked.

    	When using sand shark, the width of the shark steaks is critical.
    They should be about 3/4" thick. Any thicker and they don't smoke/cook
    well. 
    
    	One thing I noticed about the dip recipe too. Make sure you crush
    up the fish before you measure it. I measured out 1� cups of fish
    meat chunks. After I ground it up with a fork, it fluffed out to
    almost twice that amount.

    	RAYJ

    	After doing some more experimenting I found a couple of general
    additions to the smoked fish recipe/process:
    
    	I apply a liberal dose of either soy or teriaki sauce to the 
    fillets before I place them in the smoker. Adds a nice but subtle 
    flavor and color to the fillets.
    
	Also, it seems that the thinner fillets come out tastier so
    instead of seperating the thick fillets from the thin, I've been
    slicing the thick ones in half. If you have all thick fillets then
    it's probably easier to just marinate them longer. I usually marinate
    the thin fillets around 16 hours and the thick ones 24+ hours.
    
       	One other thing I've noticed is that I get a better smokey flavor
    using wood chunks. I bought chips when I got the smoker. Even though
    the directions say to use chunks I tried the chips anyway and they
    seemed to work OK but I was running out. I have an uncle with some
    hickory trees he cut on his property and he gave me a few logs.
    I cut them into chunks up to 1�" thick and I've started using them. 
    Since they smoke longer they give me a smokier flavor.
    
    	I also use the marinade in the watering pan. After I put the
    fish on the rack to dry slightly, I place my wood in the pan with
    the marinade for 30 minutes. I then remove the wood and place the 
    pan on the stove and heat the marinade up till it starts to steam
    before placing it in the smoker.
    
        	RAYJ

    BTW - I tried some mackeral recently and it came out good. If I
    can get bluefish to come out as good I will be very happy. As soon
    as I get one to try I'll post the results.

    HASEL I work with your wife in federal way and live in Redmond .I
    really have been having fun fishing in Washington.I caught A 33lb
    salmon in westport and won the fishing derby for a $100.00 that
    paid for my charter and also help buy my brinkman smoker.So now
    I am trying to smoke some salmon.What I did was buy a small salmon
    to experiment with I smoked it for about 5 hrs then I placed it
    in abrown paper bag and put it in the frig over night,it turn out
    pretty good but it did taste salty.Maybe we could get together some
    time and trade fish stories.
    Regards 
    Russ
    
    

    I'd be glad to show you how I do it (looks pretty similar to what
    rayj does with "special features") and then you can figure out how
    to do it the right way.
    
    /brett