King Of Bait Fishes

(Warning, the video at the bottom of this page will not make much sense unless you read at least the last half of this post)

  

How in the hell did white croakers get re-christened "kingfish."  Seems odd.  Like calling VW Bug a Cadillac.  Evidently, someone at some point thought very highly of this species (as do I), and nick-named it accordingly.  One thing I think I can state for a fact--he was no wasi'chu.

Strangely expressive, the kingfish. 



  

Happy Happy

 

What can I say?  I want to post pictures. I want to write great epic haikus. I want to scream out and dance with joy.  I saw so many things today that thrilled me and made me want to live forever.  First there was one boat.  All morning waiting for one boat.  I expected sturgeon.  Check that. I mean I expected no sturgeon. They came roiling in at 2pm.  And what did they have?  I'll tell you.  29 kingfish (nine over limit for two anglers). The neanderthals out there scoff at the mention of this fish. This wormy, slimy, sea bass wannabe. This semi carp-mouthed bottom feeder nematode magnet. But think about it. They started disappearing five years ago. Seriously. How many people in the last 2 years have caught 29 kingfish in 4 hours of fishing.  I don't care if you hate king fish, think they're not worthy of consideration or whatever, regardless... the bay should be loaded with them.  And it's not.  Or I should say it hasn't been.  Not for a long time.  These were all beautiful fish (see above). The Chinese call them "wong fa" (yellow flower fish?) The Koreans call them "chogies." The Vietnamese call them something I am unable to pronounce, (my ancestors having barely raised themselves out of the bogs of Ireland 10 centuries ago, when the Vietnamese were perfecting their tonal, half-sung language). I'm on a roll.  Big beautiful kingfish.  A species so worm-ridden I could never actually bring myself to eat one, but nevertheless, I pose a question (to myself).  Do I love the kingfish?  Yes I do. There I said it. I love the kingfish, (aka: white croaker, squid pecker, worm farm, mucous fish, however you wanna put it). Maybe they're coming back. Fingers crossed on this. If the ecosystem is healthy enough to support a robust white croaker population it's healthy enough for a lot of other fishies. Like these, for instance:

    Now in the bay:  The Pacific sand dab (as far as finding them goes you're on your own buddy)
 
 

Dabbling in Dabs
 

And then sand dabs.  First time in four years I'm seeing sand dabs in the bay.  Still looking for a way to perfect the cooking of these guys.  Mine always end up rather soft.  My friend Loren suggests salting them first.  At least that's what the old Chinese lady at the market told him to do.  Sand dabs are served at some of the best restaurants in the city:  Tadich Grill, Zuni Cafe etc.  I think Chez Panisse has even dabbled in dabs.  So they must be better than I am at cooking them.

  

Night Fish!

 

                              Smell the cucumber! Filled this bucket to the brim X 1.5 


  

And then on top of all these happy developments, the night smelt ran last night and I was there with MFN operatives Todd Curtis, Loren Wilson and my trusty A-frame net, "Smelt Hammer," to put a dent in the population (not). Afterwards handed some off to new friend and chef, Matt, to see if he is interested in maybe serving these in his restaurant some day--he wanted to eat a few himself, first. All told we bagged 60 pounds for three anglers in just over an hour. Had we wanted to we could have filled a barn with night smelt. The video of this happy event will be available shortly. There really is no other fishery like this. Something about wresting fish from the roiling surf... the sparkle of the smelt as the sand filters out of the net, the feeling of them bumping into your feet, into the frame, into the net, the mist lingering over the sea at night, star light, the rush of the waves all around you, the simple perfection of the A-frame, the fog horn, the cucumber scent of the bucket, the... okay, time for another Monkeyface haiku...

 

Haiku #278a

Spirinchus starksi

In the dark waters gleaming

You will soon be fried!



 
Monkeyface fishwife Camilladilla found this awesome photo of a Yurok Indian jumping smelt at the turn of the century.  As I have indicated before, (go here) the A-frame net is a Native-American fishing technology
    

Somebody once pointed out to me that night smelt can be bought at Asian markets for 79 cents a pound. This is, in fact, true.  However, the night smelt one sees in Asian markets are usually in sorry shape.  Not only do they reek, in the way only a poorly kept fish can reek, but they are mashed, beaten and abused like no other fish on the shelves.  Being that the night smelt is an extremely delicate little bugger, and the nets used to trawl him are huge, he tends to get smooshed.  Or I should say pulverized in these big industrial nets.  This is why, I very carefully dump my net out whenever the nipple has more than five pounds of fish in it (you will see me dumping out my net frequently in the video below).  I personally like my nighties in tip top condition.  But this all must sound rather vague and esoteric. If you are unfamiliar with night smelt dipping you should probably check out the video below...

But before we begin, I would like to offer this disclaimer:  I am well aware that my videos lack technical wizardry (personally, I think it's part of their charm).  I am many things, (cheapscate, mounteback, taster of fine whiskies, n'er do well, armchair geographer etc) but I am neither a gear-head nor a film director.  All the stuff you've seen so far on this blog was filmed with the video function on a non-water proof, $140, Sony still-camera. Which is about a step and a half removed from a cell phone camera. The footage you're about to see, as compromised as it may be, wouldn't exist at all if Todd hadn't shown up at the beach with a powerful flashlight and a flip cam.  I had already put my camera away after the sun disappeared, so I am personally thrilled that we got any footage at all... thank you, Todd.  And I will say this.  As unbelievable as it may be, this is the first ever footage of a nightsmelt run on Youtube.  And I think the only footage of A-frame dipping too.  (By all means tell me if I'm wrong).

  

Actually, even Bill is known to scream with joy occasionally! 

  


So without further adieu, here's the newest Monkeyface Production... also, I'd just like to say, there is a small cadre of individuals (like five out of 3 thousand viewers) out there who find my enthusiasm for fish, and my obvious eccentricity a great source of derision.  These people I take it, do not scream out with joy when they catch a few herring or smelt or dabs or crabs or anything.  And find it somehow insulting to their fleeting and unoriginal senses of manhood that I do.  And so, be forewarned, if you're one of these five guys there's a lot of me screaming out with joy in this one.  If that's going to prompt you to call me names and infect my burgeoning mind with sourness, please go away.  Here: I've got a great fishing site for you: It's called: Billy Dance Outdoors.  There you can learn all about the best products to buy and how to appropriately catch a fish. Oh yeah, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out of the room.

A-hem...  Sorry for that. I guess that's the price of going public. (BTW I erase stupid comments before anyone else has the pleasure of seeing them).  One wonders why they read my blog if they're so smug and jaded and disturbed by a guy who loves fish.

Okay... I'm off my soap box.  

Wow, that was wonderfully therapeutic!  Think maybe I'll have another cup o' Joe!

Anyway here's the new video... first ever night smelt footage on You Tube!  Sorry for the technical probs. Thanks to Todd, a two fisted cinematographer (one hand held the flash light the other the camera!) if ever there was one.

 

Comments

[Scott Parker]

Hah! Awesome! I have to say that your enthusiam is infectous and your blog is as entertaining as it is educational. Simply awesome.

[Eric Stockwell]

Love it! You've got a knack for quirky entertainment.

[Finesmell]

Regarding those guys who put you down as somehow "unmanly": when was the last time any of them built their own equipment? Wasn't that kind of self-reliance once considered a pillar of manhood? Screw them. They probably consider themselves "conservatives" as well, yet have little or no real knowledge of their own heritage, or past cultural values - heck, they probably don't even wash their hands after taking a dump!

Regarding commercially-harvested smelt: to minimize the damage, they should be immediately frozen after being removed from the nets. Even here on the East Coast we know not to buy "fresh" smelt in stores; it's fresher frozen. Of course, the freshest is out of your self-built A-frame net ... but that's not an option where I'm writin' from - damn, I'm envious! If I was back in Mean Ol' Frisco (apologies, again, to both Emperor Norton and Muddy Waters), I'd defintely be goin' out with you at night for those beauties.

[Fish Elvis]

Great tune, nice video. Looks delicious.

Haters gonna hate.

[ross]

I have *gots* to get me some of them smelts. How long does the season last?

I was raised on the Chesapeake where my grandfather taught me the old ways for that water. Here, I'm a Bozo without a clue. It's great to have this blog to shed light on local fisheries that I never even knew existed.

[Scott Parker]

When you prep them for cooking do you gut/behead them or is there anything else? Then just batter and fry?

[kirk]

That's funny...

[kirk]

Well... I'd like to say that I eat night fish the way everyone else does... but in fact I find that they are better when gutted and beheaded... it takes time but what the hell? The problem is that they sometimes get little pieces of sand in their guts and I don't like chewing rocks--but virtually everyother smelter I know eats them whole. Try for yourself both ways and see what works...

[Finesmell]

Scott: I don't know if Kirk would concur or not, but I don't think there's any need to batter smelts - just clean and fry. Personally, I think batter would only detract from their deliciously delicate flavor; at the most, a small pinch of salt (or very restrained dash of soy sauce) is really all they need. You don't wanna overpower that cucumber aroma that Kirk's talkin' about.

[kirk]

Actually I do batter them. Shake and bake style. I use only the finest stone ground cornmeal (available here at Rainbow grocery). A friend recently recommended blue corn meal, so I got some and am very excited to use it on the next batch. Generally, surf smelt are cleaned and beheaded and night fish are eaten whole: head guts and all. They're so small, and they don't eat while spawning so its cool. Nevertheless, I myself take the time to behead and gut my night smelt. Call me a prude. I like them better battered, cleaned and fried.

[Finesmell]

Definitely corn meal over flour, if you're gonna batter - go very light on the egg; just a thin brushing (just enough to make the corn meal stick).

Sorry, K - don't mean to hijack yer blog! Like you, I'm just very opinionated about the preparation of smelt. Thanks for the tolerance ... hey, I did defend yer manhood earlier!

[Dan Gracia]

Hey Kirk, Whats up ? When did you get the night smelt ? They look good !! Best eating when they are fresh .. Call me , Dan Gracia

[Frank]

Kirk!
Love the vids!
Where did you get a hold of those King Fish!
They are a fun fight!, tasty if you know how to prepare them too!

[Justin Pelletier]

Good meetin ya last month, out in Bolinas, shark fishin.. my daughter loves your videos, She wanted to say something... "good eaten tonight!!!tasty treats for you to eat. how many were there? how did you fish out of that hole while sitting in your car when it was raining? that was awesome!!!you're the master of fishing!! maybe we'll see you out there some day..."
Catch ya next time, keep up the good work!
LILAH and JUSTIN

[Kirk]

Hey Guys, thanks for that! Keep checkin in!

--Kirk

[mikec]

My wife found night smelt for sale at Berkeley's Tokyo Fish for about $5/lb. They looked and smelled fresh to me, so I coated them with egg and Panko, fried them up, and re-lived a taste from my childhood. We ate them whole, but I did get a few sand crunchies. They apparently also had day smelt too. I was told they get them from Monterey or Santa Cruz.

I've learned that freshwater pond smelt (wakasagi, H. nipponensis) are a Japanese delicacy, where there are caught on tiny hooks. I believe I've seen them in some East Bay reservoirs, I'm going to see if they can be dip-netted...

mikec

[Rob]

i am so glad to see that someone has grown some gonads and put night smet fishing on you tube with the A-FRAME net.my grandfather used to use them long ago and i just doug 3 of them out of my dads garage. they all have holes in them but we took them out anyways. although we didnt have the glorious luck you did in your video we did get a few. i was thinking i was barking up a forgotten techinque! and that i was the only one trying to bring it back! now i have a question for you. were your nets hand made? i believe mine definately are and are atleast 50+ years old. do you know anywhere i can buy a new one or some new netting for my old faithfulls? i have been looking for days online and found nothing.even posted on sniffer asking for any tips. no bites yet so here i am asking you. tips would be greatly appreciated. ok enough already....great video and congrats on your fine catch. if you can help me out shoot me an email.thank you and keep up the good work. Rob

[catherine]

I'd like to give it a try with my son Lorenzo. Do you have suggestions on how to make an "a" frame net and where best to target them?

Thanks,
Catherine

P.s. what was the particular brand of filet knife you recommended?

[henry calibozo]

how did you attain one of those A-Frame dip nets i would love to buy two of them for me and my son, my pops bought one of these many yrs ago when i was young and he would stand in the surf in his levis and catch hundreds of fish, i have NEVER seen anyone else ever us this kind of net until now do you have a phone# to be reachesor email address or if u have a d drawing or measurements that i can use to buy the material and make my own what are the dimensions thanks for yor time and patience "Fish On"

henry caibozo
No1fire4hire@aol.com

[Jeff]

Like the artical about smelt I live near lake Michigan and when I was young we would go smelt and perch fishing at night. Wewould catch buckets of smelt and my Grand mother used to batter them and bake and we would eat them like pop corn and heres one for you did you ever fish with a trolly line for perch where you throw out a line on a small anchor and attach a trolly rig and line with a number of small baited lines attached to bell that would ring when you had a perch on. It was a lot of fun.

[Evispaurora]

you must read rip dvd to avi for promotion code rip dvd to avi with confident