Cedar Key Spanish are here!

Chesapeake troller

Fished on Saturday 2-25 out of Cedar Key and had a great time on the Sheepshead up to 4 pounds and then on the way back in trolled some spoons, bucktails, and jigs for Spanish. Did not matter what was being pulled everything was pounced on by fish in the 1 to 2 range. Nothing lasted more than a few minutes in the water before getting hit. Water temp was around 65 ish, cloudy and foggy most of the day.

Fileted some today for the smoker and took the rest for a simple oil in the skillet quick cook for lunch. Always amazed that many turn up their noses at Spanish; iced well, cut out the blood line, simple quick cooking method with a little oil in the pan and seasoning on the fish, nothing wrong with that IMO!

While targeting the Sheepies we caught some Mangos too, a few short gags, sand perch, etc.

CT

ANUMBER1

nice

capt louie

Excellent day of fishing ! And yes , fresh spanish are good.

Gr8Laker

How do you cook the Spanish Macks? 

ivn

What was the bait situation like?  Shore bound and at the mercy of the castnet gods since I don't wanna pay $15 for shrimp each trip...  but last two trips out at start of Feb there was no bait to be had/seen.   Would really like to hit Shell Mound again soon -

Crkr23

Nice box of fish, thanks for reporting.

tankered

Wow that's about as early as I've seen them arrive.

And I'm with you on the table factor, they are criminally underrated. 

Nice catch!

tampaspicer

Gr8Laker said:

How do you cook the Spanish Macks? 

I fillet them and leave the skin on as well as cutting out the blood line. Put them on some foil skin down with some seasoning and a little butter. Peel the meat right off the skin when done. Delicious 

Gr8Laker

Wrap in foil or leave it open? I usually catch plenty but I don't want to smoke all of them, given the high oil content and health benefits. 

Gr8Laker

Gr8Laker said:

Wrap in foil or leave it open? I usually catch plenty but I don't want to smoke all of them, given the high oil content and health benefits. 

Thanks for your reply.

bigfinn35

Nice day out for sure. Fresh spanish mackerel is in my top 5 fish, though I usually eat it raw. Amazing fish for sashimi, poke, ceviche, or crudo. Anything I don't eat in a day or two gets smoked.

tampaspicer

Gr8Laker said:

Wrap in foil or leave it open? I usually catch plenty but I don't want to smoke all of them, given the high oil content and health benefits. 

wrap em

Ruff One

When I lived in south fla we caught many Spanish. Loved them. Moved to the Big Bend and we for some reason have forgotten about them. We still catch them. Make mostly smoked fish dip. My neighbor in Ft. Lauderdale was from Peru and showed me the best cerviche recipe using Spanish. The lowly Spanish isn't so lowly after all.

nick

I’ll take fresh Spanny Mack over trout or reds!

sweet

Big Bend Brian

John’ster!! What are you doing fishing??? Good to see you’re still having fun.

Great report and good fishies!

Looking good buddy!!

Brian

Chesapeake troller

ivn said:

What was the bait situation like?  Shore bound and at the mercy of the castnet gods since I don't wanna pay $15 for shrimp each trip...  but last two trips out at start of Feb there was no bait to be had/seen.   Would really like to hit Shell Mound again soon -

Ivn: We had to buy shrimp. One of the crew drove down early and tried to find fiddlers in two different locations and zero success. Was on the way out some birds working some bait in the same area we later caught the Spanish. 

Chesapeake troller

Gr8Laker said:

How do you cook the Spanish Macks?

Key for me is to ice them immediately (like you should do for all fish right!) and then filet them and cut out the blood line. I use a small amount of olive or avocado oil in the pan, season to your liking, and flash fry them quickly. I would do the same general concept in the broiler. Others in my fishing club take the same filet sections and deep fry them, I just want to stay away from the breading (keto) and the extra oil. 

Chesapeake troller

Big Bend Brian said:

John’ster!! What are you doing fishing??? Good to see you’re still having fun.

Great report and good fishies!

Looking good buddy!!

Brian

Great to hear from you Brian! I send you a PM, hope we can wet a line again sometime!

swampdog

I enjoy fried Spanish Macs preparing like gr8laker and have fried them like other fish in a deep fryer. We don’t like a lot of breading or seasoning. 

capt louie

Broiled spanish was always on the menu at Morrison's buffet back in the day

StankBait

capt louie said:

Broiled spanish was always on the menu at Morrison's buffet back in the day

That's what I always had there, back in the day. The fine bones were a PIA.

Quad32x

capt louie said:

Broiled spanish was always on the menu at Morrison's buffet back in the day

Funny you say that ! Thats what I always got there as a kid after church on Sundays !

smh

Thanks for the report!  Looks like a good day.  I also think Spanish are underrated in terms of sportiness and tablefare.  I have a small boat, so getting out to Seahorse Reef for a Spanish beatdown, when the weather is favorable, is my poor-man's "offshore" trip.

Salty Dawg44

Well done!

RayI

Got some macks today in CR flats. Couldn't find any SH on rocks. A difficult day with wind and cross current. BTW water temp at spoil banks 75. You think we see Cobia soon?

I'm going to try foil wrap recipe tonight and smoke rest.

Ruff One

The earliest we have caught cobia has been March 15. It seems like the water may be getting warm enough to start seeing them. 

capt louie

Quad32x said:

capt louie said:

Broiled spanish was always on the menu at Morrison's buffet back in the day

Funny you say that ! Thats what I always got there as a kid after church on Sundays !

We would stop at the one in Homestead on the way up here. I always got it also !

Gr8Laker

Gr8Laker said:

Wrap in foil or leave it open? I usually catch plenty but I don't want to smoke all of them, given the high oil content and health benefits. 

Thanks for your reply.

ANUMBER1

nice, I love me some spanish broiled..

Morrisons was a stop for my parents and me..

Flash

I had to fry up some trout one night and had a Spanish added, very fresh. I fried it last. Wife is Cherokee/Italian and she was quite surprised as was I, that she could not tell the difference from the trout and spanish. I was surprised also. Now if they are some I have vacuumed sealed, they get smoked.

Flash

I had to fry up some trout one night and had a Spanish added, very fresh. I fried it last. Wife is Cherokee/Italian, her smeller is incredible, and she was quite surprised as was I, that she could not tell the difference from the trout and spanish. I was surprised also. Now if they are some I have vacuumed sealed, they get smoked.