It is mid December here and we are in the midst of one of the longest prolonged cold snaps in many years. Recent Decembers have been on the mild side, I guess we are spoiled!
Since it is so cold we decided to fish! Bob Jornlin, Tony Greaton and myself fished a full day last Wednesday. Saugers and walleyes were sluggish but we caught our limits using gold and pink JR Stop Sign jigs tipped with a head of a minnow. When the fish came in on the sonar we would slowly jiggle the jig moving it up in the water column, once we felt the tiniest tick we would reel fast, use no hook set, and catch the fish. If we set the hook we missed the fish.
My biggest fish was a twenty-pound sturgeon. We had him in the hole quickly but he wanted no part of that. It took about fifteen minutes to finally land him. He managed to snag the other lines before we could get them up. Nothing gets you more fired up for May and June fishing and houseboating than sitting in a fish house staring across the house looking at an old gray hair from Hibbing!
The first fresh fish dinner in the winter was a treat. My wife Cathie and I decided to use a panko breadcrumb recipe we really like. There are a few secrets that help make incredible walleye or sauger dinners. We wash our fillets just before we are ready to cook them. We dredge them in flour after we wash them. This is an important step that should be done properly. Dry the walleye thoroughly before dredging in flour. When you dredge them shake the excess flour off or lightly wipe with tour fingers. The coat of flour should be as light as possible, you are using it to get the beaten egg wash to coat the fish.
Walleye is a delicate mild fish that has a remarkable flavor if you do not cover it up with too much salt or pepper. Frankly I don’t like to add salt and pepper. After you have the flour on the fillets I coat them in a egg wash (beat the eggs with a fork until well mixed). My panko crumbs are placed in a cake pan. After I coat the fish in egg I put the fillet in the panko crumbs pressing lightly to get the crumbs to stick. I use a fork to lift the fillet and turn it over and do the same to the other side of the fillet.
I place the fillets on a plate as each one is done with the breading process. I like to fry my fish soon after breading. I heat frying oil to 375-400 degrees for cooking. It is important to control the heat closely. The fish will cook to fast and get dark colored instead of a nice golden brown. A fillet off a fifteen-sixteen inch fish will take 3-4 minutes. You can tell they are done when they float. Do not over cook!
We serve the fish with cut up lemons and Cathie’s tartar sauce and what ever your favorite sides are. We had a nice crisp 2012 Big Ranch Vineyard Cold Creek Ranch Carneros Pinot Grigio wine that paired perfectly with the fresh walleye and sauger fillets.
