landlocked

Went out to Pensacola Pier this morning after visiting yesterday also. First,I took my 12 year old out Sunday to catch his first Spanish. After a while,he was hooked!! His first Spanish came up to the deck at 13 1/2"!! He was really excited and made me take it home so he could eat it. Well, by the time we went home, we only had three keepers. Got home, cleaned them and made plans to go back today and get some more fish for the rest of the family.

Got there this morning around 9:15 with my Brother-in-law, and it was on!! We left at 12:45 after catching at least 40 Spanish!! We kept 1/2 of them, released the other 1/2, donated 2/3 of thosewe kept to my brother-in-law's firehouse (volunteers) and kept 6 for the family. Largest one was around 22".



One of the funnest, best fishing days for us in a long time. We ended up even in our competition to see who could catch the most. We also had one bluefish and two yellow tails (ouch!)

JoeZ

Good job, kid had to be stoked.

Do a search for ceviche.

yucarenow

nice catch....kids love that non-stop action...heck, i love that non-stop action!

wrightackle

Good for you! Getting your son turned on to fishing will pay big dividends in the future. Those leatherjackets have some nasty venom in those little fins. Those 22" spanish are really nice fish, they make for some great eating.

gotwake7

Great day for sure. Who won the competition?

landlocked

It ended up in a tie. We each caught about 20 fish.

Trucki-n-ihsiF

Landlocked: What were you using to catch these suckers? Gotcha plugs? If so,which colors were working the best? thanks!

Whitie9688

very nice catch!

my favorite way to cook them is cut them up in little nuggets then dip in an egg wash and zatarans fish fry with a lil extra spice of your choice and fry them up and have a ton a cheese grits!

landlocked

Gotcha plug - they were being very picky!! The one they liked the best was the small silver, red head, no tail.

Pier#r

Skin, filet and trim ALL the red meat out.

Cut the smaller ones (under 18" FL)filets intostrips (4 or 6 for each fish) and bread for frying. My kids cal them 'fish fingers ;-)

The larger ones are GREAT grilled. I like to use baskets as the mackerelmeat is flaky and will break apart turning on the grill without a basket. Baste with Italian dressing or butter/garlic powder& lemon pepper.

Glad to hear the younguns having a good time with them. They 'hooked' me over 35 years ago and I STILL enjoy catching them! When prepared correctly, they are EXCELLENT eating!