Catch and Cook Guide for Kayak Anglers

After a successful day of kayak fishing there is nothing more rewarding than sharing some freshly caught fish with family and friends. Whether it is in the comfort of your own home, at the campsite or even on the lakeshore, anyone can learn how to prepare their catch with a bit of practice.

This guide will give a brief overview of how to care for your harvest, fillet your fish, and then cook your fish. 

A great view from a shore lunch

Proper Care of Your Fish Harvest 

After you have successfully landed a fish that you intend to keep, ensure the fish meets species and size restrictions for the waterbody. Refer to your local fishing regulations for more information on harvestable fish (Alberta - https://albertaregulations.ca/fishingregs/). Make sure to only keep what fish you'll use, as it is illegal to waste edible game fish in many jurisdictions.

Once you’ve determined a fish is suitable for harvest and meets all regulations, the fish must be kept fresh. If you are continuing to fish for the rest of the day, you will need either a stringer or a cooler with ice in it. 

For the best quality meat, it is recommended to “bleed” a fish by cutting the artery between the gills, followed by placing the fish on ice immediately. This is one of the most humane ways to deal with your fish and provides the cleanest fillets, with the least “fishy” taste.

The front hatch or back tankwell of many fishing kayaks has space to store a soft cooler with ice for your catch. If you do not have space for a cooler, a stringer can be tied off to one of the many lash points on your kayak. Make sure to tie them off in a location where they will not interfere with your paddle stroke. 

How to Fillet Your Fish

The method for filleting a fish varies depending on the species, but many game fish have very similar steps. The most important piece to filleting a fish is having the proper tools for the job. 

What You Need for Filleting

• Sharp filleting knife 

Extremely important. It helps for slicing the delicate meat off the fish and ensures safety for the person filleting the fish. Using a dull knife requires more pressure to properly slice the fish, which can lead to an increased risk in the knife slipping and harming the user. 

• Good cutting surface

A large table or cutting board that is bigger than the fish being filleted helps keep the fish flat, which makes for an easier job. 

• Water

Helps keep the cutting surface clean between fish and will help rinse the meat after it is removed from the fish. Place the meat in ice cold water after it is rinsed. This helps keep the fish meat firm until the cooking stage. 

• Resealable bags

A good idea if you are going to store the fish in the fridge or freezer prior to cooking the fish.

• Waste bucket 

Or compostable bag for the discarded fish parts.

Here are a few good videos for filleting some common fish in Western Canada.

The setup for filleting yellow perch

Cooking your Kayak Angling Catch

There are many different recipes for cooking fish and it would be impossible to go through them all here. One of the most common methods is a beer batter fish recipe -- it is my personal favourite for a shore lunch.

This is one of the easiest methods for cooking white-fleshed fish like walleye, halibut, ling-cod, and northern pike. The only ingredients are fish, oil, beer, and batter. Here is a breakdown of exactly what you need.

Ingredients for Cooking Your Own Fish

Fish

• Ideally a freshly caught white-fleshed fish like walleye, yellow perch, halibut, ling-cod, or northern pike will work best, but any store bought fish will do in a pinch. 

The fish can be cut into any size you like, but the smaller it is cut, the higher the ratio of batter:fish. Ensure the fish is patted dry with a paper towel prior to dipping in the batter. This helps keep the fish crispy and will help the batter adhere to the fish.

Oil

• Use an oil with a high smoke point like canola, peanut, sunflower, or grapeseed oil. The oil should be heated to around 375°F to give the fish a crunchy texture. Having too low of a temperature will make your fish soggy. If you don’t have a thermometer, drop a small bit of mixed batter into the hot oil. If it sizzles with little bubbles, then your oil is around the right temperature.

Beer

• The type of beer used is a personal preference, but the most common types used are lagers or pilsners. Using a pale ale or an IPA can give the fish a bit of a different flavour to switch things up. 

Batter

• Many different companies have beer-batter specific fish coatings. The two most popular in Western Canada are Fish Crisp and Shore Lunch, but a few others that are also very good are Bakers Narrows, Humble and Frank, and my new personal favourite Catch and Cook. The Consistency of the batter is determined by how much beer is added. A thick batter will create a thicker and crunchier coating on the outside of the fish. The sweet spot is getting the coating just thick enough that there is good crunch without overpowering the taste of the fish.

Three batter options for beer battered fish

How to Cook Your Own Fish

Here are a few tips for ensuring the best results from your catch and cook. This will be specifically targeted at a shore lunch, but you can tweak this process if you are cooking at the campsite or at home.

Once you have your fish filleted and all the ingredients are ready, you’re going to need a heat source and a quality frying pan. A Cast Iron frying pan is great in this situation since it can be used over a fire or on a camping stove.

If you don’t have the weight capacity or room for a Cast Iron in your kayak, a small camping frying pan will do as well.

Shore lunch on camp stove

Shore lunch on the fire

Next you will need a camp stove or a fire. A camp stove is a quicker method, but there is something about cooking fish over the fire. They just taste so much better!

If you do make a fire, make sure to burn down the fire to coals prior to cooking on it. Also ensure you have a secure rack to set your pan on. Spilling oil in the fire will cause a big flare up and can be dangerous. 

Steps for Cooking Your Own Fish

1. Place the pan with oil over the fire and let the oil get to temperature (375°F). 
2. Mix the batter to a consistency similar to pancakes, but adjust to your preference. Drop a small amount of batter in the oil, if it sizzles, you're ready to cook.
3. Dip a piece of fish in the batter and make sure the piece is fully coated. Allow a bit to drip off before placing in the oil.
4.  Fill the pan with battered fish, but make sure there is a bit of room around each piece.
5.  Flip the pieces at about the 2 minute mark if the oil isn’t deep enough to cover the fish. 
6. Take the fish off once they are golden brown and flaky - approximately 3-4 minutes depending on thickness (cook to a minimum internal temp of 145°F). 
7. Place the fish on a plate with paper towel to soak up any excess oil. 
8. Make sure the oil gets back up to temperature before putting in the next batch.

Once the fish is done, you can have fish and chips, fish tacos, or you can just eat them right when they come off the fire!

The finished product! A freshly made fish taco

Tight Lines!

Terran Bernhard

Aquabatics Ambassador

Instagram @saskkayakangler

Facebook @terranbernhard

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