Fine kettle of fish in the Northwoods

Last November, I wrote about deer hunting and how to cook venison. Happily, Jon got a buck, and we’ve been enjoying it for months. The next big event was the opening of fishing season on May 6. Time for him to bring home some walleye. He’s been fishing his entire life, and he’s very good at it. Weather and health issues postponed his annual trip until the third week of May. The fishing wasn’t that good, but he did bring home enough for a meal. Fresh caught walleye pike is a family favorite here at Otter Run.

Truth be told, I have absolutely no interest in going hunting, but fishing is a different kettle completely. I love fishing. Yet I never get to go, which is ridiculous. We live on a lake; we have two boats; I have my own fishing tackle; I always buy a license. Every year Jon promises to take me, but it never happens. It’s always too cold or too hot or too windy or we have something else planned. Going fishing alone is out of the question. I can’t be trusted to operate any watercraft other than a kayak.

I didn’t get to go fishing as a child either. My introduction to the joys of angling came when I was dating my first husband. Ron’s father had a nice boat so we went out on the Big Lake (Winnebago) quite often. It was fun, and I caught my share. Since I’m not a swimmer, I’ve always preferred ice fishing. The year after we got married, Ron turned an old car into a cozy ice fishing shanty, and we caught lots of perch, sand pike, and walleye. Good thing I knew how to prepare them properly.

Frying panfish is a skill I learned at my first place of employment in an industry now called hospitality. My teacher was Frances, the cook at long-gone High Cliff Supper Club, once located south of Sherwood in what is now High Cliff State Park. Frances taught me how to make fish and seafood, including frog legs and lobster. I will always love her for doing that.

Back then, High Cliff was the place to go on Friday night. A perch plate with four big fillets, potato, coleslaw and rye bread was 95 cents; walleye $1.25. Though I earned minimum wage of 85 cents an hour, I liked the job, except for the fact that I left work reeking of cooking grease.

Every variety of fish has its fans. My favorites are walleye, salmon, and halibut. I also love grayling, but you have to go to Alaska to get it. When Jon retired in 1998, we bought a pickup and slide-in truck camper. We spent the summer traveling to and around the 49th State, taking advantage of “informal camping.” We’d pull over near a stream where Jon fished for grayling. The tricky thing is that grayling must be caught, cleaned and cooked right away. Jon caught and cleaned; I cooked in our tiny camper kitchen. The entire experience was unforgettably delicious.

Back here in the Northwoods, ordering fish in a restaurant while you sip your favorite adult beverage is by far the best way to enjoy it. If you are lucky enough to catch or be gifted with fresh fish, cook it as soon as possible. If that’s not doable, you can still get good results with frozen fish, too.

Dip the fillets in milk and dredge in breading. Don’t bother with the boxed stuff. Just grate some dried bread in a blender, add some flour, salt, pepper etc. to the crumbs. Line up the breaded fillets on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper and refrigerate until cooking time. Never fry fish in olive oil (unpleasant flavor) or butter (burns too easily). Use shortening or vegetable oil heated to 375 degrees. Some cooks prefer a deep fryer, but a frying pan works fine.

Fish cooks very quickly and cools off really fast, so have the trimmings on the table, with your guests already seated, before you carefully slide each fillet into the hot grease. Cook for about two minutes; more if the fillets are thick; turn once and cook a minute or two more. Check it with a fork; it’s done when it flakes easily. Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel. Serve immediately and wait for the accolades.

A word of warning. Unless you fry fish outside, use your exhaust fan or your house will smell like I did every Friday night back in the 1960s. Really, who cares if the fish is delicious? Cooking odors are gone in a day; fond memories last forever.

Kathleen Marsh is a lifelong educator, writer, and community advocate. She has published eight books, four on the history of Townsend, where she and husband Jon are happily retired on the beautiful Townsend Flowage.