Just a quick one: Has anyone happened to run into smoked marlin in Cancun? Had the BEST tostadas with smoked marlin, grated carrots, grated cabbage, mayo and lime/soy salsa. (A friend brought the fish from Baja California)
Bruce: I respect that. Back home I NEVER, ever paid for fish - only ate what I caught. 2 hours and I would have a cooler full of trout, salmon, perch, walleye etc. One of the things I miss when it comes to Sweden... Clean and healthy lakes.
Big fisherman here too, Rawkus. Back in Texas, I've got a nice offshore fishing boat. But I don't kill marlin. Red snapper, grouper, cobia, king mackerel, you bet. And we eat it up. Anyway, not being judgmental, just my preference.
Bruce: Fair enough. This was the first time I ever ate Marlin... Im sure any smoked fish(tuna?) could add the same taste. Back home I had may portable smoke-box, which I always dragged along when hitting a nearby creek. Nothing quite like enjoying a freshly smoked trout, outdoors, away from waiters, cellphones, laptops, commercialism etc.... and now I made myself homesick, again, haha. Im happy you told me, as Im not aware of the Marlins status - is it really bad nowadays?
GONZO: Not sure what species of fish around here that would be good when smoked. Trout, perch, common whitefish, salmon and walleye are the ones I smoke back home, all caught in cold waters. Ive tried fish´n´ chips made from tropical fish... Ugh. Have never seen the gear used for smoking, except the sawdust.
My understanding is that oily fish are better smoked; mackerel, tuna, wahoo. I'm not sure what they call these fish down here, except tuna is tuna. You need a mild wood to smoke fish with such as apple or cherry wood. Don't use hickory or mesquite for fish. I used to smoke king mackerel and they make awesome fish tacos. Here is some info on marlin status: Blue Marlin and White Marlin - Severity of Atlantic Population Declines, the Causes and What Needs to be Done They're not dreadfully endangered yet but the practice of killing them only for trophies for 60+ years has put a huge hit on them. I've got several but always released. Last time I was on a charter trip out of Houston, a guy caught a small one while tuna fishing. It was around 90lbs. The guides asked him if he wanted to release it or kill it and he killed it. Then he cut the head off, for mounting, and threw the rest back in the water. Makes me sick. Remember the movie, The Perfect Storm? They were longliners fishing for sword. Those guys destroyed the sword population on the pacific coast and completely emptied the Gulf of Mexico. After being stopped in the Gulf for decades, swords are finally making a return. Long-liners are the worst offenders.
