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A spur of the moment fishing trip to Penzance Harbour at 9pm netted us our very first free meal... a 3/4lb Mackerel!!

WE must have looked insane jigging about in celebration on the end of a harbour wall but we've been fishing for a while now (well... two months) and we've only caught tiny Pollock and a Wrasse... no keepers.

Anyway, an hour and a half after we caught him we were eating him and for someone who has always disliked Mackerel bought from Supermarkets I have to say I was surprised at how good proper fresh stuff was!

So... here's a quick photo of the man of the moment, my OH with his fish!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skyblue1971/4718843415/

We're going back tomorrow to see if we can catch some more :)

Happy days

Nice one SPS. Now you've had proper fresh mackerel you may find anything less just won't hit the mark.

I would really love to catch my own mackeral (I like it too - but I rather get my own rather than shop ones)

Anyone do this on the Lincolnshire coast by any chance?

We're going back this evening to see if we can catch some more... would like to put a few in the freezer for later use too.

Mick, just head out to your nearest beach or harbour wall and have a go, Mackerel are a bit dim and in the height of the season they more or less jump out into your bag lol

Don't bother with bait though, just use feathers or Hokeye 'feathers' which are like a tiny sliver of flashy silver ribbon... we make our own and that is what caught the fish last night :)

It's funny how many people don't like the shop bought Mackerel... lord alone knows what it goes through to get into that yucky oily state but at least it keeps us out of the stupormarkets!

Well Done!

i'm sure its the first of many!

very jelous

What a smashing looking fish... well done

Well done you! I'm sooooo envious ! I realy want to catch mackrel!

If you catch plenty of mackerel and fancy a change, this one goes down well with fresh bread, eaten preferably outside in the sunshine.
Sprinkle coarse sea salt on a plate and lay on mackerel fillets skin side down. Next, completely cover the top of the fillets with more coarse sea salt (needs to be coarse salt so you can get it off later). Place it in the fridge for two hours.

After two hours wipe away all the salt with a damp cloth and peel off the skin. Cut the flesh into 1cm wide diagonal strips.

Completely cover the fish with a marinade made from thinly sliced red onion, a generous slosh of olive oil, juice of half a lemon, a splash of white wine vinegar and fresh ground black pepper. Put it back in the fridge to cure.

After refrigeration it can be eaten after about six hours but I prefer to leave it 24 hours.

Enjoy