La Jolla 1/7/14 - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

taggermike · 01-08-2014, 10:25 AM

There's plenty of books, websites, and field guides that will help you learn the local fish. We have a bunch of flat fish around here but most you don't often catch. Sand dabs are one of the most common and are good eating. The way I clean them is to take a pair of kitchen shears and trim around the margin of the whole body. Fins, head, guts all trim right off. Some times you can tear the skin off after this or just leave it on. A quick sauté, just a few minutes on each side, and you're done. Grab the spine at each end, give a little shake, and the top fillet should come off with the spine. Flip that fillet over with the spine up, repeat the shake, lift the spine and ribs up, and you should be left to matching fillets laying side by side. A bit of lime or lemon and enjoy. Once you get the hang of them you can eat a dozen. Mike

01-08-2014, 10:25 AM	#8
taggermike Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Chula Vista Posts: 1,589	There's plenty of books, websites, and field guides that will help you learn the local fish. We have a bunch of flat fish around here but most you don't often catch. Sand dabs are one of the most common and are good eating. The way I clean them is to take a pair of kitchen shears and trim around the margin of the whole body. Fins, head, guts all trim right off. Some times you can tear the skin off after this or just leave it on. A quick sauté, just a few minutes on each side, and you're done. Grab the spine at each end, give a little shake, and the top fillet should come off with the spine. Flip that fillet over with the spine up, repeat the shake, lift the spine and ribs up, and you should be left to matching fillets laying side by side. A bit of lime or lemon and enjoy. Once you get the hang of them you can eat a dozen. Mike