OK - so I took that flounder and big trout and put them to good use.

I cooked the best fish I've ever eaten in my life last night.. and that includes the original Trader Vic's in Hawaii and Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco !!!

... while making stuffed Flounder I decided to try the same thing with that Big Trout I caught since the filets were thick enough to slice open a cavity in each filet ... then putting both open ends together stuffed with my crabmeat & shrimp stuffing

... I gotta tell you guy's n' gals that Trout stuffed with my crabmeat & shrimp stuffing was absolutely fantastic and the best fish I have ever eaten anywhere on this planet.

The best place to eat seafood in Rockport is at my house !!!


( pic was taken after the chefs taste test )

Wow! That looks delicious! I'm heading down in a couple of weeks and would love to try to make some. Do you mind sharing the recipe?

OK - I had 5 smaller trout filets left Friday night.

Layed 2 side by side, put on the crab n' shrimp stuffing then laid 2 more filets on top.

Did the same thing with 1 trout filet and then I had 4 tail sections left after trimming other filets and they worked great to lay on top.

Cooked up real well and viola more stuffed trout.







CAPT. REX's STUFFED FLOUNDER or TROUT RECIPE

*** I used Alaskan King Crab that we broke down to make lump the crab meat.

*** I used ~ 15 count sized shrimp.

1. Preheat the oven to 400�F
In a saut� pan, heat the olive oil and butter. Add the onions, garlic, celery, and peppers. Saut� for 2 minutes, or until the vegetables are wilted.

2. Add the shrimp and season with salt and Old Bay (to taste). Saut� for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and place mixture into a bowl. Gently stir in the crabmeat, then the bread crumbs a little at a time, adding more as needed to gently bind. Set aside to cool.

3. Generously place equal amounts of stuffing inside each fillet. (alternatively, you can place one or two fillet on the baking sheet, place filling atop the fillet, then place another on top, or off to the side, to resemble a pocket of stuffing).

4. Place the fish on a baking dish. Drizzle the fish with the butter and sprinkle with lemon juice. Sprinkle top of fish with salt, black pepper and paprika. Put pats of butter on top.

5. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until fish is cooked thru. Remove the fish from the oven and serve.

Stuffing

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 stalks celery, chopped fine
1⁄2 red bell pepper, chopped fine
4 - 6 ounces shrimp, chopped fine (1/2 cup)
1⁄2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
6 ounces lump crabmeat (or more if desired)
3 -4 tablespoons Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, more as needed

Fish

1 whole, deboned flounder or trout filets
4 tablespoons real butter, melted or put pats of real butter on top
3 tablespoons real lemon juice
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons paprika
1 lemon, cut into wedges for garnish

Nice trout bite today at one of my all time favorite wade fishin' spots ... I figured the fish would be there and they were - some nice Big'uns too .. I personally strung trout from 19" - 24" for my trout limit today along with a couple of drum.

Fished with some new friends TexasRedneck and lite-liner on a guided trip they set up and we ended up with 3 limits of trout and a few drum using live shrimp and lures.

Trout were scattered and present just off the drop-off of several nodules we waded over and in the deeper guts running in between the nodules on the oyster reef we were fishing.

Lotta FUN and there is some good eating coming our way soon.






lite-liner having some FUN !!!

Rex, had a great time! Great to finally learn from a Pro!

Thanks for showing me how to catch fish!


Barry

Barry,

Thank you for the opportunity to share some knowledge with you and liteliner ...

- and the opportunity to show you guy's how that knowledge can help an angler become a more productive angler during the time they spend on the ol' SaltH2O.

Sometimes, it's not just the location - but also how you are rigged and the technique you use.

When an angler puts those three things together successfully, ... that journey leads to some serious angling adventures.

great pics & thanks again, Rex. I really had a great time.

lite-liner, We had a BLAST fishing with you and Texasredneck.

I had Capt. Randy over for some stuffed trout tonight - 1st time he's ever tried it .. and he loved it !!!

Nice sunrise followed by some productive fishing at our 1st and only stop.

Not having to walk back to the boat after that long wade makes for more time spent fishing for my customers, and we left'em still biting.

I'm glad you two had a good time, ... that's what it's all about.

Tides charts are still wrong.

Charts called for high tide this morning - noon.

Strong outgoing tide against a 10 mph SSE wind mph had fish scattered instead of being pushed up on the reefs we fished today.

We were feet wet before fist light.

TroyKing- a new member of the Rockport Fishing Club - found a nice trout on his 1st or second cast and I got nice pic of it when the sun came up.

I spent some time coaching Ryan on the saltwater scene from baiting hooks to unhooking these toothy saltwater creatures and it didn't take long for him to catch on, and he caught 5 species of fish today including, trout, redfish and drum.

Rex, II had a flounder on one of his 1st casts this morning and I caught up with him to get a pic of it.

We caught trout, flounder, reds and drum this morning and I am looking forward to the next "actual" morning high tide at this location.

I'm about to head down with my family for our annual trip to Rockport and wanted to know what bay system to target for some trout and reds right now? Not saying we need GPS coordinates but just wanted to narrow things down a bit. Feel free to PM me if necessary. I appreciate any guidance you can provide.

Captain Rex, Thanks to both you and your son for a great morning. We really enjoyed the experience of wading the salt water and feeling something really pulling on the line...I read this report to Ryan ( as you could tell he's not one who speaks much)...but he did say "I already knew how to bait a hook!!...just wasn't sure about baiting shrimp" hahaha....but we are both ready to do it again...my wife and I both fell in love with the area and want to come back soon.