Now fishing is a fun summertime pastime but it is a lot more enjoyable when you like eating what you catch. A lot of BBQ people don’t particularly like cooking fish on the grill because of bones, meat falling through the racks or the dreaded “mushy fish”. Good news! BBQ fish tastes good! Just like other meats it takes a little preparation, though. The fish we are cooking today is trout. The reason? Trout is a larger fish and has a pretty generic fish taste that works really well with the grill. However, you may substitute catfish, tilapia, tuna, or the fish of your choice for these basic recipes.

Deboning Trout

Deboning trout is essential in preparing a good dish. It takes patience, but after a cleaning a couple of fish, you’ll be a pro. Assuming the fish is already cleaned…

1) Remove the head right below the gill.

2) Butterfly: Here is where we start to butterfly the trout. Turn the trout upside-down so the stomach is facing up. Turn your knife upside-down so the blade is facing up. Slide your knife in along the backbone (at the base of the rib cage) and cut up so that your knife slides up along the outside of the rib cage. Then turn your knife over and cut down along the backbone. You have to cut through a ridge on bones that we take out later. When you cut down, don’t cut through the skin. Cut down to the skin and cut along the whole lateral of the fish right to the tail.

3) Do the same thing on the other side of the fish so that you have the two sides of the fish laying flat and the rib cage structure is in the middle but clear of the meat, Then turn your knife sideways and cut along the base of the meat and remove the bone structure.

4) Now you have a butterflied trout. There is still two rows of bones to take out. With your fingers, you can feel the row of bones that you cut through earlier. Just slice these bones out by cutting along the bones on both sides. Don’t cut through the skin.

Now, that we have most of the bones out, we can prepare them for cooking. Trout can be marinated very easily. The trick is, don’t marinate for more that an hour or that is all you will taste. A quick marinade for trout is

½ c. soy sauce
½ c. cooking sherry
1 tbsp lemon juice
¼ c. vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, crushed

Measure into large bowl and whip

To prepare the trout place it in a shallow pan, pour marinade on it and allow it to soak for 1 hour. You can use the drained marinade for basting. Place on grill and barbeque until done.

Speaking of the grill, when cooking fish, the grill must be very clean so the meat doesn’t stick. Also try some non-stick cooking spray on the surface or use aluminum foil. If using foil, make sure the top is “tented” ( folded to a peak) with slits in the bottom.

Here is a great recipe to try in the foil…

Two whole trout, cleaned
2 strips of bacon
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 lemon
Salt and pepper

Oil and preheat grill. Slightly cook the bacon in a frying pan, so that it’s started to be cooked but still pliable. Rinse out the trout and pat dry with a paper towel. Place a sprig of thyme inside each fish. Wrap each trout with a strip of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place trout on grill or in an oiled grill basket. Grill 5-7 minutes per side depending on the size of the trout. When the meat turns opaque in the center and easily flakes then the fish are done. Discard bacon and squeeze a little fresh lemon juice over each fish.

Enjoy!