Fish cakes… what could be more traditional? Long a Friday staple, fish cakes are a great way for frugal minded families to stretch a food budget – especially if they’re cooking up fish cakes with fish they caught themselves. This fish cake recipe serves four and embraces the traditional. If you’re looking for an updated fish cake recipe with fusion flavor, look elsewhere. If you want a good, honest fish cake that reminds you of Fridays when you were a kid, this is the recipe for you.

• 1 pound fresh or smoked white fleshed fish like cod or haddock, skinned, deboned, and cut into chunks
• 1 lemon wedge
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 c. fresh parsley sprigs
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 c. mashed potatoes
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
• Freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste
• Quick cook oatmeal, for coating
• Oil sufficient for frying

1. Put the fish in a pan with just enough water to cover it, along with the bay leaf, lemon wedge, and sprigs of parsley. Slowly bring everything to a gentle boil, and then immediately reduce to a simmer. Let everything simmer for about 5 minutes until the fish is tender, then use a colander to drain off the liquid.

2. Place the fish in a non-stick baking pan and let it cool until it can be handled safely. Flake the fish, discarding any skin or bones that remain. Set aside.

3. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Cook the onions slowly until soft and just translucent – do not let the onions brown. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the flaked fish, potatoes, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper while folding the ingredients together.

4. Spread the oatmeal onto a flat surface. Divide the fish mixture into eight equal portions, and form each portion into a round 3/4 inch cake. Coat the fish cakes evenly with oatmeal, making sure every side is well-coated.

5. Heat two inches of oil in a heavy pan until the surface of the oil looks wavy. Fry the fishcakes in batches. They are done when cooked through and golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels or newspaper. Serve your fish cakes with malt vinegar, tartar sauce, lemon wedges, or ketchup.

Enjoy!

Many of our customers have asked us if we know how to catch more trout. The answer to their query is more complicated than you might think. Trout is not a one size fits all fish – how a trout behaves (and thus how easy or difficult it is to catch) depends on a lot of factors, from habitat to habitat and from species to species. Success on one trout fishing outing does not guarantee success at another. It’s a fact that some people find dismaying, but we say embrace the challenge! If all trout thought and caught alike, there’d never be any reason to leave the home surf for another locale. The fact that there are different strokes for different trout folks is what keeps this sport of ours interesting!

With that in mind, we have endeavored to assemble a list of 8 trout fishing tips that can answer the question of how to catch more trout – or, at the very least, how not to get frustrated when you don’t catch it on your very first try.

1. The trout you find in a stream will behave differently than trout in rivers or in lakes. You may come home with a great catch after a day in one body of water and tank in another. Study up on the habits of trout in different habitats and fish accordingly.

2. Surprisingly, differences in seasonal temperature, elevation, the season itself, and the characteristics of the land around a body of water can impact trout behavior. When it doubt, ask a local for tips!

3. Hatchery trout may be less wily than wild trout, which had to battle just to survive beyond birth. Different species of trout – there are eight main species and plenty of subspecies – can also present various unique challenges.

4. Get the right equipment! Going out with a trout rod and reel is no guarantee you’ll come home with a great catch, but it puts the odds in your favor. Ultra light action rods and reels with four pound test line are common among anglers who target trout.

5. Keep your hooks scaled to trout. It’s easy to go large, but you’ll probably catch more trout with an 8 or a 10.

6. Forget fancy baits, because worms are where it’s at. The American earth worm – yes, the one in your garden – is a great choice and simple. Just make sure that when you’re baiting your hook, you don’t create a worm ball that, to trout, will look anything but natural.

7. Few anglers think of their clothing as being a part of their gear, but consider camouflaging yourself as one way to catch more trout. Bright colors won’t immediately peg you as human, but they can intimidate fish into swimming in the opposite direction as soon as they see you coming.

8. Think of where trout like to hang out to catch more trout. You’ll usually find plenty feeding or just relaxing in the little calm pools just off rapids if you’re fishing on a river, for example. Casting your line where there are actually fish is the easiest way to increase your catch.

Happy fishing!

Have you ever heard someone say that they prefer unfishy fish? That kind of dietary preference is more common than you might think, which is why mild white-fleshed fish have become such a popular suppertime staple. Tilapia falls into the unfishy fish category and is now the fifth most eaten species in the United States. In addition to its unassuming flavor that tends to take on the characteristics of the sauce in which it is served, it’s also relatively cheap. And on top of all of that, farmed tilapia is also an eco-friendly fish and low contaminant fish according to Oceans Alive and National Geographic’s Green Guide, so it can be eaten in good conscience. All this love for tilapia hasn’t stopped people from wondering what do tilapia eat, however, and looking for tilapia facts to make sure they are actually as safe as is claimed.

So we thought we’d clear up some common misconceptions about what do tilapia eat and offer up some tilapia facts that you may find reassuring next time you’re in the seafood section of the grocery store.

• Unlike certain other fish, farm raised tilapia – and you’re unlikely to find any other sort – don’t build up environmental pollutants in their flesh and they aren’t contaminated with mercury. Co-Op America puts them squarely on the safe seafood list.
• What do tilapia eat in nature? A wide variety of natural organisms, from plankton to green leaves to invertebrates to larva to… detritus. Many theories have been put forth about the tilapia’s eating habits as related to other fishes’ excretion habits. Yes, tilapia eat poop.
• A 3.5 oz. serving of tilapia contains a mere 98 calories, but provides 18.5 grams of protein. Tilapia fillets contain no saturated fats or cholesterol. In fact, this fish contains five times less fat than the leanest pork and forty times less fat than bacon.
• Tilapia originated in the Nile River, and there are records of King Tut cultivating, to some degree, this fish. Now, tilapia can be found all over the world due to tilapia escaping from fish farms and voluntary release programs. In some areas, these fish are considered a pest.
• Tilapia are sometimes called St. Peter’s Fish because it is believed that tilapia was the fish that Peter caught in Matthew 17:24-27. Some will recall that this particular tilapia had a shekel coin in its mouth.
• When you buy perch or whitefish, you may actually be purchasing tilapia. Creative naming lets retailers sell fish for a higher price or remove some of the stigma sometimes attached to this fish – which in many areas of the world is considered ‘poor man’s food’.

Think fishing is a gentleman’s sport? Think again! In the U.S. alone, there are close to 12 million women fishing. If those numbers don’t mean much to you, consider that there are more women fishing than women who jog! Ladies make up almost 30 percent of all anglers – and they spend more on fishing gear than you might imagine. Plus, the number of days that women devote to fishing each year has been steadily increasing over the past two decades.

But even with all of the numbers, you may still be surprised to learn that among women who love sports, fishing ranks as the 10^th most popular pastime. And the women fishing like a day out on the lake or bay as much as the guys do! Why? We think the better question is why not!

More women who try fishing for the first time or come back to fishing after not having hefted a pole since childhood are discovering that fishing is about more than just catching fish. There are plenty of opportunities to learn new skills, discover new places, and get to know the marine world – in just a single day on the boat! Most fishing doesn’t take a lot of strength (though it should be noted that women can reel in the big one as well as any guy) but the mental stamina needed can be pretty intense.

It’s been said that ladies actually make better anglers than gents because they’re naturally more in touch with Mother Nature. We can’t say whether or not that’s true but whenever we see women fishing, they do seem at home on the water. And at home with other anglers! Women fishing together is something you’ll see more and more of, we’ll wager, whether on chartered fishing trips or on the boats that women are buying for themselves.

And again, why not? Fishing makes for great bonding time because it takes you away from the day to day grind. Think of fishing as uninterrupted quality time, and the fact that women find this sport so appealing is suddenly a lot more obvious. Now that women are taking the fishing world by storm, can mother-daughter fishing trips – and the next generation of women fishing – be far behind?