It was our second day at the shore, and we had one goal: to catch our dinner! Mr. Dish’s uncle has a boat, and he was kind enough to take me, Mr. Dish, his son-in-law, and my future Sister-in-Law (“SIL”) out for a day on Barnegat Bay.
We were up at the crack of dawn and armed with sunscreen, bug spray and Gulp Alive! (That’s bait. Apparently fish dig it.)
Ahoy!
Before long, SIL had caught her very first flounder! Not a keeper (17″ or longer) but very close!
First flounder!
She even managed to catch an elusive “double header!” Two fish on at once – one on each hook! Mr. Dish actually did the same thing, only with two blue fish! We threw them back, because they’re not yummy like flounder.
He’s still cute, even though he didn’t catch any keepers!
One of the weirdest catches of the day… Uncle Lee’s catch that we first thought was nothing more than a snag. He reeled in and discovered he was hooked on another person’s line. So all of us reeled in, but we were all in the clear! So who’s line was this? He felt some weight on it, so he pulled it up…. and there was a fish on the end! And not just any fish… a flounder big enough to keep!
Untangling the mysterious rig!
The rig was clearly a foreign one, different from the ones we were using. We were all astonished! Luck was clearly on our side that day!
The “fluke” keeper in the tank!
We caught most of our keepers as we got closer to the ocean. I caught three keepers, my biggest being 23″!
It was heavy!
It was an awesome day! After six hours in the Bay, we ended up with a string of flounder, and lots of “fish stories!”
Victorious!
Mr. Dish’s uncle did a superb job filleting our flounder, which we ate for dinner the next day. If you’ve never had fresh flounder, you don’t know what you’re missing!
Now that’s good eatin’!
Uncle Lee’s Baked Flounder
Place flounder fillets in a baking dish, or in foil. Drizzle with olive oil and cover generously with Old Bay on both sides.
Cover, let marinate for several hours, preferably while you’re at the beach… or overnight.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place fillets on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake 15-20 minutes, until flounder breaks apart easily with a fork.
Enjoy!
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