To Grill or not to grill

Written By Pat Chambers

Crane Prairie is still pretty slow. On my last trip, Mark and I caught a total of two 17-18” Rainbows and one Kokanee. I had heard from many people how tasty these Kokanee are. I decided to keep one. We had gotten blown off the water about 1 pm and decided to grill that fish as soon as we got home. Now I know why people keep their Kokanee.

We ate every single last bite and are looking forward to more. I will still catch and release my Rainbows and Browns, but I will catch and grill my Kokanee!

How we BBQ a whole Kokanee:

  • Kokanee

  • Olive oil

  • lemon

  • garlic

  • thyme 

  • parsley

  • tarragon

Coat the inside and outside with a chive butter sauce:  butter, chives, lemon, garlic, salt and pepper.

Preheat Grill to 400 degrees. 

Pat the fish all over

Coat the exterior and interior w/ olive oil and salt and pepper.

Put the above herbs on the inside of the fish.

Olive oil on the grill.

Grill at 400 for app 20 minutes, flipping at the half way point

When the internal temp. reaches 130 degrees, its done.

It should easily split into two halves; the bones will be laying right on top.

Delicious Grilled Kokanee!

Pat Chambers
Previous

Bulk Up Your Fly Box!
Next

Haystack Reservoir