Most of my wild game recipes have something to do with the grill. I really like flames and wood smoke when it comes to cooking. If you haven’t tried smoking some of the fish you’re catching, then you have new culinary territory to explore. How about smoked panfish?

Combine a rod, reel, line, hook and red worms with your favorite fishing spot and hit a ton of fish. Clean the fish as you normally would (remove the head, fins, and tail), but leave the skin and scales in place. Remove the top and bottom ends down to the spine. Also, be sure to cut the skin on the top and bottom of the fish so that the skin and scales on each side of the fish are not connected.

What you will need:

• clean charcoal grill with a top surface and standard wire grill surface
• briquettes
• wood chips (mesquite or hickory)
• paper towel
• cooking oil
• panfish cleaned, rinsed and patted dry

The process of smoking fish

As you get your grill going (without the grilling surface), soak a handful of wood chips in water. After the fire is hot, place the wire grill surface over the fire to get hot. Use a little oil on a paper towel to (quickly and carefully) clean the surface of the grill. This ensures that it is clean and provides a better guarantee of jam-free operation.

Drain any excess water from the wood chips and carefully remove the grill surface so you can spread the chips over the coals. After spreading out the wood chips, replace the grilling surface and lay out a single layer of panfish for cooking or smoking. Center the fish over the coals, leaving enough room to flip the fish with a flat-blade BBQ spatula/turner/flipper.

Cook the fish over low heat. Leave enough air inside the bottom of the grill to keep the fire going, but close the top vents to keep the hot smoke in there and do its job. Slow and low is the way to allow the smoke to penetrate the meat and make the wood chips last longer. Flip the fish if the skin or scales begin to brown from the heat; otherwise, let it cook on one side for about 45 minutes before flipping for another 45 minutes on the other side.

Check periodically to see if the fish is sufficiently cooked. The heat of the coals, the amount of time on the grill, and the distance from the coals will play a role in determining how long the fish can and should stay on the grill. Don’t be too concerned if some of the skin turns black, as the scales and skin help protect the meat from burning.

If the heat goes out or is too low, but you know you did a good job smoking the fish, you can finish cooking it on a cookie sheet in the oven.

your rewards

If you’ve done it right, you should have a tender, moist fish with the consistency of fried fish but with a nice smoky flavor. The sides of the fish should easily detach from the main skeletal structure with just a little effort, allowing you to remove only the ribs and any loose fin bones that may still be in place. The meat should slide off the skin and scales fairly easily.