Brown Trout -- caught, grilled, smoked

Went fishing for the first time (ever!) last week, out on Lake Michigan (out of Racine, WI).  Nabbed this 18 pound brown trout and a few smaller brown trout, rainbow trout and a couple of salmon.  

Grilled half of that big trout in three pieces -- two in different store-bought marinades and the third in EVOO and a Pike's Place dry rub.  Raised direct around 400ish with some alder smoke.  All three came out great, though I liked the dry rub over the marinaded pieces.  


Used some of the other fish for smoking.  Followed Steve Raichlen's recipe for rum soaked salmon, though I extended the times for soaking, curing and smoking.  Soaked the fish in rum for about 30 minutes, then rinsed and dried.  Then covered in a mix of 1/3 coarse salt and 2/3 brown sugar with some black pepper mixed in.  Left that for about 16 hours, then rinsed off and dried the fish and put in fridge overnight.  Smoked the next evening over alder.  Overall I thought it came out great, though some of the smaller pieces were a tad too salty.  Next time I might cure the large and small pieces separately and take the smaller ones out of the cure earlier.  


For any in the region who are interested, we went out with Jackpot Fishing.  I thought they were great.