Many anglers ask me what is the best way to prepare the fish they caught that day. Below is a few simple recipes.

Ingredients
4 redfish fillets, skin and scales remaining, fully boned
seafood or Cajun seasoning
Olive or any other cooking oil
Margarine, softened

Directions
Heat grill to medium-high. Place the fish fillets flesh side down on a tray. Liberally brush the scales with oil to keep from sticking to the grill. Turn over and generously coat the fillets with dry seasoning and brush with margarine. Cook scale-side down until the flesh at the thickest part of fillet flakes easily with a fork. Cover grill for even heat and faster cooking. Do not turn fillets over, cook on scale side only--the skin and scales will make a shell that will keep the fish moist during cooking. Remove fish from grill with a large spatula to avoid breaking fillets. Gently "scrape" meat from skin and put on plate.

Blackend Redfish

( also works with black drum )

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups Italian-style salad dressing
4 (4 ounce) fillets red drum

Directions
Preheat your outside grill ( its best to cook this outside, it will smoke a great deal ) heat up your cast iron skillet. Heat the skillet over your highest heat setting for about 10 minutes until its very hot. The bottom of skillet will be ashy white when ready.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter on low heat; cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the cayenne pepper, black pepper, lemon pepper, garlic powder and salt. Set aside.

2. Rinse your red fish fillets under running cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Dip the fillets, one at a time in the melted butter ensuring both sides of fillet are covered with butter. Remove fish from butter and then without sitting the fish down sprinkle fish on both sides generously with seasoning, patting by hand. Repeat this step again for the second piece of red fish3. Place both pieces of red fish into the extremely hot cast iron skillet and cook for 4 minutes turning over once, halfway through cooking. Pour 1 teaspoon of melted butter over the top of the fillets initially and another on top of the fillets when you turn it over at the halfway point.

Baked Sea Trout

( also works with snook )

Ingredients
fresh sea trout, filleted ( scalled ) with the skin on
Olive oil
cajun season

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Season the trout with olive oil and cajun seasoning. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, or until fish is cooked through.

Herb Trout Fillets

( also works with snook )

Ingredients
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley leaves
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
2 teaspoons finely chopped oregano leaves
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 (6 to 8-ounce) sea trout fillets, with skin
Lemon wedges, as accompaniment

Directions
Preheat broiler, or grill. In a medium mixing bowl combine lemon juice, garlic, parsley, chives and oregano. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Arrange fillets skin side down in an oiled shallow baking dish. Brush fish with vinaigrette. Broil 5 to 6 inches from heat until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges.