September 25, 2008

The first thing I did this morning when I woke up, was go over to the cabin, remove the walleye I'd caught the night before from the "holding basket," say my prayer of thanks to the earth, lake and walleye, then kill and clean the fish.

Rick leaves for the airport this afternoon and he really wanted a "Leech Lake fish sandwich" for his last lunch in the Northwoods. The only way that's going to happen is if I clean and cook the walleye for lunch.

After knocking the walleye unconscious with a shift blow to the head with a meat tenderizer, I cleaned and filleted the fish. I brought the fish into the house, rinsed it in cold water, patted the fillets dry and then prepped the fillets for frying.

My preferred method of frying walleye fillets is to coat them first with any number of commercially available batters, dip them in an egg mixture, then coat them with Original Shore Lunch. Once coated, I fry the fillets in hot oil until they are golden brown.

For fish sandwiches, I warm hamburger buns in the microwave oven until they are soft and warm; often melting a slice of American cheese on one side of the bun. Then I add a 1/2 TBSP of tarter sauce, enough walleye fillet to cover the bun, a single piece of lettuce, again just enough to cover the bun, and serve. Ymmmm. There's nothing better.

Rick had two of these tasty fish sandwiches before we left for the Bemidji airport. From Bemidji he flies to Minneapolis, then Denver, then LA, then Sydney and finally to Brisbane. He should be home in Australia in 24-27 hours!

The weather today was beautiful -- sunny skies, 78 degrees and a gentle wind of 5-8 mph from the SW.

See you next year Rick.

No fishing on Leech Lake today.


Rick (in black) and I in front of the newly painted cabin.