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The Yakka Challenge


Little_Flatty

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We had a bit of a staycation up on the Northern Beaches this weekend gone by, but fishing-wise, it was a bit of a fail. I fished at the Newport Arms wharf a lot and while the usual tailor were there, there wasn't any size to them. While fun - surface lures seemed the most effective - it got old very quickly. The only fish we could actually take home was a bag of yakkas, which would have been good for bait, but unfortunately I don't get to bait fish all that much these days. I hate to waste bait when my leave pass gets summarily cancelled due emergencies at home!

So we ate them. I've eaten Yakkas plenty of times before, mainly smoked in a carbonara or as sashimi. But I hadn't done this for a while, because my wife struggles with the more 'exotic' species of fish. But sometimes you can't choose your catch. This is what I did and I encourage you to try this yourself:

1. Obviously, they need to be a reasonable size. I wouldn't waste my time on 'lollipop' yakkas, though I might put one out for bait.

2. As I was going to eat the fish, I bled and iced down the yakkas immediately. Basically treat them as if they were eating fish, because they will be!

3. After cleaning and scaling (note: the off-putting 'doctors' come out with the gills), I made slits along the sides to stop the fish curling..

4. Gave them a good sprinkle and rub with a seasoning of sorts (This time I used a generic 'Moroccan' seasoning from a supermarket, but Masterfoods 'All Purpose Seasoning' works great too)

5. Brush or spray with oil

6. Cook on a BBQ (wood or coal is best) for a few mins on each side, until slightly blackened in parts.

7. Remove the scutes with a fork before serving.

8. Enjoy with a wedge of lemon. Pick them apart with a fork.

This time around, even my wife enjoyed them. We would have enjoyed them even more if we were at home and had our trusty wood/coal BBQ. We finished lunch with full bellies, with ten fish shared between us.

Now, you need to be prepared to work through a few bones, but honestly, they're no more bony than a bream, for instance. But give it a go - you might be pleasantly surprised. For a work to feed ratio, it's amazingly efficient; I think I caught most of my fish in the space of half an hour.

I'd also recommend the smoking and sashimi paths, but this method is the easiest, so that was what I thought I'd share.

Edited by Little_Flatty
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cmon mate you cant be eating bait! the fish are suppose to be eating them, not us haha.
anyway, I much prefer cleaning, prepping etc one solid fish that's a good meal then do the same for multiple smaller fish. I might give one a try as good Friday comes around, if i head out for a flick that is.

Edited by Restyle
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7 hours ago, Restyle said:

cmon mate you cant be eating bait! the fish are suppose to be eating them, not us haha.
anyway, I much prefer cleaning, prepping etc one solid fish that's a good meal then do the same for multiple smaller fish. I might give one a try as good Friday comes around, if i head out for a flick that is.

It is a little bit of work, but you're not filleting them, so it is not too difficult. Do give one a go. Once you can get your head around the weirdness, it's not actually bad fish at all.

As far as eating bait, I can be pretty terrible on that front🤣. The best example is on the rare occasion that I go squidding...I find it impossible to pass by a fresh calamari. That is one catch that I will never share with a king. Must have been a kingie in a past life :D 

I think growing up in a Chinese family, I ate (and still eat) a lot of whole fish, and sometimes small ones too (for instance my Grandma used to buy silver biddies from the markets and steam them with soy, black bean, garlic, chilli and ginger).

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A friend of ours owned the Marina where you were fishing years ago.

In those days the Newport Arms was a log cabin,till somebody burnt it down.

Still one of the best spots on the Pittwater.

Cheers.

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