During the Easter season, a Friday night fish fry was mandatory, but over the years it turned into a simple pleasure. I even grew fond of my garage smelling like a Wisconsin supper club. 

Moving the Friday night fish fry to the garage was a great move for more reasons than making the garage smell good. Cooking with a one burner stove on the work bench in the garage felt pretty manly. I mean, aside from cooking on rock along the shoreline, work bench cooking is pretty awesome. I have cooked fish in the boat but that’s kind of a clumsy exercise and I was always worried about burning the boat’s carpet…again. So for my money, garage cooking is pretty sweet.

This year I did a great job planning for the seven Friday fish fries by freezer packing away just enough fish. I made sure to catch my favorite fish: scaled and then filleted crappies. Tip number one when cleaning and cooking fish is to always pack enough fish in each package for a meal and a leftover meal. My favorite way to prepare fish is with Shore Lunch Beer Batter. I have been endorsing that for years but have yet to receive any compensation. Regardless, that’s my go-to method for cooking fish.  -Tip number two is that when it comes time to prepare the leftovers, heat up the fillets in a skillet with butter. The fish will taste just as good as the first time around and that’s a guarantee.  

Everyone has a favorite kind of fish and a favorite way to prepare them. From crappies to northern pike, to walleyes, saugers, catfish and trout, I don’t discriminate when it comes to what kind of fish I want to share a table with. For the most part, I’m a catch and eater. That’s why it’s great living so close to the Mississippi River especially when inland fishing is still closed. The river fishing season is always open.

My freezer is empty now and the Shore Lunch fish batter is gone. The last official mandatory Friday fish fry of the season has come and gone but there is no time to waste. I need to gear up for the next season: OPTIONAL FISH FRY FRIDAY, which lasts for the next 45 weeks. So you know what that means? It’s time to head back to the river and replenish the freezer.

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