Those words are generally followed by a facial expression that portrays disgust, frequently echoed by something along the lines of “I wouldn’t eat that if you paid me.”  Which is fine — you just don’t know what you’re missing.

Mackerel and tuna originate from the family Scombridae.  The specific fish observed in the photo above is called an Atlantic mackerel or Boston mackerel and during the summer months, schools of these fish can be found in northern waters as far up as Nova Scotia.  My dinner came from the waters of Penobscot Bay, fishing from the dock at Lincolnville Beach, Maine.  After a 6 1/2 hour car ride, with a perfectly timed tide, a little fishing-for-my-dinner is just what I needed.

Mackerel are fun and easy to catch once you locate a school.  High tide will generally bring the fish in close to the shoreline, bringing about some fast and furious action, which can be even more enjoyable with light tackle.  Rig up a mackerel tree with a Diamond Jig and you will most likely reel in three or four fish at a time, the same method used to catch bait for Kennebec River Striper fishing.  More about that in a near future post…

Yeah,” bait.”  I knew that was gonna elicit a sneer.  Granted, mackerel can have a strong taste that turns many people off.  If you have tried it at your local Japanese restaurant in the form of sashimi or sushi, I can relate to your feeling of distaste.  But that fish is probably 48 to 72 hours old, just like the mackerel in the seafood section of the local supermarket.  And, yes, I shudder at the thought of consuming that aged Scomber scombrus.  There’s only one way to enjoy this torpedo-shaped tuna cousin – which is to eat it within hours of catching it.

Like any game, how you handle, clean and process your protein makes all the difference in the end product.  The sooner you eviscerate your deer or turkey and cool down the carcass, the better it tastes and that’s the key to mackerel, too, making a cooler full of ice required equipment.  As soon as you pull that fish out of the ocean, two immediate actions are required:

• Dispatch the fish.  Not because PETA would yell at you for gutting a live creature; you should do this for any fish you plan to eat to keep it from rattling and flopping around in the cooler.  Why?  Because as this fish exerts itself for the last time, its going to shimmy and shake until one of two things happens – until it’s back in the water or until it expires.  This will create a buildup of lactic acid in its overworked flesh.  Can you taste the difference?  I believe you can.  Which tastes more tender in a four-legged game animal, the hardly-ever-contracted back strap or the shoulder?  When I remove a mackerel from the hook, I pass said hook just above and behind its eye.  No cooler dance encore will be performed….

• Gut and chill.  Run your knife from vent to chin, strip the viscera out, give it a quick salt water rinse and into the cooler.

After, you’ve caught enough to feed yourself or your group (which, typically, is not terribly long), get the coals hot in your Weber.  (For those with limited grilling experience, DO NOT use lighter fluid to start your charcoal – invest in a charcoal chimney.)  Keep it simple when prepping the mackerel.  Olive oil, salt and pepper.  Cook until the meat starts to flake, but don’t dry it out!  Cooking time will vary with your charcoal temperature.  It’s not rocket science — figure it out.

I like a hot grill which, in addition to a fast cooking time, crisps up the skin into a chip-like form.  Don’t toss the skin!  Eat up!  Mackerel has more than twice the omega 3 fatty acids than salmon, and is extremely low in mercury.  Enjoy the flesh, the skin and the view!!