Grant Ferris
Grey/Bruce Outdoors

The first time I encountered the secret sauce it was an accident. My cousin and I were camped out for a few days and we underestimated how much food is required to feed two growing boys. When we got down to one potato and no possibility for replenishment, we began to fish frantically with one thing in mind: food. Bryan was the first to find fish that day and said I should keep fishing while he prepared lunch. He had caught two lovely brook trout, a gourmet treat from spring water. We had an appetite like hungry wolves and they were welcome fare indeed. I was trying my best to add to our menu, while urging him to call me when the fish was ready. After too many minutes of silence, I became suspicious and rushed over to our campfire as he gulped the last bite of fish with secret sauce. Sheepishly, he said he couldn’t help himself. The fish were just too good. I returned to the river, determined to catch my own and glowered backward occasionally at my cousin. 

A few minutes later I caught a minnow and hungry as I was, I risked losing the little snack by choosing to use it for bait. Luck was with me and soon I was headed for the still-hot skillet with a fine brown trout, as Brian watched with sad eyes. Thanks to the secret sauce again, the fish was superb and I ate it all myself. 

Fresh fish has a delicate and delicious flavour when handled properly. This flavour is lost easily to poor preservation and poor cooking methods but when present, makes the difference between a dish to remember and just another meal. Trout and salmon begin to lose this subtle taste and aroma within minutes of being caught unless some special steps are taken.

My practice in handling great lakes fish is to get them bled and on ice, immediately. If you don’t have a cooler during the warm weather months you might as well release your catch because a few hours in warm conditions and the fish is suitable for nothing but fertilizer. Be humane, as soon as you get the fish on board, bonk it on the head and then while either holding it over the side or in a bait-well, cut it’s gills and allow it to bleed out. The fish will stay fresh longer and keep better this way. As soon as it is drained, pop it into your cooler, which should have lots of ice. When you return to shore take cooler and all home or to a fish-cleaning station. Either filet your catch or carve it into steaks or sections for baking but do not let it remain un-cleaned overnight.

Chilled and drained, the fish will then retain its peak quality for perhaps a day, until it can be frozen or consumed. Don’t forget the secret sauce. 

Oh, I almost forgot. The special sauce is simple, a combination of an appetite developed from spending hours in the fresh air mixed with the confidence that you are eating healthy food, taken from clean water. You can add a dash of enthusiasm to the mix, plus a sprinkling of appreciation for having had such good luck. Bon Appetit!