Gulfcoast Pompano Fishing | Gather

Gulfcoast Pompano Fishing

Pompano are a saltwater fish that are fun to catch, delicious to eat & a fish worthy of praise.Recently I went pompano fishing not by choice but by circumstance. You just never know what isgoing to bite at any given time.

The day was just beginning. The sun was low in the eastern sky, a breeze was blowing, sea gulls,sandpipers & brown pelicans were on patrol along the beach as we began to situate ourselves alonga breakwater on the Gulf of Mexico. We had live shrimp in a bait bucket, some frozen shrimp, somesquid & some cut bait in a cooler along with some shiners in another bat bucket. In addition we hada large selection of artificial baits in our tackle boxes.

I selected a live shrimp, hooked it up so it would swim freely on a coated braided steel 16" leaderwith no weight. I cast out, let the line settle, gave the rod tip a twitch & waited. It was about 2minutes before I felt a stiff jerk on the line. I set the hook, reeled in & began the fight with a nicepompano. In several minutes I had the fish ashore, unhooked & on my stringer. I re-baited and castagain. Less than 10 seconds later I was hooked onto another pompano! This was the way themorning began. Between the 4 of us we caught, in about 30 minutes time, a large mess of these tastyfish.

I have always loved to seek out for these delightful fish. They offer a combination of fight, tasty fare& do not tire you out. I have caught them at various times on artificial baits, live baits, frozen baits &cut bait. What will they not bite? They usually run on fairly large schools inshore along the Gulfcoast & in the estuarine bays on the Gulfcoast often with permit a larger sub-species of the samefamily. Once you catch one you almost always catch more until the school leaves the area. Theyare voracious hunters of grass shrimp, mullet minnows, greenback minnows, shiners & other smallsea life. Small, colorful jigs can excite these wonderful fish as can small silver or gold spoons.

Pompano are considered a delicacy among seafood connoisseurs. The flaky, mild, white highly tastymeat is a sure winner on any table. They are often broiled, fried & a particular favorite of minecooked in a brown paper bag. The meat is white flaky but firm & not at all strong but rather delicatein taste.

Pompano run between 1-8 pounds while permit can weigh in at up to 12-50 pounds. These silversided beauties are part of the eco-system of the Gulf of Mexico that makes it fun to live & fish there.From Texas to the tip of Florida all along the Gulf coast as well as south of the border all the waydown to South America one can find, catch & eat these delightful fish. Pompano are to be found fromthe coast of Massachussets to Brazil but are most plentiful in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico& the western Caribbean.

Pompano prefer to feed upon small bi-valve mollusks, small crustaceans & small shrimp. They arealso known to feed upon any food source available especially when spawning. Because they seem toprefer to travel in school they can clear an area of food rather quickly & then move on to moreproductive areas.

Pompano Recipes

Pompano Papillote - Pompano In A Bag

Categories: Creole, Seafood

Yield: 4 Servings

1 ea Onion chopped

2 tb Olive oil

2 tb Butter

3 tb Flour all-purpose

1 1/2 c Milk

1/4 ts Nutmeg

1 tb Worcesershire sauce

Salt & pepper to taste

2 ea Egg yolks beaten

1 ea Garlic clove crushed

3 tb Dry sherry

1/2 lb Shrimp chopped cooked

1/2 lb Crabmeat chopped cooked

2 ea Pompano steaks 1-1.5 lbs ea

Paprika to taste

Saute onion & garlic in olive oil & butter in skillet until soft.

Reduce heat then gradually add flour, milk, nutmeg, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper & egg yolks.

Stir well to blend.

Remove from heat then add sherry, shrimp & crabmeat.

Sprinkle pompano with salt, pepper & paprika.

Spoon sauce into 2 large pieces of foil.

Top with pompano steaks & seal foil "envelopes."

Place in large baking dish & bake in preheated 375 deg-F. oven 20 mins.

*NOTE:

In the "old" days a greased brown paperbag was used to contain the pompano as it cooked.

ORIGIN: Chef Cesar Ruiz, (R.I.P.) Tampa-FL, circa 1960

Linda-Belle's Broiled Pompano

Categories: Seafood

Yield: 4 Servings

2 ea Pompano fish 2-3 lbs each

1 ea Salt dash

1 ds Pepper dash

1 ds Cayenne pepper dash

2 tb Butter

1/4 c Lime juice

2 tb Pimientos chopped

2 tb Capers chopped

Split pompano down back.

Clean, wash & pat dry.

Season with salt, pepper & cayenne.

Dot with butter & sprinkle with 4 tb lime juice.

Mix capers & pimiento with remaining lime juice &spread thinnly upon pompano.

Place fish, skin side down on greased broiler rack4" below broiler heat.

Broil for 15 mins. until fish flakes easily.

ORIGIN: Linda-Belle Robbins, Tampa-FL, circa1996

Sources:

Complete Outdoors Encyclopedia

By Vin T. Sparano 1988

Florida Fishing

By Larry F. Mason 2000

Copyright © 2006 - 2008 Donald R Houston, PhD. All rights reserved. This material may not bepublished, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the author's consent.

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