We should never underestimate the benefits of bringing home the occasional meal of fish ..

For me, bringing home semi-regular meals of self-caught seafood is one of the greatest joys of being a life-long recreational fisher. Across the six decades that I’ve been an avid angler, I reckon I’ve let go at least three or four times as many fish as I’ve killed and kept, but that still equates to a lot of “keepers”! So, I’ve eaten my fair tonnage of fish over those years, and I’ve obviously formed my own opinions about what I prefer to keep, and what I’d rather let go.

As an interesting aside, I recently had a battery of blood tests done as part of my annual (or thereabouts) medical check up — something that becomes increasingly important when you’re on the downhill side of 65, as I am. When the doctor rang with my results, he was keen to know if I took any medication to lower my “bad” cholesterol levels (which he described as being “uncannily low”). When I replied that I didn’t, he offered the opinion that my surprisingly good cholesterol count might have at least something to do with all the fish I eat. (It’s sometimes handy having a GP who’s a keen angler, and a fan of my YouTube channel!)

Who doesn’t love a meal of fresh flathead fillets? Hard to beat!

There seems to be no doubt that regularly consuming fish (especially wild-caught varieties) is good for your health. But if I wasn’t a fisho, I wonder if I’d be able to afford to do it? The price of fish at the markets these days blows my mind! I’ve seen flathead tails at well over $40 a kilo, and King George whiting fillets nudging the $100 mark. Those are “luxury food” prices in my world. Not something I could afford to buy on anything like a regular basis, if at all.

As rec’ fishers, we should never underestimate the very real benefits of bringing home the occasional meal of fish — both to our wellbeing and our budget’s bottom line. We’re fortunate to be able to do it. It’s a privilege we need to acknowledge, protect, and actively defend.

Starlo rates the WA dhufish as the best fish he’s ever eaten. His mate Anna Phillips — a top seafood chef herself – caught this thumper.

Getting back to the fish I most like to eat, I obviously have my personal favourites. My “top five” list fluctuates a little from year to year, but species that consistently feature in it are the mighty WA dhufish and its smaller eastern cousin, the pearl perch, along with several other A-list contenders like yellowfin whiting, red emperor, fingermark and the various tusk fishes. That said, we consume a lot more flathead in our household than any other variety, and I never tire of eating flatties.

But we also munch through our fair share of snapper, morwong, pigfish, Australian salmon (preferably smaller ones), drummer, blackfish, trevally, tailor, bonito and the like. Make no mistake: they are all top-notch table fish — if handled correctly… And there’s the rub. What happens between water and plate with any fish destined for the table is critical.

The Starling household eats plenty of fish!

My latest “Tuesday Yak Chat” video and podcast delves into exactly this fascinating topic. I talk about people’s “tastes” in fish, and how personal (and therefore subjective) they are. I also delve into the topic of handling and processing fish, and then touch on something I don’t think gets talked about enough when it comes to enjoying fish, or any other food. That “something” is context. In other words, the time and place where it’s eaten, what it’s accompanied by, the experiences surrounding the event, and the company we share our meal with. I think these factors are often paramount in our enjoyment (or otherwise) of any meal.

You’ll often hear people (me included) waxing lyrical about a particularly memorable meal of small, freshly caught, stream-dwelling trout cooked right there on the river bank in an old cast iron frypan greased with a knob of butter and placed over the coals of a crackling campfire. Yet the very same, often-pale-fleshed and rather insipid trout could make for an easily forgettable meal at home — or something you might consider sending back at a four-star restaurant! It’s all about context.

Sometimes it’s all about the context rather than the recipe or the ingredients.

These days I tend to shy away from vociferous arguments — on-line or at the pub — about the relative culinary merits of one fish versus another. I find them a tad yawn inducing, to be honest — and also rather “entitled”, especially in a world where so many people are often glad of getting anything to eat, and would walk across broken glass for a meal of tilapia, carp, sardines or milkfish, even if they had to swat the flies away before hungrily devouring it.

My message is simple: catch just about any fish, treat it well, cook it right, and eat it in good company. I doubt you’ll be disappointed by the result, whether it’s a mullet, a morwong or a mangrove jack.

Until next time, Tight Lines.