Just this week I was fishing with my kids and they decided they wanted to throw surface baits for bass. We tied on everything from Jitterbugs to Hula Poppers to some non-descript rubber frogs.

The kids, despite getting plenty of hits, could not seem to land a fish. So I decided to ease the anguish of missing the big ones by baiting up a hook with a tiny red worm and tossing it into the lily pads. Quickly the bobber was gone, but instead of a little bluegill, I found myself fighting a really nice bass. The fish turned out to be a 16- incher and the silly look on my face told my kids I had no idea why it hit the worm or how I landed it on that tiny little hook.

But no matter; it was a nice bass and everyone was happy. Now when you get a nice bass, you have to do something with it. Here are some suggestions.

Bass With Avocado Sauce

1 small ripe avocado coarsely chopped

1/4 cup skim milk

1 tbs. lime juice

1 clove garlic, minced

Hot sauce to taste

2 tbs.s lemon juice

1 tbs. light soy sauce

1 tsp. lemon rind, grated

1 tsp. dijon mustard

16 ounces of bass fillets

1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs

Vegetable cooking spray

Mix the first five ingredients in a blender; cover and blend smooth. Set mixture aside. Combine lemon juice and next three ingredients in a shallow dish, dip fillets in lemon juice mixture, and dredge in bread crumbs. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450F for 7 minutes; turn fillets over, and bake an additional 7 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Transfer fillets to a serving platter, and top with avocado sauce. Makes 4 servings.

Baked Bass

1 (5 lb.) bass or equiv.

1 big onion, chopped

1 gr. bell pepper, chopped

1/2 stick butter

2 cans tomato sauce

1 can whole tomatoes

1 tbl lemon juice

1 cup cooking wine

Dash Tabasco sauce salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste Sprinkle fish with lemon juice and season well the night before cooking. Lightly saute’ onions, and bell pepper in butter. Add tomato sauce and whole tomatoes and cook over medium heat for 45 minutes in uncovered pot. Add 2 cups cold water and seasoning to taste along with dash of Tabasco. Cook for 25 minutes over medium heat. Add wine and pour mixture over fish arranged in a baking dish. Bake in 325-degree oven for 40 minutes. Baste several times. Serve over a bed of wild rice mix.

Simple Bass

salt

pepper

vegetable oil

2 cups flour

1 cup corn meal

1 Ziploc freezer bag

milk

8 bass fillets

Combine salt, pepper flour, and corn meal in the Ziploc bag. Shake well. Place fillets in a bowl full of milk. Let stand for 1 to 2 minutes. Place fillets one at a time in ziploc and shake well. Place 2 fillets in a frying pan with the vegetable oil, and fry until golden brown. Serve and enjoy. Makes 4 servings.

I never would have guessed just how popular crappie fishing has become. Back when I was a kid we would catch crappies off the rocks in a channel near my house each spring. The best bait was a tiny white fly tied on a cane pole. By stretching out with the cane pole and carefully jigging the fly just above the nose of the fish, you could entice even the most stubborn pre-spawn fish to bite.

Today crappie fishing is big business. If you want to become a professional crappie angler I’d bet there is a tournament circuit out there ready to take your entry fee. Hit the big time and you might even be able to score free jigs from some of the many crappiefocused companies out there.

As for me, I just like to eat them. Here are a few great recipes that will certainly tickle your taste buds.

Cajun Fried Fillets
1 pound fillets
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour or pancake mix
1 cup cornmeal
1 tbsp cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Pinch of seasoned salt

Instructions:
Mix flour, milk, and egg in a small bowl. Mix cornmeal, cajun seasoning, seasoned salt, salt, and pepper in another small bowl. Dip fillets in wet mixture to completely wet surface, then roll in dry mixture. Fry fillets in oil in a medium sized skillet until both sides are golden brown. Serve with hot sauce and a rice dish on the side.

Corn Flake Crappie
Fresh crappie fillets
Corn Flakes
Butter

Clean and dry as many crappie fillets as you need. Crush corn flakes inside a freezer bag to a medium consistency. (do not crush to powder). Melt butter and dip fillets in melted butter and coat with crushed corn flakes. Arrange on foil-lined baking sheet. Cook at 350 degrees for 10 to 20 minutes. Fillets are done when Corn Flakes begin to brown.

Quick Panfried Crappie
Crappie fillets
1 egg
1 cup flour or pancake mix
3/4 cup milk
Salt and pepper

Instructions:
Mix flour, egg, and milk in a small bowl. Mix until batter is free of lumps. Dip dry fish fillets in batter and fry in hot skillet until both sides of fillets are golden brown.

Give me baked fish any day. Let me bake fish any day. I’d much rather pop fillets in the oven than drop them into they hot oil. So here are a few recipes that cover the gamut. From the fun and friendly to the hot and spicy. I mean, in the first recipe one of the ingredients in Cheez-It cracker. You gotta love that. And the Cajun fish recipe at the bottom can be as hot and spicy as you want it. Give them a try. You might never fry your fish again.

Cheesy Crush Baked Fish
1 lb fish fillets
1/3 C finely crushed
Cheez-it crackers
1 ts. parsley flakes
1/2 C low-fat Catalina salad Dressing

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix crackers and parsley. Brush both sides of fish with Catalina Dressing. Coat one side of fish with cracker mixture. Place fish, cracker side up on cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake uncovered until fish flakes easily with fork. 10-15 minutes.

Baked with Bacon
2 pounds frozen fish fillets
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 to 8 slices of bacon (if you don’t have much bacon, then use 3 or 4 slices, cut in half)
1 medium onion, sliced
2 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)

Directions
Arrange the fish in a well oiled 9 by 13 inch rectangular baking pan. If the fish is frozen in a block, don’t worry about it, just plop it in the pan as is. Sprinkle the salt and pepper all about the frozen fish. Arrange the bacon slices over the fish. Scatter the sliced onion over the bacon. Dribble the lemon juice over everything, if you are using it. Bake at 400 for 20 to 30 minutes. The bacon should be crisp, the fish should be opaque white and flake easily. Serves 6.\

Cajun Baked Fish
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp Cajun seasoning, divided
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp hot sauce (optional)
2 Pounds fish fillets

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Saute bell peppers and onion in hot oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium high heat 5 minutes or until tender. add garlic, and saute 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, 1 tsp Cajun seasoning, pepper, and if desired, hot sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Sprinkle one side of fish fillets evenly with remaining Cajun seasoning. Place fillets, seasoned sides up, on top of tomato mixture in skillet. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork. Serve immediately.

If you really want to get your kids involved with every aspect of the hunt, have them help you cook. There’s no better way to spend time together than mixing and stirring ingredients into a big, old pot of chili.

So grab your ingredients and grandma’s old mixing spoon and get to work on one of these great venison chili recipes. And remember, these are just guidelines. Feel free to add or substitute ingredients if there is something you think you would like better. Cooking is all about experimentation, so get after it and have some fun.

Chili with Wine

2 lbs. venison, cubed or ground
4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
4 lg. tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 med. onions, coarsely chopped
2 c. water
2 tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tbsp. ground cumin
2 tbsp. molasses
1 c. red wine
2 tbsp. jalapeno peppers, chopped and deseeded (may adjust to make more or less spicy)
1/2 med. green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
4 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tbsp. sweet basil
1/2 tbsp. black pepper, coarsely ground
1 tsp. salt

In a large pot, saute venison in hot oil until slightly browned. Add garlic, onion, and bell pepper; continue to
saute until onion is translucent. Add water, tomatoes, jalapeno pepper, chili powder, cumin, molasses, salt, pepper, and basil; simmer for at least 2 hours. 30 minutes before serving, add red wine.

Texas Venison Chili
2 lbs. coarsely ground venison
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 c. chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lg. green pepper, cut in strips
3 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. sugar
3 1/2 c. whole tomatoes
1 c. tomato sauce
1 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. kidney beans

Brown venison in vegetable oil. Add onions, garlic, and green pepper. Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add chili powder, sugar, tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, and salt. Simmer 1 1/2 hours. Just before serving, add kidney beans. Serves 6-8.

Fast Chili
1 c. minced green pepper
1 c. minced green onion
2 lbs. ground venison
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 c. water
1 pkg. 2 Alarm chili mix

Saute green pepper and onion in a little oil. Add venison and sear until brown. Add tomato sauce, water, and all
packets in chili mix. Cook about 1 hour over low heat. Serve on buns.

Below are three really interesting recipes I’ve found and amended over the years. The first one is a really a big hit with kids, who always like French fries and the one at the bottom will make a venison lover out of the pickiest eater. In fact, you can use that recipe to trick people who “hate venison” into eating the stuff. They will never know it’s deer meat until you tell them.

Good eating.

French Fry Venison Casserole

1 lb Ground venison or beef
1 small Onion
1 can Cheddar cheese soup
1 can Cream of celery soup
1 bag Frozen french fries
Pepper

Dice onion and mix with ground meat and pepper to taste. Press into the bottom of a 9×9 inch pan. Mix together the two cans of soup – do not dilute with water. Spread mixture over the meat. Cover entire surface generously with frozen french fries. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until done. Fries should be golden and crispy.

Venison Pepper Steak

2 lb Venison steak; cut in strips
1/2 cup Flour
3/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1/2 cup Shortening
1 can Stewed tomatoes; save juice
3/4 cup Chopped onion
2 cup Water
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
2 Beef bouillon cubes
2 Green peppers; cut in strips
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Melt shortening in large skillet. Roll venison in flour mixture; using all the mixture. Brown meat in hot shortening; add the liquid from tomatoes, water, onion, garlic powder & bouillon cubes. Cover & simmer 1 1/2-2 hrs. Uncover, stir in Worcestershire sauce, add pepper strips, cover & cook 10 minutes more. Add the tomatoes, cook until tomatoes are hot (about 5 minutes). Serve over hot cooked rice. This makes a delicious hunting camp supper, served with tossed salad, hot garlic bread, & fruit for dessert.

Crock Pot Venison BBQ

3 lb Venison stew meat
1 cup Onion, diced
4 Garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup Red wine vinegar
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp Lawrey’s Natural Choice Seasoning for meat
2 tsp Seasoned salt
1 lb Seasoned bacon
2 cup Catsup
1/2 cup Molasses
1/2 cup Brown sugar

Place venison, onion, garlic, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and seasoning in crock pot. Cook on high for 1 to 2 hours until meat is cooked. Cook bacon and crumble or chop. Add bacon, catsup, molasses and brown sugar. Turn crock pot on low and heat for the rest of the day. Serve over rice potatoes or toast.

Big Al’s 9-inch diameter pies weigh a whopping 37 ounces and will satisfy two to four people, depending on the size of their appetites! The products are perfect to serve at home, at the club or anywhere hungry people gather. They are especially good with large groups so people can try the different flavors. These stick-to-your-ribs meals contain bite size pieces of juicy pheasant or lean bison, with peas, carrots, potatoes and just enough onion, all held together with a thick, flavorful gravy and covered, top and bottom with a light, flaky, just-like-grandma made crust.

\Big Al’s kitchen is nestled in the rolling countryside of Genesee, Wisconsin. Where Al and his staff freeze, seal and ship them individually. They’re packed into insulated boxes for shipment to ensure freshness. Bake them at 350 for about an hour and they’re ready to please the biggest appetite. They’re great to take on your next hunting trip, or vacation to the cottage.

Big Al began creating wild game products exclusively for hunt clubs, game farms and shooting preserves for nearly a decade. He first built a solid foundation in Wisconsin and continues to expand distribution throughout the Midwest and Eastern United States. In 2003, the “Wild Game Gourmet” introduced internet-direct sales of Big Al’s speciality gift packs to consumers. In addition to meat pies, Big Al’s also offers pheasant chili and bison chili. His dessert offerings include apple pie, cherry pie, wild berry pie and my personal favorite cranberry walnut pie. I’m telling you, I could sit down and eat a whole one without even a second thought.

They are so easy to prepare and so tasty, you might almost overlook the fact that a portion of each sale goes to help wildlife habitat. See if Swanson dinners or Chef Pierre Pies will make that kind of offer. You can find out all about Big Al’s pies at his website: www.bigalsltd.com.

One of my favorite features of the site are the additional recipes offered by Big Al. Here is my favorite:

Pheasant Breasts Margarita

4 tbl flour half tsp paprika
one eighth tsp ground ginger
4 to 6 pheasant breasts, boned
2 tbl peanut or olive oil
Quarter cup tequila

Margarita Sauce:

2 cloves garlic, minced
4 green onions, chopped
1 tbl olive oil
1 cup pheasant or chicken stock
2 tbl lime juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbl minced parsley
half tbl basil
half tbl oregano
1 tbl flour

Margarita Sauce:

In a saucepan, sautee the garlic and onions in the oil until transparent. Add 1/2 cup of the stock, stir in the lime juice, mustard, parsley, basil, oregano and heat to simmer. In a bowl, whisk flour into the remaining 1/2 cup of stock. Slowly stir into the simmering broth mixture until thickened and smooth.

Pheasants Breasts:

Combine the flour, paprika and ginger. Coat the spice mixture onto the pheasant breasts, pressing into the meat until they are coated and flattened slightly. Heat the oil in a large skillet, sautee the breasts until they are browned on both sides, 6 to 9 minutes, or until the juices run nearly clear. Sprinkle with the tequila and, leaning away from pan, light with a match. Cook for 2 more minutes, add the Margarita Sauce and heat thoroughly.

Check out his website for the rest of his great recipes and to order yourself some pies.

All Big Al’s meats are fully inspected and approved for multi-state distribution through your local hunt club, game farm, preserve or may be ordered directly from Big Al at www.bigalsltd.com.

Here is a handful of great recipes for getting the spices right. Remember, if you think you should change something, it’s your recipe, change it anyway you like it. Now Enjoy your jerky.

Non-Stop Jerky

3 lbs lean meat, thinlysliced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire
1 tbs. seasoned salt
2/3 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. onion powder
2/3 tsp. black pepper

Mexican Jerky

1 lb lean meat, thinlysliced
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. crushed oregano
1 tsp. paprika

Spicy Tangy Jerky

1 lb lean meat,
thinly sliced
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. onion powder
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 tbs. A-1 sauce
3 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. Paprika

Mom’s Favorite Jerky Recipe

1 part liquid smoke
2 parts Worcestershire sauce
4 parts soy sauce
salt and black pepper to taste

Hotshot Jerky

1 part liquid smoke
2 parts Worcestershire sauce
4 parts soy sauce
lots of ground black pepper

Cowboy Jerky

1 lb lean meat, thinly sliced
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbs. liquid smoke
1 tsp. garlic powder

Pretty Good Jerky

1 lb lean meat, thinly sliced
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cracked pepper
1 tbs. brown sugar
2 tbs. soy sauce
1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 clove crushed garlic

Old Western Barbecue Jerky

1 tsp salt
3 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tsp onion powder
1 lb. lean meat
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dry mustard

Remember that once you dry your jerky it will keep pretty well, but it can get moldy. So, if you make a huge batch, wrap it tightly in freezer bags and freeze it up. Just remember to thaw it before you eat it.