Gulf Coast Fishing Trip

Last week, I spent a few days down off the coast of Galveston on a fishing trip. Born and raised in the middle of the country, I'm always amazed at the new sights, sounds, and smells I encounter on the coast.

You can read all about my fishing exploits here and here in a pictoral I did for the company blog. It was a spectacular day or two on the water, and I can't wait to do it again.

Typically, on these TV trips, we practice catch-and-release whenever possible. Part of it is to set an example for viewers, but I suspect most of it has to do with the fact that we don't usually have the means to ice down our bounty and keep it cold for the trip home. That wasn't entirely true this time -- I packed a collapsable cooler in my luggage.

Although we did release the fish we caught, Captain Bill led me to Golden Seafood, an archetypical seafood shack located in Seabrook, Texas. Virtually every type of fresh fish and shellfish was there for the picking... and damn, was it cheap! I scored colossal shrimp for $5.49 a pound, and beautiful red snapper fillets for $3.49 a pound. The shrimp were wrapped in small strips of bacon with a jalapeno spear -- classic Gulf Coast style. The snapper I improvised by rolling in some homemade "blackened" cajun seasoning, and then broiling it. It turned out really well, and eliminated some of the greasyness that I sometimes get when I blacken things the old-school way.

I'll be back to the coast again soon... and this time, I'll bring a bigger cooler!