# Suckers?



## boisblancboy

Does anyone have an recommendation on how to smoke suckers?  We always get a good run of suckers every year so I would like to try and smoke some.  Just looking for some ideas.


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## rbranstner

My old man use to smoke them all the time. He did a mixture of water, salt, brown sugar and any other spices you like such as garlic powder, onion powder etc. Brine them over night then then throw them into the smoker. He usually added enough salt to the water to float a raw egg then went from there with the other spices. I use that method on my chicken legs and love them. Good luck.


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## boisblancboy

Thanks for the reply!  When smoking any type of fish what do you look for to know its done?


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## rbranstner

Well with salmon I smoke mine until I reach an internal temp of 140 or so but on the suckers depending on the size you may have trouble putting a probe in them but maybe not. I usually smoke my salmon at around 150-175 until the internal temp is 140 which is usually around 3-4 hours depending on the thickness of the fillets.


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## boisblancboy

What do you use to check your meats internal temp?


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## mballi3011

Ok from a Fla beach bum here. What the heck is a "Sucker"????


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## wl_kb3

These are about half the suckers I did last spring. I used the recipie that rbranstner mentioned above. They turned out well, but lots of bones to pick through.


http://s524.photobucket.com/albums/cc330/wl_kb3/?action=view&current=boat007.jpg



http://s524.photobucket.com/albums/cc330/wl_kb3/?action=view&current=boat005.jpg


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## rbranstner

I use a digital wireless meat probe.


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## rbranstner

Yea that is the only thing I didn't like about eating the suckers you did. TOO MANY BONES.


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## Bearcarver

LOL, That's why we never ate suckers----TOO MANY BONES !
That, plus the only time they aren't too muddy tasting was during trout season, and we always had plenty of trout to eat.
Actually I used to shoot suckers with my bow & arrows. Then I would recover the roe, and give the suckers to my Grandfather. He would roto-till the suckers into his garden. Sucker roe is the only roe I ever ate that was better than Shad roe.


Bearcarver


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## boisblancboy

Couple more questions.  Where can you get a digital wireless meat probe?  Any websites I can visit?

Anyone have a way to clean suckers to get more of the bones out?


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## roller

http://www.partshelf.com/maet73.html


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## rbranstner

Lots of web sites you can look at but just about every hardware store around here that sells grills has thermometers in their accessories isle.


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## erain

recommend the mavrick ET-73, 2 probes both of which you can set for alarm to go off when temp is reached, but is the only one in a reasonable price range that you can program one probe for a lo temp as well. allows you to monitor smoker box temps and alerts you when you need to ck firebox when temps get to high or when your coals loosing heat or if using gas and tank goes mt. many places to look on the net... i bought mine on ebay for 35 bux i think. 

http://www.cozycook.com/kitchen-185364.html

and here are others... i had a taylor which lasted many years before finally quitting, was only a single probe though... have also heard polders are good too. dont think they offer the same features as the ET-73 though.

http://www.cozycook.com/cooking-1334...ter&src4=broad

if you leave the skin on, and fillet the slabs from the sides, i usually remove rib bones as well, my bro in law goes along the backbone but leaves the rib bones in, your choice. either way you will be left with the pin bones. there is an upper row identical to northern pike, they also have a lower row, bottom side of spine area running from back of ribs to the tail. they are easy to find and pull from fish when is cooked if you are feeding to a child. another option is pickling them, the bones dissolve in the brine. either way really a good fish that shouldnt be overlooked, especially for smoking. i think its worth your time to at least give them a shot.


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## boisblancboy

Thanks for the help everyone!


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## Bearcarver

If all else fails, grind them up & make fish cakes. I used to do that with pickerel. If you get a good recipe, they can be great.

BC


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## erain

my mother used to do that when we were kids!


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## bcfishman

I see the picture of the bait laying on the ground, but wheres the fish youre supposed to eat.

All I can think of for suckers, is those little things at the pet store in the freshwater aquariums that suck on the glass...


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## roller

take the rib bones out and cook them in a pressure cooker then u can make them up like tuna sammies.


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## xjcamaro

I cant see the fish in great detail, but the only fish ive even called a sucker was a slightly orange brownish fish that looked like a small skinny carp, in all the creeks with the trout, they look disgusting, and we usually toss them up in the woods when we catch them so we dont catch them again. Is that what you got there. I dont think you could smoke them suckers i know long enough to make me want to eat them. 

But to each his own.


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## Bearcarver

Yup, that would be the ones. 

Here are the various ones out there (PA):
http://www.fish.state.pa.us/pafish/fishhtms/chap12.htm

BC


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## vince

I remember catching them as a kid, but even back then I didn't want to eat the nasty things , LOL


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## northern greenhorn

I think P.T. Barnum said, there's one born every minute.


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## denver dave

I have caught a lot of suckers in my day but have never considered eating them. I would expect them to be way too bony to enjoy.


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## wingman

Suckers are a catch, releasse and pretend it never happened around these parts. Known as a scrap fish or scrappy Ars fish. Eating one never entered my mind. So now I have to ask, other then a tiny bone fest, how do they taste?


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## boisblancboy

Its been a long time since I have had one smoked, but I do remember them being decent.  From some of the other people that live around me that do smoke them just told me to save only their mid-section.  Cut the head and the tail off, cause of course the farther down the fish the smaller and more bones to deal with.  The rib bones are fairly big and easy to pick out after they are smoked.

I know alot of people too that preasure cook them.  That is really good, if you like tuna fish you would like this too.


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## Bearcarver

On a lighter side,
I do remember (56 years ago) when I was 5 years old, hooking into a sucker that was about 20" long, while standing on a walking bridge. I was reeling & reeling, but wasn't getting anywhere. I guess I would have been there until the next day, if my 9 year old brother didn't come over & tighten the drag. Nobody told me about the drag until that day.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	






Hope nobody minds a slight veer off the "smoking suckers" topic,

Bearcarver


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## twistertail

About the only people I know who do not like suckers are the ones who have NOT tried them.  The meat is nice white firm meat, but as others have said they have a row of small pin bones on each side.  If you can them they make great fish patties or if you smoke them you can pull the small bones out pretty easy.  They are good fried also if you keep an eye out for the bones.  I've had several people tell me suckers are nasty, so I always ask how they fixed them.  Then they say well I've never really tried them but I've always heard....  ha ha.


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## riverdale

Smoke them, then pressure can them.  Most of the bones will disolve :D

From your handle, I am making a guess you are in Lake Huron?  If so is Sponge's still open?


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## boisblancboy

Yep you guessed right, I live on the island that is about 5 miles or so east of the Mackinaw Bridge.


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## jethro

I am originally from Michigan born and bred. Sucker is the worlds nastiest fish UNLESS smoked then it is pure Heaven. A good salt brine and a big chief smoker was what my DAD used. Mom would can the ones that didn't fit in the smoker, and like what mentioned earlier, the bones disolve. then use it like canned tuna...Damn I miss Michigan. I will always call Her home.


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## guppyii

Just did a batch last week. While Steelhead fishing we catch quite a few and usually let the trout go and keep the suckers.. My great Uncle had a resort in the Upper Penninsula and we used to get them every spring by the truckload. The way we do them is to fillet from gills to the anal fin then out, the tail has alot of the bones so you eliminate some there. We leave the ribs in as it keeps the fish moist. for the brine you take and fill a 5 gal. pail halfway with water and dissolve enough salt to float an egg. Add about a dozen suckers worth of fillets and stir every half hour for 2 hours. Pull the fillets out, rinse, pat dry, and set on smoker racks to dry for an hour while you get a smoke going and up to heat. Smoke for about 2 hours around 225* untill 'golden brown'. BTW the best wood we found was hard Maple we get this from the Newberry area it has a mild sweet flavor. Good luck,Kevin.


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## duke trana

I know it's hard to believe, but the suckers in those pictures are actually one of the best tasting smoked fish.  They are used as bait when they are smaller, and as decoys for spearing Northern Pike in the winter until they are about 10 or 12 inches long.  Once they get full grown, like the ones you see laying on the ground in the pictures above, they aren't good for much other than smoking.  I hope you get a chance to try some smoked suckers someday, because they are really good.


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## duke trana

BCFishMan said:


> I see the picture of the bait laying on the ground, but wheres the fish youre supposed to eat.
> 
> All I can think of for suckers, is those little things at the pet store in the freshwater aquariums that suck on the glass...


I know it's hard to believe, but the suckers in those pictures are actually one of the best tasting smoked fish. They are used as bait when they are smaller, and as decoys for spearing Northern Pike in the winter until they are about 10 or 12 inches long. Once they get full grown, like the ones you see laying on the ground in the pictures above, they aren't good for much other than smoking. I hope you get a chance to try some smoked suckers someday, because they are really good.


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## thoseguys26

The only thing I ever use suckers for is cut bait for lake trout. Meaning, I cut it up into 1'' chunks and hook it on a heavy jig and jig it close to the bottom. Lakers love it.


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