Tips for the Fish Fry

• I love eating fish as much as I like catching them. The trick to having the best fish fry in the neighborhood starts from the time you set the hook until you raise a piece to your mouth.

• The best fish are those that are never frozen. Fish flesh breaks down quickly and is easily freezer burned so if you do freeze fish make sure they are vacuum-packed and never left to sit in the freezer more than a few weeks. The very best thing to do is only keep enough on a fishing trip to have that one fish fry. This way you have an excuse to spend more time on the water.

• As soon as you catch a fish you are planning to keep put it in a live well or a cooler full of ice. Fish left on a stringer die quickly and deteriorate. They never taste good.

• Fry the fish in peanut oil and make sure it is at 400 degrees. Anything but peanut oil will burn and smoke at that high a temperature and if the fish are cooked in oil that is less, then those prime fillets will be soggy. You want a firm browned fillet.

• Never leave the freshly-cooked fillets sitting on a paper towel. The towel will adsorb the oil and make the coating mushy. You can initially transfer the cooked fish to a paper towel to reduce the oil still on the fillet and then quickly transfer the ready-to-eat fish to a ceramic plate or a serving platter.