Recipe of the Month: Crab Imperial

 By Julie Rothman with the Baltimore Sun: "A classic Maryland-style crab imperial should have very few ingredients and requires minimum seasoning. It is the crab meat that is the focus of the dish.  When working with crab meat, take care not to pull apart the lumps of meat and always use a fork when combining your ingredients. Never break apart or mash the crabmeat." 

Robert Shoffner writes:  "the accepted wisdom of the region(Maryland) : Crab cakes were to crab imperial what meatloaf was to prime rib. Considering crab imperial a superior dish to crab cakes reflects an understanding that the sweetness of jumbo lump crab is best appreciated in the simplest preparations. "

When my mother-in-law, Jean Hanna passed away, my wife found in her cupboards a set of milk white Glass Bake crab dishes, made by McKee Glass Company. They came in the white, clear, and red. Here's an article about the crab dishes and there is also a Deviled Crab recipe! Maybe we'll make that another month!  We stored them away for years but decided to break them out to re-create the classic Crab Imperial!  I "googled" Imperial Crab and picked the Phillips Company recipe:

Ingredients:

1 lb Jumbo Lump Crab Meat

1 tsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 egg

1 tsp Seafood Seasoning

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

3 oz Hellmann's mayonnaise (I read somewhere that Hellmann's is good for baking)

1 tsp melted butter

Combine all Crab Imperial ingredients (EXCEPT THE CRAB MEAT) in a medium mixing bowl and whip until smooth.

In a seperate mixing bowl, add the crab meat and pour Imperial mixture over crab meat.

Blend all ingredients together by tossing very gently in order to avoid breaking delicate crab lump meat.

This recipe filled eight (8) of the Glass Bake crab dishes perfectly! Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes.

Imperial Topping:

3 oz Hellman's mayonnaise

1 oz half and half

1/2 tsp seafood seasoning

1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Pinch of paparika

1/4 cup shredded cheddar or parmesan cheese

Combine all the topping ingredients (EXCEPT THE PAPRIKA AND SHREDDED CHEESE) in a medium mixing bowl and whip until smooth.

After the Imperials are finished baking, remove from oven and switch oven to broil.

Top each dish of crab with the imperial topping. Sprinkly some paprika on each, then add some of the shredded cheese. 

Place in broiler to finish off until cheese has melted and Imperials start to brown. DON'T  WALK AWAY FROM IT! KEEP AN EYE ON IT!

Serve with toasted baguettes or crackers.

 

Flounder Queen

 

Luckily today we had just a bit of breeze so it wasn't quite as hot as it was yesterday. When we came in from fishing around 11am today there were a couple of anglers launching to start there day and with it being so hot I  thought "crazy", but I guess if that's when you can go, more power to them!

I had met Frank Wytiaz and his wife Joanne down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early and we headed up the intercoastal and got just north of Jackstaff and fished some marsh runouts that looked really good. It was a high and outgoing tide, but it It was very shallow, over some shell banks, and I thought for sure we'd catch some fish, but no, only a small Ladyfish. We then came back around and into Jackstaff and fished a stretch of bank and here we had some good, steady action. Both Joanne and Frank hooked up and landed  a handful of feisty, fun to catch Redfish. They also had a couple of small Jacks, then Frank put a fairly big (12" Mangrove Snapper in the boat. We switched from float rigs to jigs and it wasn't long before Joanne had a "bump", set the hook, and expertly landed a keeper sized Flounder. We worked that bank pretty good and picked up a few more fish, one being a small Flounder that Joanna caught.

After running thru Horsehead and over into the Nassau we set up between two docks and stuck with the jigs and shrimp. Sure enough, we were in to the Mangrove Snapper. We'd lose 5-6 shrimp, then catch a fish. Lose 5-6 shrimp, and catch a fish.  A few of them were very nice size and went in the box! We did have a good thump on one bite and with Joanne on the reel, she worked in another keeper sized Flounder!

Our final stop was down at Spanish Drop, fishing jigs as the oysters were exposed on a falling tide. There was a ton of bait moving and I thought for sure we'd have some action but we theorized that it was just too hot. As  Frank said, "the bait is there, the fish are there, but it's just too hot and they're not eating!".  I packed a towel with ice on my neck and we headed back to the ramp, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island,  Florida. 

I Called It A Shark

 Boy was it a hot one today! By the time we got back to the dock I was drenched with sweat, but for mostof the day it was fairly nice and a great one for fishing. I had met Mark Dennis and his friend Greg and Greg's teenagers Jacob and Carter out at the Goffinsville Park boat ramp early. The tide was high but almost at a standstill so we ran over to Pumkpin Hill and began working a grassy bank with float rigs and live shrimp. They were getting a bite or two but it was Carter who "knocked the skunk off" with a feisty Redfish catch. We fished that stretch, then down one more bank before we moved on.

Our next stop was over at Nassauville where we switched to jigs and shrimp and this got the action going. We began to get Mangrove Snapper bites and everyone joined in on the catching. They also caught a couple of small Sea Bass. A number of the Snapper were small but we did get a good handful of legal ones to throw in the box. We broke one of the basic rules of fishing, "don't leave fish to find fish" but we wanted some bigger fish, so we moved on. 

After a short run down to Spanish Drop we set up off a large marsh run out and man was there a lot of bait moving. We picked up a couple of Stingray's then Jacob had a good "bump". He set the hook and worked it expertly to the boat and landed a nice 17" Flounder. Greg battled a Bonnethead Shark for a

few minutes then Jacob picked up another feisty Redfish. When Greg had another strong hookup the big fish dug deep and I mistakenly called it "another Shark". But Greg didn't care and battled it from bow to stern, keeping the pressure on as it went deep behind the boat. I still thought it was a shark until it boiled up between the boat and the bank and we saw that beautiful copper color- Big Redfish On! Greg worked it patiently and soon brought it to the net - a bulky 25.5" Slot Redfish. Boy what a fish.

We had burned through a lot of bait at the Mangrove spot and we eventually ran out, but the bait fish were still at the run out so we dropped back and

tossed a net and got a couple dozen nice finger mullet, then we move up to another drainage and fished it to wrap things up. I had commented that we hadn't seen a Trout earlier so it was nice to see Mark hookup off the stern in deeper water. He played it patiently and brought to the boat a nice keeper sized Seatrout to round out the team's Amelia Island Back Country Slam of Redfish, Flounder and Seatrout and with that, we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Bait Me Up

 

I wrapped up my week today fishing with Garland Clark and Suzanna Braun, meeting them down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We actually had few clouds as we left the dock which bode well for a forecasted hot day! After a short run up the Nassau River we eased up to a large run out and boy was it loaded with bait. And boy was it getting "popped" by game fish! The two anglers began tossing jigs and live shrimp and minnows into the fray and it wasn't long before they were catching fish. A lot of fish! We could see big Redfish backs as they busted the bait and Suzanna, exclaimed, "Bait me up!"  They caught a handful of feisty Redfish, some Seatrout, Jack Crevalle, Catfish and Ladyfish. 

There were a couple of highlights - Suzanna battled a hard fighting Jack Crevalle to the net, Garland wore out a four foot Bonnethead, then they teamed up, almost at the same time, hooking up with some big  Redfish. They even had to "do the dance", passing each other as they traded stern and port on the boat, but they both kept the pressure on. Suzanna put her fish in the boat, a Slot Redfish then shortly after Garland put another Slot in the boat. That was crazy!

We fished that stretch for almost two hours! There was no need to leave because we were catching fish, but when it slowed, we move on up to try some docks at Seymore's Pointe. The first stop didn't produce anything, but the second one produced a good handful of Mangrove Snapper, a number of which were of keeper size. Suzanna also had a hard fighting fish on which we thought might be a huge Snapper, but it turned out to be a 14" Grouper!

Our final stop was down at Pumpkin Hill and we down to a handful of finger mullet that I had caught earlier. They were both getting nice drifts but we had no takers so we called it a day, another great one to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Camp'n Out

 

It was a hot one today - the temperatures and the fishing! I had met Bob Hagerman and his sons Bob and Brandon down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp early this morning. All morning long, from sunrise to the bait shop to the boat ramp I was debating on whether to run up the intercoastal and fish Jackstaff or give the Nassau River and Spanish Drop one more try (yesterday we caught squat there). But I like that stretch of deep water coming up to shell beds so we picked Spanish Drop and made the short run, pulling up as the outgoing tide began to hit bottom.  The trio of anglers began to pitch jigs and live shrimp to the exposed oysters and it wasn't long before all were catching fish.

I don't normally stay at a spot more than 30 minutes, and most of the time it's less than that. When we were all done we had been there for an hour and a half!  Brandon knocked the skunk off with a nice Seatrout catch, then Bob put a Flounder in the boat.  Brandon followed that up with a nice Jack Cravelle. Bob Jr was laying back.  Then Bob Sr hooked up and when his drag began to rip we knew it was a nice fish. He played it to the boat and brought to the net a nice Slot sized 18.5" Redfish and as we were netting it Bob Jr hooked up and battled to the net another Slot Red, this one measuring in at 21".

The trio caught about everything you could think of - Reds, Trout, Flounder, Brandon added a tough-to-catch Sheepshead, Stingray, bait stealers, Catfish - we  camped out and worked up and down the bank a couple of times catching fish. When it finally slowed we made a short run up the river and worked another bank. This one only produced a Catfish.

The tide was up and beginning to flood the oysters so we ran down to fish Pumpkin Hill. We switched to float rigs and drifted long. The tide wasn't up as high as it was yesterday when we were at this spot, but it still payed off.  Brandon had a good drift going and when his float disappeared he slapped the bail shut, "caught up to it" and hooked up with a keeper sized Seatrout. Bob Jr. came in right behind him, drifting long, and had another good hookup. He reeled in another nice keeper sized Seatrout. We fished down another grass line, had a bite or two, picked up one Trout, then came back to the original side.

With only minutes to go and the "GPK" on the line, Brandon hooked up and landed a feisty Redfish and was minutes away from the win when......Bob Jr's float.....drifting thru a small bay....disappeared....and after Bob cranked it tight.....BAM! Big Fish On!  Boy what a battle. You could feel the tension in the air! But Bob was up to the task, played it patiently, worked it to the boat, let it run, worked it back, let it run, then brought to the net a big Oversized 28.25" Redfish! Boy what a fish! And with that, we called it a day, another great one fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

Perseverance or Was it the Red Hooks?

 We're having some really nice August mornings although it does get heated up as we get closer to noon, and today was no exception. I had met Bob Miller down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp and we made the long run up and around to Broward Island to fish the first of an incoming tide. However, when we got there, the tide was still going out so we eased down to the other end and fished a large outflow with jigs and live shrimp. Bob did pick up one nice feisty Redfish before we moved on.  We made a stop up on the north end and fished it with jigs as the tide came in - the perfect time to be there, but to no avail.

We came back to the Spanish Drop area, fished a flooding oyster bed with float rigs and mud minnows then switched to jigs and worked a large runout, but again, to no avail. After hitting one more spot we moved up to Seymore's Pointe and fished some dock pilings and here we did pick up a Croaker and small Mangrove Snapper.

The tide was up pretty high now so we followed it back down

to Pumpkin Hill and set up to drift floats down a long grass line. I had just got in an order of Eagle Claw 3/0 circle hooks in Red color - hooks I used to use but haven't been able to find in a long while.  Bob drifted long and picked up a couple of small but feisty Redfish then he had s strong bite and fish on!  The way it was fighting and ripping drag I guessed, "Slot Redfish"!  Bob played it patiently and slowly worked it to the boat and when it came to the net we saw that it was a huge Seatrout!  We netted it and it measured right at 23" - big enough to move Bob into 3rd place in the Angler's Mark 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Seatrout category (scroll down the right side of this report for a link to standings). Boy what a fish!

We continued to "do the drift" and BAM, another fish on. Bob expertly brought it to the net and landed a 20" Trout. With the new rules, this one had to go back! We fished that edge for a while and caught another couple of feisty Reds and a small Trout. After easing around the corner and drifting by a pointe, BAM! Fish On!  Bob brought it in and it just came in under the 19" mark so in the box it went. The sun was up and the heat was on and time was out so we headed in, counting it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida 

Gator Country

 

Another perfect day for fishing this morning greeted us when I met Derek Poon and his sons Zach and Tyler down at the Sawpit Creek boat ramp. We had clear skies and only a slight breeze as we left the dock and headed up the Nassau River to make our first stop at Spanish Drop with plans to fish float rigs and live shrimp on a tide that had been coming in a couple of hours. As we got the baits out in the water and I started easing along the bank, Tyler had his float in a nice drift and as it slowly went under he raised the rod to set the hook and First Fish On! Tyler cranked it in and landed a nice hungry Flounder to "knock the skunk off".

Only minutes later Derek's float disappeared and the drag started screaming then there was a big boil up near the bank. the fish ran east for a bit then came back and wrapped up all the lines and boy did we have a mess! But Derek kept his cool while I got the other two and cut and cleared away then the battle was on. Derek kept the pressure on, let the big fish run, but slowly worked it in and finally we lifted in a big 4' long Bonnethead Shark, boy what a fight! After that commotion, the fish were scarce, so we moved on. 

We made a run down to Broward and on the way saw a big Gator slither off a shell bank. We fished some jigs for a bit but the fish were having none of it so we eased back to Pumpkin Hill and went back to the float rigs and this did the trick. I think it was Zach's first drift when his float disappeared and after he caught up the slack by reeling extra fast the fight ensued! This fish was big!  Zach's drag was ripping and the fish took him from the stern of the boat around to port and up to the bow then back to the stern. The big fish dove under the boat, headed for the engine, headed for the trolling motor, but all the while Zach was working it!  I was helping for a bit but turned it completely over to him and he did outstanding and finally brought the big fish to the net - a 30" Oversized Redfish!

Derek picked up a hard fighting Jack Crevalle, then Zach added another feisty Redfish then Derek added a Catfish to the fish count. We moved around the corner and the trio added a couple of keeper sized Seatrout. Derek battled a couple of smaller Shark to the net and then a bigger Jack Crevalle. 

Our last stop was back at Seymore's Pointe at the "Mangrove Snapper Hole" and here all thee anglers put Snapper in the boat. Tyler was taking up the stern and making excellent casts and he landed a couple of the Snapper. Zach was on the bow and he put a keeper sized fish in the boat. The sun had gotten up, we had some fish in the boat, we had some good memories, so as we headed in we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia  Island, Florida. 

Twins

I was back to "work" today, fishing with Tim Ayers and his son Andrew, meeting them up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park early. It was a beautiful day, and for August, that's saying a lot. Running to our first stop up at the Jolley River, we all felt a coolness to the air and as we turned into the "bank", the sun was coming up over the marsh and ocean. We worked along that stretch of bank, tossing float rigs and live shrimp and getting excellent casts but we mostly got "nibbles" from bait stealers. Andrew did "knock the skunk off" when he hooked up and caught a copper-colored feisty Redfish.

We ran further up the river and fished around Snook Creek and again found the bait stealers, in addition to some small Ladyfish and Mangrove Snapper. Andrew added another feisty Redfish to his catch total. After fishing one more spot in the Jolly we came back around to Tyger, ran through and over to the Bell River and set up alongside a flooded oyster bar. Here, things did pick up a bit.  Andrew hit a hot streak catching some small Seatrout then Tim went in with a good cast. got a good drift and BAM! A strong hookup. Tim played it patiently to the boat and landed a beautiful golden 17" Seatrout. 

We worked the other side, battled with the baitstealers, then it was Andrews turn to get the nice fish. We had seen something bust bait up by an island and when Andrew made the cast it wasn't long before he had a good fish on. He worked it expertly to the boat and landed another beautiful 17" Seatrout, almost a Twin of Tim's fish. 

Our last stop was back around on the outside of Tyger as the tide started back out. There was a lot of movement going on but all we could seem to snag were the bait stealers. Andrew was fishing one of the last shrimp, a popcorn sized one, and had a Shark take it and run, heading to Georgia -it kept going, ran out of line and, BAP! Fish off. But it provided a short bit of excitement and a great way to wrap up a good day of fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida. 

The Last 20 MInutes

 We gambled to day, fishing early in hopes that we wouldn't stay wet the whole day! The forecast wascalling for chances of rain in the 70% range all morning and when I left the bait shop it was already raining. But after I launched it had quit and all we had were sullen skies. I met Derek Kessler and his son Eli up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp. We had a high tide right at launch so we bounced over to the outside of Tiger and eased up to the grass and began tossing float rigs with live shrimp. The current wasn't hardly moving yet but we had some good action early, caching a couple of feisty Redfish, a small Trout and then Eli put the first keeper in the boat, a fat Mangrove Snapper. 

After buzzing thru Horsehead, over to the Bell, and up Lanceford we ran to a small grass patch an dfished it with the float rigs. Not a bite. We eased over to Dave's dock, fished it for a bit and again, not a bite. We then motored out and back around to Soap Creek and set up fishing a large marsh run out. Derek put a hungry Trout in the boat right off. As we eased along the shore line to an oyster/grassy island things began to pick up The duo of anglers caught one feisty Redfish after the other, and a couple of fat Seatrout.

Our next stop was around at some docks, fishing the pilings after switching to jigs and shrimp. After Derek had made an excellent cast to the pilings, he had a strong bite and, BAM! Big fish on. Derek played it patiently, worked it out from the pilings, then applied the pressure and brought to the net a nice 4-spot Slot 21" Redfish. 

We were running out of time so we made one more stop back towards town, fishing some expose oysters with the jigs. We had a couple of Catfish caught then Derek, who had switched back to a float, saw his float go slowly under and he lifted, set the circle hook, and Fish On! Derek reeled in a nice 16" keeper sized Flounder. We eased on along the bank, tossing jigs to a nice run out and BOOM! Another big fish on. Derek played it to the boat and expertly landed a big 23" Seatrout, big enough to put him in the 3rd place in the Anglers Mark 2021 Bragging Rights Tournament-Seatrout Category. Boy what a fish. Those last two fish were caught within 20 minutes of wrapping up so as we headed in, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida 

Relationship Building

 

After fishing today, my guests and I came up with a new "service" that I could add, "Relationship Building"!  I had met Russ and Denise Kesel early this morning up at the Dee Dee Bartels Park boat ramp and they had along with them their son Noah and his girlfriend Alysa. The tide had been going out for about an hour so we skipped across the river to the outside of Tyger Island and began fishing  an edge of grass as the current flowed around it. It was the new girl, Alysa, who "knocked the skunk off" with a nice Redfish catch. Then Denise, who was casting out of the stern, caught and landed a hungry Flounder. We were getting bites and I would have liked to have fished it more, but the tide was already down enough that the engine was bumping bottom so we moved on. 

Our next stop was around at the Jolley River where the two couples began tossing their float rigs up current, baited with live shrimp. We had good action along that stretch, catching a good handful of feisty Redfish. Russ expertly battled a big Bonnethead Shark and Noah and Alysa had a "double hookup" where each landed a nice Redfish. Noah had something big on for a bit but it got tangled in Alysa's line - eventually it made a strong move and broke off. 

I've seen on multiple trips where friends and couples are fishing and "things" happen - folks get in the way of each other, they get their lines crossed, they get tangled, they hook each other and when out on the boat, you just gotta work through it and have a good time. Noah handled it well and kept on fishing!

We moved up the Jolley to Snook Creek and again drifted the float rigs. and again we had good action. All four anglers were catching fish - feisty Redfish, hungry Seatrout, and the ever present baitstealer. We eased along, crossed the creek, worked the cut and had good action along the way. Then, while Noah and Alysa were baiting up, Russ went long and up near the bank, up ahead of the boat and, BAM! He had a hookup. The fish didn't pull hard at first, heading south ahead of the bow, but then it turned and headed north towards the stern and this time it was ripping drag. Russ played it patiently, going from starboard over to port then worked it in slowly to the net. We measured this nice golden Slot Redfish right at 23", boy what a fish. All fish caught today were released.

I had planned to fish the MOA but the oysters were still covered so we kept going around to Bell River and fished some docks. Again, we caught a couple of Reds, a Trout or two, and a couple of Mangrove Snapper.  We finished up fishing Jolley Bank again, this time with jigs and here the two ladies battled for the GPK. Denise had set the standard with an earlier Redfish catch, Alysa boated a 9" Redfish, then Denise followed that up with a 15.5" keeper sized Flounder. We were right down to the wire when Alysa hooked up again but her fish came in just under the 10" mark so Denise took home the coveted award. As we headed in the sun had peaked thru the clouds and knowing that we had some good action fishing, we counted it as another great day to be fishing here at Amelia Island, Florida.