Giant Grenada Golden Tilefish (Catch, Clean, Cuisine)

Day two here in Grenada. We're pushing off the south coast going to a place to find some golden tile. First thing in the morning. I've been trying to catch a golden tile for four years in Barbados. There's rumors that there are some there. I've never found some, but apparently just off here in 800 to 1100 feet of water there's giants. So it just goes to show you islands so close to us with just a little bit different topography, a little bit more stable water, less fishing pressure and a much more abundant bait supply really affects the size of these fish. So golden tile are deep water fish. They're slow growing. They're absolutely delicious and they're pretty rare and they live in the mud. So we got to find these big low-lying mud flats where these fish are going to burrow and then come up to eat and then go back into their den. That's the golden tile sweet spot. So we're going to do that and then hit reindeer shoal, which is about another five miles off. A beautiful 25 mile or 24 mile shoal. Super shallow water at the top of it. Great for jigging grouper, snapper. Completely like untouched here. We're so close to South America yet in a completely different world here in Grenada. The two don't even like converse with each other. We're not Trinidad and Tobago. So it's a pretty cool place to be in this ecosystem surrounded by South America to the south, the Grenadines to the north, Piccadilly volcano. A lot of deep water close to shore. There's crazy fish all around here. It's amazing. And then you go 100 miles east to Barbados and it's a completely different day on the water. So if we can catch a golden tile today, I will be ecstatic. Same chicken rig as yesterday, baited with squid. We got a squid head down there on the bottom. So any of those bigger fish, they're going to go for that squid head right on the very bottom of this rig. All right, let's roll. Going down. 730 feet. Tiles you'll find anywhere from 600 to 1200. But ideally, I think 800 to 1100 is that sweet spot. So we're going to drift in from 730 to 800 pretty quick. It's amazing how close to shore we are here. Look at this. In Florida, you'd have to go 40 miles to get a golden tile. Here I can still see people showering on the cruise ship. All right, there we go. Bottom. You want to have that bait sitting right in the mud. So I'm dropping our rebar to sit right on that seabed. It's a bit of a trade-off when you're fishing golden tile. You'll get more bites because you're... Oh, God, you on? The rod of God goes tight first this morning. Yeah, boy! Tight! We're both tight, baby. Fishing goldens is interesting because you got to keep the bait so close to bottom in the mud that a lot of the smaller fish down there that live close to bottom for protection will pick off the bait. So you can't fish higher in the column like you can do for the bigger snapper. But you're also right on bottom to get more strikes. So it's a bit of a trade-off. What do you got there? God snapper? That's what I wanted to see. That's it. Oh, yeah! That's a wenchman snapper. A wench? Okay. Nice size wenchman too. Yeah. Mine might have popped off. I don't feel anything on there, but let's see this guy. I know he bites. There we go. First fish of the day. Nice Grenadian wenchman snapper. Look at this guy. He's got a little bit more of a yellow tinge on his dorsal fin than the ones we have back home. But you can always know a wenchman by that blue mark down their top loin there. That's the dead giveaway. That and the blue around their gill plate here. Almost like a mutton, but there's no dark spot on their back here. So this is a nice deep water snapper species. The meat on these is absolutely phenomenal. But the meat is so sweet. It's so good. Oh man, when you say, you hear how they call it Clinton snapper? Yeah. So when I catch that, I take all and go home with it. Don't give anybody. Now? Yes, well it should be a little chill. What do you got baby? Baby queen. It means we're moving deeper. Yeah. It's a queen. A little queen man. It's a little queen. We got, we're going to go find one. So the way you know if you're on mud bottom is you drop your weight or rebar, whatever you're using right down and let it go slack, then tighten up. And what you want to see is the tip of the rod sort of gets stuck. Like you're in a rock and then boom, pop up like that. That's when you know you're in mud. Cause that weight gets stuck in the mud. There causes tension on the line, the rod bends. And then as the weight of the boat starts moving forward, it pulls the weight out of the mud and the rod tip snaps back up, but you don't actually get caught in any rock. So that's how you know you're on good, thick, muddy bottom. And that's right where those golden fowls are going to be making their burrows. Our home and native land. Maybe it's Trudeau and Katy Perry. Trudeau's with Katy? Yeah. Did you know that? Trudeau's dating Katy Perry. Yeah? No ----. Another one. He got one of those. Oh, another little wenchman. Yeah. Nice. Nice, Godfrey. No bites yet this morning, so we're going to push off a little further down Reindeer Shoal. See if we can get something about halfway down it. The wind has picked up a little bit. There's a little bit of a current. We've still got to hunt that tile. Decent eating, actually. Member of the Jack family, yeah. Interesting. Not huge. We want bigger than that, but that's a good start. Man, these fish are strong. Jesus. Here. You're not going to get the gaff I tried yesterday. There's the bucket. There is no escape from the Irish cream. None. Oh, you got a vermilion and a yellow eye. Yeah. Yeah, I'm on. Let's see. How many does Rod of God have? One, two, three. My man had tricked it. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Still running. So, I'm just slowly pumping this fish up to the surf. Oh, yeah. There he goes. Oh, no. He's going again. Oh, yeah, baby. Pumping up. Reeling down. I thought that was going to be a nice yellow eye. Disappointment, man. There are so many different species of fish here. I was shocked that he caught that runner, you know, down here. We just go and fish. We go fishing and we drop and whatever comes in a snap, a bang. When we drop, drop anything that jumps on the line. Tilefish, not a golden tile. Getting closer. It's a big ocean tilefish, actually. They're called ocean perch all up the Atlantic. Come take a look at this guy. One of the nicest looking tilefish there is. So, not a golden tile, not a blue line tile, actually called ocean tilefish or like ocean perch. But the meat is almost just as good. Their tail looks just like a golden tile, but you can tell here they don't have fish on your line. Oh, it's a snapper. Yellow eye. Yeah, that's our biggest yellow eye of the day. We could try it on. There's some big queens down here. Try a mark there. But we do need the tile. We have to go back in here for the tile. Yeah, I say we do that then. A sea monster. Clinton, we need a giant today. Proper tile sometime. I'm carrying you right there. Current's still pretty strong down there. It'll break just though. It should break. Still 100 for that monster. I'll take any monster. We're gonna find one. We gotta get one, baby. 1100. That's where the monster golden tiles will be too. 1100? 1100. All right. Trying to search for a drop-off now on this shelf behind Reindeer Shoal. So current is way too strong up on the top part of it, the southern part of it. You're saying that's five, six miles an hour? Well, three and a half knots is five and a half miles an hour, which is like seven, seven and a half kilometers an hour. At the bottom? Yeah, at the bottom of the ocean. With the wind going the opposite direction. Can't even get a jig to bottom. The line just lifts right up like this. There's no action on the jig when the current's that strong. It can't fall straight up and down. Looks like ---- in the water, so we're done doing that. Back to look for a giant on the bottom in the deep. How come I can't get one? Let the boy watch. Another tile, not the same, not the one we need, but same as the ocean tile before, about the same size. The tail looks just like a golden, but they don't have the horn here, that golden's do, that little flap of skin. So just not the one we need, but great eating. So let's get them in the box. Oh, look at the pattern on the top of the head there. Nice. We got a spot to cook all that tonight. Another giant. What do we got? Another ocean tile. Fish, good fish, good fish. Plug into the bottom here. That's what's up. I've never had a golden tile on the line before, so don't know what it bites like, but I imagine this would be pretty close. Yeah, this one definitely has some weight to it. He's slowing down the reel? No, yeah, he's slowing this down. We're trying to get him up as fast as we can away from the sharks. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he's still fighting. I don't think it's a shark. There hasn't been that many head shakes and we didn't have a lot of trouble getting it off bottom. A big shark would have kept us down there for a while or it would have shot to the surface with us. Not a golden tile fight at all, is it? Golden tile fight like a queen. Yeah. Big, heavy, dead weight. Usually indicative of a big grouper when they start to, when the line starts to lift up like that because their air bladders pop and then they go straight up and they make a sound like. Who knows? Do you see the size of it? I'm pulling it here. Don't miss the gap shot. It's a golden tile. Oh, my God. It's a golden tile. Are you kidding me right now? Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Is this real, dude? Is this real? Did I just catch a golden? My God. My first golden tile. Are you kidding me? All right, let's get this guy down. Oh, my God, dude. Oh, my God. Look at that. Now, see the little horn it has at the tip there? That's the difference between that and all those ocean tiles we were catching. What a beautiful looking fish. Look at all those golden spots all down its body. And see that? That big tail, that big paddle tail gives it so much power in the deep water. And the head almost looks like a blackjack. Wow. Rounded. Oh, my God. Yes. What's nice about this, though, it's not spiky like a snowy grouper. So you can get some time with it. Holding it up, dude. That is the coolest fish I think I've ever caught. You got to come get a close up. Look at that mouth. Look at that predatory mouth right there. Look at the teeth on this thing. Oh, man. They almost look like sharper jack teeth. Crazy. Designed for ******* here. Designed for catching squid, baitfish, crustaceans, anything down there in that mud that passes over their burrows. Wow. What a freaking awesome fish. Can we get some stills? Where's that light, dude? That is so sick. Listen, I promise you that ----. Yeah. Grenade and gold, baby. No way. No way. Not on my watch. These babies are staying right here. So now you see the difference between resident fish and fish that travel. Fish that live in the place all year with a lot of bait and a lot of prey down there can get this big. No problem, especially with not a lot of fishing pressure on fish this deep. So that's why they get so big here. The water is perfect for them. So much food. Not a lot of people fish for them. Unreal. Oh, yeah. He had a feeling. He told me he had the feeling. Let's go to a thousand feet. We came. Told you. We got that gold. I told you it gets deeper. Okay, we're good now. Wait, can you can you FaceTime Caitlyn or no? Now we're going to bleed it. That is so sick. Dude, I cannot believe my first one. Colors to change during the shimmering. Wow. Coolest fish in the ocean. Okay, we got to get him on ice. We got to submerge this guy, though. Personal best. I can't believe that just happened. I'm losing my voice. We've been screaming so much. Oh, I caught a little smaller than that, but this is a lovely fish. Lovely, lovely fish. It's the biggest one ever came on this boat. That's a sound bite, Adam. Hell yeah. On the line with Adam. Oh, that's a rosefish. Right. I had a very sweet. Yeah, they are. If you get enough of them, it's not a black belly rosefish, is it? They are delicious. Look at the horn on this guy. Yeah. Hey, that's a rosefish in heat, Godfrey. Fully erect. Look at that. Look at the guy from the side. Almost looks like a cartoon character, doesn't he? Now there's a lot and I'm losing my voice. Shit. Like Clinton would say, shut up, man. Holy ----, man. Holy ----. He can hear me now. My favorite flavor of cucumber watermelon. This is mango clementine. It's two. That's dragon food. I got a fish on. Nice one. Decent. Definitely not the special sizes we're used to. That's a perfect fish for a single meal. That's a nice fish. Look at that. Look at that. Digging. Look at that. Bulldogging. Shark coming. Shark coming. Big snapper. Bring it back. Bring it back. Come back. Come back. Are you kidding me, Godfrey? Listen, didn't I just tell you they are wrong? That's a 20 pound queen snapper right there. Wow. What a frigging fish, guys. In Grenada. Look at the background here. We're literally in resort land and this fish just sealed the day for us. Wow. Look at the mouth. Look at the mouth on this queen. Honestly, that mouth is almost as big as an amberjack's. Wow. And we've been using whole squid now, which is the key. See these baits? This is what we've been putting, a whole squid on each one of our chicken rig hooks. And it's been producing. Look at that fish, dude. Look at the size of this thing, dude. Playing in the box here. Holy ----. Look at this tile. Oh my God. I got to get a photo of that. Where's my phone? This is like the greatest day ever. That's day two done in the bag. We're heading back to port now to clean these fish up. Man, it's like, look at this backdrop. We've got mountains, rain, rainbows, and five dudes on a boat with a golden tilefish and a big snapper. That's literally what men's dreams are made of. But my daughter did wish me good luck this morning, so I'm pretty sure that's why we got that golden. So you can just barely tug. Literally one of the first things she's ever wished for, probably the first thing she's ever wished for, is that daddy catches the golden tile. And that just happened. Summer, I'm coming back and we'll hit a reindeer show. I guarantee you we're going to get grouper then. Rainbows, rain, mountains, golden tiles. It's like a Disney movie for grown men. Nice cool breeze. Literally. Land of giants. It is the land of giants. I bet you that queen might go 25. 22. I would say 19. I would say between 24 and 22 and 24. A thousand dollars. 19. I argue, I don't bet. I said what I said. Solid day, buddy. I told you it was going to be a big day today. Okay, well we got to put all these fish up on the dock here. Yeah. And the shark too. And the shark, yeah. Have I fished Quebec? Yeah. What do you want to catch in Quebec? Lake trout? Bring them out here. I gotta weigh that first. Golden tile. Real nice golden. That's a lot smaller, yeah. Wow. Got our little banded rudder. That was one of our first catches this morning. Whole bucket full of yellow eye. Two species of rose fish. And then obviously the primo catches of the day. Absolute hog golden tile. Look at the size of that tail. It's like a freaking mermaid. Look at that thing. And this queen, massive queen. Look at the pattern on the wenchman now. You see the iridescent blue. This yellow eye's got a nice pale pink color now. And then you see our ocean tilefish. Same family as this tilefish. Crazy. That is so cool. This is the nicest. Look at the pattern on the dorsal. One of the nicest things I've ever seen. That is gorgeous. Our 12. 20. The blood. Okay. Let's see. Jesus, that head is absolutely... This gill plate reminds me exactly of a lingcod that we get in northern BC. Let's make our cut behind the pec fin up into the head so we don't want to waste or miss any of that meat. Our tail cut there. This knife, wow. Look at that skin, dude. Very soft fish. That's why they say it's best to actually ice this fish for a day before you cook it. So we'll do a big piece tonight and a big piece tomorrow. And we'll see who was right. Peeling the meat away from us. The meat does look absolutely incredible though, I will say. Now, once you filleted the top part of the fillet to about here, you can't go any further until you sever the connections to the pin bones from the top line. Have it angled up but resting on the backbone and sever all that connected tissue. Oh yeah. That's a lot of pin bones there, dude. That's a lot. Sever that connection there. There we go. There we go. Well, you know what? For my first time playing a golden, that ain't bad. Without the electric knife. Gill plates here. You can hear it hard. Soft. So we find the edge where the meat meets the gill plate and just cut down at the deepest angle you possibly can. And grab the meat back here and just peel right off like so. Golden tile cheek meat. Wow. Look at that hunk of golden tile. Looks almost like snowy grouper meat, eh? It's like, wow. Okay, here's the wenchman. Sweet. All right. We got to hang on. We got a lot of fish to clean still. You can see Godfrey just got the skin off this golden. Look at that. Look at that. That's like something you'd get from the butcher, man. That is unreal. Wow. All right, guys. We got a lot of fish to clean still. So we're going to get skinning and cutting and bagging and we'll see you in the restaurant in two hours. Okay. Oh, no. I'm going to put this on the grill. On the grill. And tonight's karaoke night. Yeah. Tonight we're at another awesome local establishment in Grenada called Andy's Soup House. Specializing in soup, broth, I'm guessing. All that, but specializing in soup. This is garlic. This is parsley. Parsley. Yeah. And this is fine thyme. Fine thyme. Parsley mixed with Pumanpho. This is Pumanpho. Lovely. Local. Everything local. And this is the seasoning pepper. Oh, yeah. Sliced and diced. Yeah. Chili peppers. You got tilefish, golden tilefish. Yeah. And queen snapper. Yeah. We got to cut the pin bones out too. Yeah. There we go. Slicing the bloodline off. Yeah. So are you born and raised in Grenada whole life? Yeah. But I've been living, I'm working on a cruise ship. Oh, you used to work on a cruise ship? Yeah. I work with Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean. Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. Yeah. But I started out with Conor Contis. Okay. And what did you do on the cruise ship? Shipping. Yes. That's what I do. Nice. All my life. And I work in hotels, a lot of the hotels in Grenada. So what made you start your own place? Well, when I done with ship, I decided to come back and start it on my own. Do it for yourself. I love that. Yeah. That's great. There's the tilefish. Look at that chunk of golden tile. Yeah. So what would you say is the one thing that makes Grenada cooking different from the other islands? Because I know Caribbean cooking in general is pretty similar, but does Grenada have something that it does that other islands don't? We have a special touch, man. We can do a lot of Creole cooking. Creole cooking? Yeah. Like Louisiana style? Well, in a similar way. When they say Creole, you do a lot of, you know, use a lot of local seasoning and then, yeah, sometimes you season it like this before. That's why we're taking the seasoning. But like this now, I would do it in a way that you can take now for now. Oh, now for now. Yeah. Instant seasoning. Yeah. Okay. There's all the bones. Yeah. Bloodline. Yeah. That golden was a big fish. Yeah. So what part of Barbados do you live? In St. James. St. James. Okay. Have you been? Yeah. I've been to Barbados a lot of times. Yeah. Look at that golden tile. Look at that piece of marbling. Yeah. I almost want to show this piece up to the camera. Look at this. Yeah. What got you into cooking? Well, I, since I was growing up, my mom used to cook, bake a lot of bread and stuff like that. And I just into cooking from that time. You're always into it then? Yeah. I worked in a hotel. Yeah. I live hotels. So I'll give you my way in how we season fishing. Yeah. Okay. I'd love to see that. So what I do, a little bit of water. Yeah. Yeah. So that's the garlic. And that's the Puman pork. That's the seasoning pepper. And then this is for the fresh fish. Yes. So you only, you take your hand like a strainer. Okay. So the seeds stay in your hand. Okay. But if you want to use a strainer, use a strainer. But we hand like a strainer. Now does that lime juice start to cook the fish a little bit? Yeah. So that's what they do. And that's okay. Yeah. Oh, wow. So that's the salt now. So I'm putting some salt in the water here now. Yes. You don't want to make it too salty. Yeah. Right. So you do it just the right way. Want to taste it? Tastes like a lake trout brine. So we grill it with some garlic butter. Put it in there. You're going to see how we do it. Okay. Yeah. I'm very confused right now, but I like it. Yeah. I like the confuddledness. We've got coconut oil, garlic butter. Yeah. How's the fish seasoned up? Yeah, it's good. Oh, look at that. See the lime started actually cook the fish. Yeah. Interesting. All right. Let's see how it goes on the pan. Look at how much the fish is cooking already. Yeah. Perfect. So you do, you take a little turn over, you see how you change already. Wow. Look at that. Almost instant. Clean. Smell that garlic. How's the smell? The garlic butter? Yeah. Oh my God. Amazing. Look at that. Look at that. Did you sing on the cruise ship? Nah, nah. Were you in the piano lounge? Nah, nah, nah. Just in the kitchen, man. Two beans in the kitchen on the cruise ship. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Let's try this now. How's that? Oh man. It's so soft. Beautiful. So we're going to finish cooking all this up. Yeah. Right now, it's ready. Right away to have it now. Yeah. Right now. It's never overcooked, just like that. I'm ready. I'm ready. That is just artistic, man. You're an artist. You're an artist, Andy. Look at that meat. Big chunk of golden tile. That was so good. We're going to finish cooking the rest of it, bring it out to the boys, get some sides going. Another early morning tomorrow, so we're going to go home, get some rest. Final day tomorrow, looking for that massive, massive burger. Twice the size of day one. See you tomorrow.