Today I planned in smoking some fish I caught in the cast net so I split the fish and guted then I got the fire going and season the fish put in the racks and placed in the smoker it will take 4 to 6 hours depending on the heat
Dad always smoked fish when I was kid, usually carp or suckers that weren't worth eating otherwise and I enjoyed them. Remember a few years back some problems with smoked fish and food poisoning with commercial smoked lake fish. Seems to me that I would want to talk to someone with experience like Bishop before trying to do it again as making mistakes could be serious . Processing food by curing and smoking is an art and has its dangers, cold smoking, hot smoking, salt cures, salt peter, brining, etc all require some practical knowledge.
I use about 3 different Cajun or Creole seasonings, "Slap yo Mama", "Zatarain's", and "Tony Chachere's More Spice" seasoning. They all list Salt as their # 1 ingredient, plus they have anti caking agents mixed in as well. I also make my own because I am a penny pincher. Salt is not the #1 ingredient. It actually comes in 3rd. If you want to try it, here it is, very easy 7 ingredients (the 2 that may not be on the commercial recipe would be Celery salt, and Thyme) (they all do say spices without being clear). make a batch of 10 Tablespoons total or 10 Teaspoons total. for 10 Tablespoons all part(s) amounts will be in Tablespoons. 3 parts Paprika 2 parts Garlic powder (or dry minced garlic) 1 part Salt 1 part Celery salt 1 part Cayenne Pepper 1 part Black Pepper 1 part Thyme makes 2 tablespoons less than 3/4 cup (a lot really) (unless you are really using it heavy) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- for 10 Teaspoons total use a Teaspoon to measure parts - makes 2 teaspoons less than 1/4 cup (a nice amount) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Those 7 spices above can be found in most pantries. I have a small blender meant chop up coffee beans that I use exclusively for grinding spices. If you clean it well after every use, and you stick to edible dry stuff, you can repulverize or even powder most anything dry that due to moisture has clumped.