B@rt,
Eel, <font color="green">Yikes! </font> Are these fresh or saltwater eel? I have never tried them myself but really do not like it when I stick them with a hook. The saltwater eel I have had to take off my hook have been completely gnarly with a face full of needle sharp teeth and a body that cannot be held onto just because they are so slick and slimy. If you do grab them you're left with a hand full of what looks to be something that belongs in a tissue when you have a very bad cold, just straight nasty oozy goopy slime. I just got shivers thinking about those eel I have caught in the past. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
It's not cheap but is well worth the experience with the Alaskan halibut; besides monkfish this is one of the least fishy tasting fish I have ever eaten. A cup of soy sauce a stick of butter and a lemon is all you need for a marinade that will have the halibut tasting more toward steak then any fish you most likely have ever had. Melt the butter, mix in the juice of the lemon and soy sauce. Don't marinade for more then a half hour then throw it on the BBQ over medium to low heat until it feels firm and is cooked throughout. I don't know anybody that doesn't like this. Try this with Thresher shark and Swordfish as well.
I am a fish eater and the smoked salmon I have bought in the past from stores is a little fishy for me. I do not like that strong fishy taste either. The trout when smoked correctly is a totally different story, if it gets real hot the fish's oils will make it taste fishy and this may be true with the salmon as well. I have never smoke salmon, as I have preferred the trout to salmon since I have tasted the difference. I have given smoked trout I have prepared to fish haters and have been told it tastes more like meat then fish.
It's always cool to see people that say they don't like fish come back for seconds and I have personally seen this time and time again. It's all in the way it is cooked.
Sorry about getting so far off track folks, I just consider fish to be one of the best foods that can be eaten and wish more people knew how to prepare it correctly.