Instructions: The salmon fishing season is in full swing and the most avid fish lovers can get theirs fresh off the boats at Pillar Point harbor in Half Moon Bay.

Only the afternoon before, these King salmon had been swimming in the chilly Pacific south of the Farallones. Now they were waiting for buyers in a slurry of ice and water aboard the Jet Stream at Pillar Point Harbor near Half Moon Bay.

See the purple on that fish? Gary Markofer, the Jet Streams captain, asked a couple who had driven from San Carlos to buy fish for their weekend barbecue. Thats just the way it looks in the water. Its hard to find fresher fish than the wild salmon sold off boats in the Bay Area. Since 1998, when Pillar Point began allowing fishers to sell directly to the public, fish lovers have been traveling to the docks on weekend mornings.

Crowds are biggest during salmon season from May through September, when Pillar Point becomes the center of dockside sales. Santa Cruz Harbors much smaller commercial fleet sells off boats only infrequently.

The lure of wild salmon straight from the sea brought me up the coast early on a foggy Sunday to buy a whole fish to grill.

Robert King had come from San Leandro.

I come here at least half a dozen times a year for fish, King told me.

Although hell buy other types of fish the rest of the year, Salmon is No. 1.
A white board in front of the harbor masters office directed buyers to the boats selling fish. At the Penny Mist, I found skipper Bob Longstreth with 500 pounds of salmon in ice chests at his slip on F dock.

Selling directly to the public at $3.50 a pound, Longstreth said, beats trying to get a wholesaler to take them in a market flooded by cheaper, farm-raised Atlantic salmon.

Salmon lovers are winners, too, in this arrangement. Those of us willing to trek to the harbor to get our fresh fix know theres no comparison between farmed and wild salmon. Kings spend their adult lives swimming in cold waters, feeding on a wide variety of sea life, and your taste buds can tell.

Wild salmon, the flesh is a lot firmer, a lot tastier vs. farm-raised - a big difference, said Norm Montes, who drove from San Francisco.

The promise of really fresh fish and an outing for his grandchildren brought Larry William of Los Altos to the docks with his daughter-in-law Suzie Pan and her 2 1/2-year-old twins, Ray and Rose William.

I may barbecue it. I may poach it. I may do it in the dishwasher, he told me, laughing at my skeptical look. You wrap the fish in aluminum foil, place it on the top rack of the dishwasher, and you run it through twice. Its called dishwasher salmon, and its really good. I wasnt convinced, even though a subsequent Internet search produced many references to dishwasher salmon, including a very plausible recipe at I had come for a whole fish to stuff, and I was going to grill it as planned.

My six-pounder - the smallest available - was a beauty, with shiny, dark skin and red flesh. As with all off-the-boat purchases, though, it came with head, tail and full carcass.

Markofer told me that a market at the harbor would dress my salmon for a small fee, so I decided to take the wimps way out and have someone else butterfly it.

The fishmonger, who spoke little English, said he would fillet it for me. I explained as best I could that I wanted him to just remove the bones so I could grill it whole. But we werent getting anywhere.

Just as I was getting ready to leave with my fish intact, a co-worker stepped in to help. I thought we had reached an understanding, and the first man took my prized fish off to the cutting table.

His first slice went right down the backbone and I was left with two beautiful fillets.

With my grilling plans ruined, I decided to go for foil, sans dishwasher.

Foil-baking, a metallic version of the French technique en papillote, delivers the benefits of poaching without any special equipment or fuss. It preserves the delicate texture of the freshest fish and infuses it with the flavors of accompanying herbs. And its quick. Whats not to like?

I added ginger, lime, minced green onion and a touch of mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine), but you could just as easily opt for lemon slices and sprigs of fresh tarragon or whatever seasonings you like best.

To carry out the Asian theme, I made a colorful slaw with Pacific Rim produce and a Thai-inspired dressing, and steamed some rice.

But the salmon, with its sweet, firm flesh and buttery texture, was the star.

Freshness is an incomparable virtue.

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