I figure it’s no coincidence that summer fishing season happens at the same time as the height of grillin’ season. After all, some of my best food memories as a kid involve Dad’s old charcoal grill and pink, juicy salmon grilled over mesquite chips.

Hopefully you’ve got both a freezer full of summer’s catch and a bunch of friends to invite over for a grill-out. If so, here are a few tips that may come in handy for cooking the kinds of fish you may catch around here.

- Don’t over-flip it: Your catch did enough flipping at the end of the line. Now that it’s a filet or steak, aim to flip the thing once. Doing more than that will likely break it apart as it cooks.

- For lighter fish like panfish, get a grill basket. It’ll make life much easier-trust me on that one.

- Marinades are excellent, and can make good sauce if you handle them right. I like to cut the used marinade with a little wine (white for the lighter fish, red for the heavy saltwater critters), then boil it about five minutes to cook down and kill any bacteria. Pour on the meat and go at it.

- If you’ve got the taste for them, crayfish/mudbugs/crawdads are made for the grill. Finish them off with a sharp knife through the head, then skewer them like you would shrimp.

Good luck on the water, and good eatin’ on the grill – sounds like a recipe for a great summer.