I've done a good bit of meat curing and smoking, but never tried fish. Some of the articles I've read kind of scared me a little, as they seemed to make it some form of "Black Magic".
Anyone out there who does this regularly? Recipes? Thanks............

This is just a basic cure, with apple juice and dark brown sugar.

I always soak the fish in a saltwater brine over nightbefore smoking.

I usually add pickling spice to the brine and an equal amount of brown sugar, but thats pretty much for salmon. Overnite is about right, dry the fish off with paper towels and then in front of a fan for a few minutes before smoking!

I've been making curing brine using Tender Quick and brown sugar for years for curing meat. I make a concentration strong enough to float an egg with a spot the size of a quarter out of the brine. Is this O.K. for fish also? You recommend an overnight curing in the brine? What about whole trout, 10-15 in. long? Same thing? Remove from brine, towel dry, and use fan to remove surface moisture so smoke will take...correct?

After soaking in brine for 24 hrs rise well then pat dry. The fish has soaked up all the flavors and you want to remove the salt. Hope this helps