The Perfect Beer Cheese Wild Game Burger Recipe

By Stefan Wilson Originally published at GOHUNT.com

STEP 2: MAKE BEER CHEESE

To make the beer cheese, begin with a medium saucepan and add two tablespoons of butter. Once butter is melted, whisk in two tablespoons of flour until fully mixed and light brown.

Slowly whisk in half of the bottle of beer until mixed well. Let the mixture slowly warm, stirring occasionally. Once the beer mixture is warm, begin adding grated cheddar, stirring to melt.

Continue adding cheese until thickened.

Photos courtesy GOHUNT.com

If you are like me, nothing beats a good burger. The variety of flavors and textures creates a classic eating experience perfect for warm evening cookouts. There are quite a few beer cheese recipes out there, but this is my version of this outstanding combo. If you have ever wanted to try something new with your elk or deer meat, give this recipe a try!

Ingredients

STEP 3: GRILL ONIONS

Remember: Once the cheese cools, it will thicken slightly so don’t make it too thick too soon. Add one teaspoon of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce and black pepper to taste (about a quarter to a half teaspoon). Leave simmering, stirring occasionally, to prevent scorching the cheese.

To prepare the onions, slice one medium onion into thin slices. Add one tablespoon butter to skillet on medium heat. Once butter is melted, add onions and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Stir occasionally to ensure onions are browned all over and slightly crisp.

STEP 4: GRILL PATTIES

You can cook the patties over an open flame or in a skillet. I prefer a skillet because I find that hand-formed patties do not hold up as well on an open flame grill. Your experience may be different, though, so do whichever you prefer. Cook patties to desired level of doneness.

Here is the list of ingredients you will need for this recipe:

� 1 lb. ground elk/deer

� Kaiser rolls or sourdough pretzel buns (I highly recommend using pretzel buns)

� Kosher salt

� 1 sliced onion

� 3 tablespoons butter

� 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

� 1 bottle of beer (lagers and ambers work well, but feel free to experiment with your favorites)

� 12 oz. grated medium cheddar cheese

� 1 teaspoon Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

� Freshly ground black pepper to taste

� Worcestershire sauce

Directions

STEP 1: FORM PATTIES

Take ground elk/deer meat and separate into three to four equal size patties. Place in refrigerator until ready to grill.

STEP 5: BUILD THE BURGER

Now it is time to build the masterpiece. Begin with the bottom bun from your kaiser or pretzel roll (again, I highly recommend the pretzel roll as it complements the taste of the beer cheese well, but if you do not like sourdough or if the store is all out of pretzel rolls, go with the kaiser roll). Spread Dijon mustard on bottom bun to round out the flavors of the burger.

Next, place your grilled patty on the bottom bun and then pile the grilled onions on top.

Next, drizzle beer cheese on top of onions so that it runs all over the burger. It should be thick enough that it does not just run right off, but thin enough that it is easy to drizzle. If it comes out like honey, it is too thick and can be thinned out by adding beer; if it is thin like milk, thicken it with more cheese.

STEP 6: FRIES AND ENJOY

Fry or bake some sweet potato fries to go with the burger and be sure to wash it down with another beer from the six-pack you bought.

Tailormade For Walleye Wins

Part 1 - Part 2 Page 18

Northland Fishing Tackle www.northlandtackle.com

Flying off the shelves, Northland’s Tungsten Short-Shank Jig brings a new level of stealth, sensitivity, and sonics to walleye jigging.

Northland’s Fire-Ball Jig forever changed jigging with live bait. Its perfectly round head, clever hook angle, line-tie placement, prolific paint jobs, and added bottom-side eyelet for a Sting’r Hook have made it a gamefish nemesis for decades.

But perhaps more than anything, it’s the jig’s noticeably short-shank that catapulted the Fire-Ball into instant legend status. Why? The short-shank natively pulls the head of the minnow–or leech or ‘crawler chunk–snug to head. The result is a more compact, natural-looking presentation that causes fish to want it all, all at once.

So, the efficacy of the short-shank is proven. With a shorter hook shank, the jig makes fishing minnows, leeches, ‘crawlers, or other live bait easier and more effective. Hooksets are immediate and typically secured nicely in bone.

Following in these footsteps, Northland recently introduced the Tungsten Short-Shank Jig, a workhorse that is sure to replace many other jigs in anglers’ tackle boxes. Made from heavyweight and eco-friendly tungsten, the jig is 30% denser than traditional lead jigs.

What’s tungsten mean for walleye anglers?

First, tungsten offers sensitivity that far surpasses lead. Tungsten jigs telegraph every bottom nuance and the slightest nudge or bite from fish, especially when coupled with braid, a fluorocarbon leader, and a fast to extra-fast action spinning rod. The tungsten jig itself becomes a fishfinder of sorts—an indicator whether you’re fishing hard or soft bottom, weeds, rocks, or sand.

The new Northland Tungsten Short-Shank Jig also features a sticky-sharp, premium Mustad Ultra Point wide-gap hook that hooks fish in bone, not skin.

And dual hook keepers lock on soft plastics or live bait. Red “T” eyes easily identify the jig as tungsten and draw in visual feeders like walleyes, perch, and smallmouth bass. Another benefit of the Tungsten Short-Shank Jig is you can get away with using a smaller size jig for added finesse. Compared to lead jigs, tungsten jigs are a ¼-ounce smaller by volume comparison.

“Most walleye anglers understand that tungsten is smaller in profile than lead. So, not only is an 1/8th ounce tungsten more compact than an 1/8th ounce lead jig, you can get by with a much lighter jig to achieve a similar fall rate.”

Huynh elaborates: “For example, a ¼-ounce round-ball lead jig would have about the same fall rate as an 1/8-ounce Short-Shank Tungsten Jig for two reasons: first the tungsten’s density-by-weight; and second, the jig’s hydrodynamic pill-shape design. My thought is you actually end up minimizing the bait size two times by going with tungsten. The first is sizing down in weight and the second is reducing the jig’s overall mass/size profile,” adds Huynh.

Back in Black

Social media has made it known that Huynh fishes two main jig colors on the walleye trails: black and unpainted. “After fishing an assortment of black and unpainted lead jigs on tour for the past few years, I was very vocal with Northland product designers about the need for a black Short-Shank Tungsten jig,” says Huynh.

Common sense would dictate that black jigs should be harder for walleyes to visually locate in both clear and turbid water conditions. Some might say that it’s the profile of a black bait that makes it effective. However, when a bait is viewed by fish from below, other colors cast silhouettes, too.

Huynh explains: “If you have a frog sitting on top of the water—or a shiner swimming above a walleye—they’re both going to cast a black shadow. However, when it comes to black baits, there’s less hardware to identify—no shocking colors or flash—and what you get is pure silhouette, which might be less spooky to big, well-educated walleyes that have been in the system 15 years or more.”

Fellow Northland Pro and veteran Devils Lake walleye guide, Jason Mitchell, appends: “Going back to my guide days on Devils Lake, I’ve always been a fan of black baits. When we film underwater, black is one of the most visible colors on camera. And, as crazy as it sounds, black produces a lot of walleyes when the algae blooms and waters stain up in the Dakotas during summer.”

Mille Lacs Lake guide and Northland Pro, Brad Hawthorne, adds: “During testing last year on Mille Lacs, it didn’t take long to figure out that the black Tungsten Short-Shank Jig offered something special. My clients got bit right away in the morning and we didn’t have to transition into the afternoon and evening colors Mille Lacs is known for. Black catches fish around the clock—from dawn ‘til dusk— and excels at night, too.”

Hawthorne continues: “I think that a black jig puts the focus on the live bait itself—which is what the fish are after anyway, not the chunk of metal it’s attached to.”

Widely available, the new Short-Shank Tungsten Jig comes in three sizes and ten colors—1/8-, ¼-, and 3/8-ounce with size 1/0, 2/0, and 3/0 hooks respectively. Proven, fish-catching patterns include Gold Shiner, Firetiger, Parrot, Bubblegum, Glo Moonlight, Sunrise, Parakeet, Glo Watermelon—and the recent addition of Black.

The jigs are available in two packs with an MSRP of $6.99. Higher quantity packs will be available soon, to include: 1/8-ounce Tungsten Jigs five per card for $18.99; ¼-ounce in a pack of five for $19.99; and, 3/8-ounce in a pack of four for $19.99.

States Set 2023

Columbia River

Summer/Fall Salmon And Steelhead Seasons

Oregon Dept. Fish & Wildlife https://www.dfw.state.or.us

Oregon and Washington fishery managers recently finalized seasons and regulations for 2023 Columbia River summer and fall recreational salmon and steelhead fisheries. Detailed regulations are available at https://www. dfw.state.or.us/fish/OSCRP/CRM/index.asp (see Summer and Fall Columbia River Recreational Fishery Regulations).

Forecasts for summer and fall Chinook, sockeye, and coho will allow opportunity for anglers to target these fish. However, added protections are necessary for ESA-listed Lower Columbia River (LCR) fall Chinook and summer steelhead.

The forecast for summer Chinook is 85,400 adult fish, which is larger than last year’s actual return, and the forecast for sockeye is 234,500 fish, which is higher than last year’s forecast but significantly less than last year’s record return. For the summer season, retention of adult hatchery Chinook, hatchery steelhead, and sockeye will open June 16 and is expected to continue through July 31 from the Astoria-Megler Bridge upstream to the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco, WA. The bag limit is two adult salmonids, but only one may be a hatchery steelhead, and all sockeye are considered adults.

(continued on page 38) www.northlandtackle.com