For our Monthly Cocktail Club this month, we originally hoped to host it at our lake cabin. But with crazy work schedules, the only night open for all of us was a Tuesday night – which is not the best timing for a trip to the cabin. So… we brought the lake to our house and hosted a Fishing-themed cocktail party! We all had a ‘reel’ good time!
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Cocktails
Of course, you need fish-themed cocktails. And yes, I realize a shark is not a fish, but it was fun, so just go with it!
Shark Attack
Sharks attack their prey fast! So I premade this cocktail so it was ready the moment our friends arrived. Ready? Set? Attack!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1-1/2 oz. Spiced Rum
- 3/4 oz. Blue Curacao
- 3 oz. Sour (we use Squirt)
- 3/4 oz. Grenadine
- Plastic Shark filled with grenadine
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Combine rum, curacao, and sour in a highball glass filled with ice.
- Pour grenadine from the shark into the cocktail (this is the shark attack blood)
- Drink and enjoy!
Catch of the Day
No matter how good of an angler you are, sometimes you just “ain’t catchin’ nuttin'”. About the only thing you feel you can catch is… a goldfish in a goldfish bowl. Ha!
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 oz. Orange Vodka
- 2 oz. Cointreau (Triple Sec or Grand Marnier also work)
- 2 oz. Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
- Top off with 7up or Sprite
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Place a plastic goldfish in the bottom of a round lowball glass, then add crushed ice.
- Combine vodka and Cointreau in glass.
- Stir in orange juice.
- Top with 7up.
- Drink with a straw and enjoy your Catch of the Day.
OPTIONAL: We used a Cocktail Bubble Gun to form smoke-infused bubbles on top of this cocktail. That was so much fun!
The Last Cast
After a long day fishing on the lake, there’s always that hope of the last cast. Reel this one in, and enjoy your catch!
INGREDIENTS:
- 3/4 oz. Gin
- 3/4 oz. Green Chartreuse*
- 3/4 oz. Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
- 3/4 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
- Cherry for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Add a cherry to the bottom of your glass (we used our stacking fish glasses in blue and amber).
- Combine all ingredients into a Boston shaker filled with ice, and shake until well chilled.
- Use a Hawthorne strainer to strain cocktail into lowball glass.
- Add a fishing rod stir-stick to your glass, and drink and enjoy your Last Cast.
NOTE: Green Chartreuse is getting harder and harder to find since the monks stopped making it. We find Boomsma Cloosterbitter is a decent replacement if you don’t have the original Green Chartreuse. Fun fact – the monks originally created Green Chartreuse in the 1840s while trying to come up with the elixir of life.
Bar Snacks
While everyone is sitting at the bar mixing their cocktails, you need a bar snack to munch on. Serve up a container of “fish and chips”, and “minnows” – the real Swedish fish!
Fish and Chips
Place a Deli Newspaper Liner inside a Kraft Charcuterie Cup to make a Fish and Chips snack. Add Goldfish Crackers and Pita Chips to the cup to act as your ‘fish and chips’. See what I did there?! I designed a custom label in Canva, printed it on my color laser printer, cut it out, and used a glue stick to adhere the label to the cup.
Swedish Fish
I’m sure you’ve seen the red Swedish Fish you can find practically everywhere, but… I highly recommend you get the real deal instead! Kolsvart Candy fish from Sweden are so good! We had Blackcurrant and Raspberry and Elderflower flavors. I made a custom sign using a vintage photograph that I modified using CorelDraw, printed it and placed it in a vintage sign holder from my vintage shop. This was a fun treat to place on the bar.
Appetizers
Our Cocktail Club parties are always after dinner hours, so we serve themed appetizers while we’re all enjoying our cocktails. Here are the appetizers we made.
If you have the time, and no one is allergic to fish, you could also serve fresh fried fish and hush puppies. Yum!
Escargot
Yum! Escargot soaked in homemade butter mixed with parmesan, garlic, and basil. Tasty!
After you wash and boil the shells, add about a tablespoon of the melted flavored butter to each shell, then insert the giant snail. Place all the shells in a glass baking dish, and broil for 3-4 minutes until the snails are hot (we used our Ninja Foodie to broil). Serve immediately with a small appetizer fork. Don’t forget to pour that butter over the snails before eating.
TIP: Save the shells to use another time – then you can just buy the escargot. You can thoroughly wash the shells and boil them to sterilize them, then use them again.
Fish-Shaped Crostini
Here’s a really quick and easy recipe that tastes delicious. Use a fish-shaped cookie cutter to cut slices of French bread into the shapes of fish. Place the fish shaped bread slices on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil. Spread about a tablespoon of pesto over the bread, then top with at least two mozzarella pearls. Place in a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes or until bread is toasted and cheese is melted. Serve immediately.
TIP: This fish-shaped cookie cutter works perfectly for this appetizer. It’s small enough to fit on the french bread, and because of its shape, wastes very little of the bread. Save the bread scraps to use for a french bread, blueberry, and mascarpone breakfast bake.
Bacon Wrapped Shrimp
I know. You don’t find shrimp in freshwater lakes. But, it still tastes good with bacon, so I say ‘go for it’!
To make, wrap a piece of regular-cut bacon around a raw jumbo shrimp (that has been peeled and deveined). Place bacon shrimp on a pan lined with tin foil and sprinkle with a little Cajun seasoning. Place pan in an air fryer for 10-15 minutes on 400-degrees, or place in a regular 400-degree oven for around 20 minutes until bacon is crispy and shrimp is pink. Serve immediately.
TIP: Drizzle hot honey over bacon shrimp for a little extra kick. I infuse regular raw honey with crushed red pepper flakes for about a week before using.
Bait Box Ice Cream
Of course we had to serve bait! I made a batch of homemade vanilla ice cream, then put the ice cream in white soup containers. I topped the ice cream with chocolate cookie crumbles, and added several gummy worms to the top. I created a label in Canva, printed it out, and used a glue stick to adhere it to the bait box. We used fish-shaped spoons to enjoy this sweet treat.
Decor
Your fishing decor can be as simple as a few bobbers on the table as confetti, or as elaborate as fish nets and lures hung over your windows. Be creative! Coming up with decor is fun. Here are some of the things I did for our fishing theme cocktail club.
Floating Fish
I found images of freshwater fish online and imported them into Canva. I copied each fish, and flipped it in order to print the fish on both sides of cardstock. I printed the graphics using my color laser printer, then cut each fish out. I taped translucent fishing line to each fish, and hung them from our dining room lights. They appeared to be floating above us while we sat at the table. Pretty cool.
Bobbers
I tied translucent fishing line to a bunch of classic red and white bobbers and hung them from the pendant light above our center island – which we use as our bar. Just a pop of color to set the mood.
Cattails
We picked cattails from our pond and I placed them in a tall cylinder vase on the table. The fish hung from the lights floated above the cattails – it looked pretty neat.
Signage
I used Canva to create several signs that I printed and placed in vintage metal sign holders. The sign for the bar said “Bait Bar” and the sign for the appetizer table said “Catch of the Day”. Quick and easy.
Favors
You’re never too old for fun party favors. Of course, this isn’t a requirement for a cocktail party, but it sure can be fun!
Fish Farts Bubble Jars
Fill a 2-ounce shot glass jar with a high-quality bubble solution, such as Pustefix bubbles, design and print a label and use a gluestick to attach the label to the jar, then use a black hair rubberband to attach a small bubble wand.
Bingo! Fish farts bubbles!
So there you have it – how to host a fishing-themed cocktail party!
Make sure to check out all our fun cocktails and themes – just click Cocktails. Cheers!
Drop me a line (wink, wink), and let me know what you think!
