I find you need to slice the fillet into thin chunks (1.5-2 inches wide max) otherwise I notice the thick pieces can rot before they get smoked thru.
My dad and I did one batch inparticular and the flesh next to the skin was soft and mushy and smelled skunky.
It was a big fish (30lbs) and the fillets were 2 inches thick. I dont think the brine penetrated the wider strips and they were too thick to smoke fullty thru so they rotted on the racks
we have since learned and the smoked white I am eating with my coworkers right now is getting big thumbs up from all.
Something new I tried on this fish was I put an entire lemon minced up into the brine. It gave the fish a very faint hint of lemon which was nice.
Coincidentaly, one of my coworkers who thinks previous batches of my smoked salmon were too fishy ( for her personal taste) say this white is the best SS she has ever had so maybe the lemon cuts down on the fishy oils in a big ole whitey?!?