Has anybody ever had a problem with a smoker that drips? My Totem drops black spots onto the chunks of fish...tastes like tar if it sits there and is a pain to dab off. Why is it doing this? What can I do to prevent it?

try this,, after you take your fish out of the brine and rinse it off , let it air dry overnight,, this will put a glaze on the peice of fish and lock in moisture the fish has and reduces the chance of the juices being let out...or something like that,,,some fish like springers you cant get away from them dripping so i stagger them in my smoker so they dont drip on each other but smoker is a 50lb model so its a little easeir to go this...

I had a problem like this it was the built up soot on the inside of smoker. Got the wire brush out and now keep a better eye on it.

Like Fishstik says, you're not drying the fish properly. After rinsing the brine and paper toweling the fish, I put mine on the racks and then put a fan on them for at least two hours, longer for real fatty fish like springers. You want the flesh to be dry to the touch, with a shiny surface known as a "pellicle." You can also brush away the tarry stuff off the top of your smoker, but you shouldn't have to if you dry the fish properly.

Either blow the suit off the top before each use with the hose, or spray it with pam after each use so it stays moist and doesn't dry, crack, and fall on your precious fish. Been there. It sucks to lose a batch to this!

Thanks for the tips! I've been wiping the buildup off of the roof of the smoker regularly, so it must be the moisture from the fish. I usually let my pieces dry for a couple of hours in a cold oven, but will try the fan method and dry them longer. I'm just concerned that my smoker isn't venting properly, or that I'm trying to smoke too much at once, or...well, we'll see with this next batch of silvers...