Keeping a couple of not?

Water is pretty low and it's getting very hot here next week,I'll sit this out for a few weeks and Smallmouth fish for awhile, but he will get more in the future,
 
Keep all the stockers you want, that’s what they are for. Hell take a few wild trout if you prefer😮. It won’t be the end of the world if you do. I’ve snacked on a few stream side while on camping trips. In my opinion trout make lousy table fare unless smoked. Panfish are much tastier.
 
For me, trout of any origin (with the exception of smaller Lake Trout) don't even make the top 10 edibility list of freshwater fish. For me, this runs #1- Walleye, #2 - Yellow Perch, #3 - Crappie, Bluegill and White Perch (tie), #4 - Small Lake Trout under 4-5 lb., #5 - LMB and SMB (15" and under) #6 - White Bass and Rock Bass (tie) #7 - Northern Pike (from water under say, 55F).

Trout, regardless of origin are somewhere in the high teens at best, maybe #18. This still puts them above all catfish (#25-30) and waterlogged bark from a Shagbark Hickory (#44)
 
HopBack said:
Keep all the stockers you want, that’s what they are for. Hell take a few wild trout if you prefer😮. It won’t be the end of the world if you do. I’ve snacked on a few stream side while on camping trips. In my opinion trout make lousy table fare unless smoked. Panfish are much tastier.
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I disagree trout is good by itself no smoking needed....besides most folks OVER season trout and use hickory or a strong wood better fit for game and hence you can make shoe leather taste good when smoked... I cure them lightly so you can still taste the trout and use alder to smoke em. But like i said about every smoked salmon or steelhead ive sampled were waaaaay wayyyyy to salty n smoky. Low n slow n long is the key fir smoking
 
RLeep2 said:
For me, trout of any origin (with the exception of smaller Lake Trout) don't even make the top 10 edibility list of freshwater fish. For me, this runs #1- Walleye, #2 - Yellow Perch, #3 - Crappie, Bluegill and White Perch (tie), #4 - Small Lake Trout under 4-5 lb., #5 - LMB and SMB (15" and under) #6 - White Bass and Rock Bass (tie) #7 - Northern Pike (from water under say, 55F).

Trout, regardless of origin are somewhere in the high teens at best, maybe #18. This still puts them above all catfish (#25-30) and waterlogged bark from a Shagbark Hickory (#44)
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You're nuts. Catfish are delicious. Gotta trim the pink meat/fat..
 
rustbeltwilds said:
I disagree trout is good by itself no smoking needed....besides most folks OVER season trout and use hickory or a strong wood better fit for game and hence you can make shoe leather taste good when smoked... I cure them lightly so you can still taste the trout and use alder to smoke em. But like i said about every smoked salmon or steelhead ive sampled were waaaaay wayyyyy to salty n smoky. Low n slow n long is the key fir smoking
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You're right. Trout is very versatile table fare, that can be prepared well in many ways.

The larger ones can be oiler/fattier than the smaller ones (seems to me anyways), so deep frying fillets/steaks off of them would not be my method there, but its not wrong either if that's what you like.

I sometimes pan fry smaller ones gently in scant little butter or bacon drippings, seasoned with just salt, pepper, dill or tarragon, and its excellent eating. (seems we talked about this a few weeks back?)

Larger ones I keep end up grilled, smoked, or 'roasted' whole in heavy foil over hot coals.

A perch or walleye will never be as oily as a trout. Different fish, different preparations. All good.

Joe
 
jifigz said:
You're nuts. Catfish are delicious. Gotta trim the pink meat/fat..
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I probably have a pretty severe case of catfish aversion that interferes with my ability to be unbiased. Between the ages of 6 and 17, I probably ate 2/3rds of a pickup load of bullheads. If that happened to you, you might have catfish aversion now as well...

On Edit: I didn't just eat them, I cleaned 90% of them as well. Consequently, I also hate pliers.
 
RLeep2 said:
For me, trout of any origin (with the exception of smaller Lake Trout) don't even make the top 10 edibility list of freshwater fish. For me, this runs #1- Walleye, #2 - Yellow Perch, #3 - Crappie, Bluegill and White Perch (tie), #4 - Small Lake Trout under 4-5 lb., #5 - LMB and SMB (15" and under) #6 - White Bass and Rock Bass (tie) #7 - Northern Pike (from water under say, 55F).

Trout, regardless of origin are somewhere in the high teens at best, maybe #18. This still puts them above all catfish (#25-30) and waterlogged bark from a Shagbark Hickory (#44)
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Talking about best tasting freshwater fish, I wouldn't even put SMB and LMB in the same sentence, I've eaten both. Smallies are much better tasting. JMO Here's my list in order of best tasting freshwater fish. Everyone has different tastes though.

Channel Cats
Smallmouth bass
Walleye
WILD trout
 
RLeep2 said:
I probably have a pretty severe case of catfish aversion that interferes with my ability to be unbiased. Between the ages of 6 and 17, I probably ate 2/3rds of a pickup load of bullheads. If that happened to you, you might have catfish aversion now as well...

On Edit: I didn't just eat them, I cleaned 90% of them as well. Consequently, I also hate pliers.
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Dear RLeep2,

I'm the exact opposite. While I ate more than a few bullheads when I was a kid it wasn't until I started keeping channel cats out of the Delaware caught above New Hope in the spring that I really got a taste for them. They were easy to catch and a 5- or 6-pound channel cat in strong current puts up a great fight. The taste for them has never left me but my days of keeping catfish have probably passed. My wife won't eat freshwater fish and I'm not all that eager to kill and keep fish if I have to do all the prep work, the cooking, and the eating.

I'd keep saltwater fish because my wife will eat them, but with the nearest saltwater being 4 hours away that isn't practical anymore either. So, we are stuck eating flounder or haddock or cod with the occasional tuna steak all purchased at the grocery store if we get a hankering for fish.

I think the last trout I ate was caught on a charter trip to Lake Ontario. We kept a few 6-to-10-pound Lakers and Browns. Their flesh was the color of ripe naval oranges, and the filets were wonderful.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂
 
RLeep2 said:
I probably have a pretty severe case of catfish aversion that interferes with my ability to be unbiased. Between the ages of 6 and 17, I probably ate 2/3rds of a pickup load of bullheads. If that happened to you, you might have catfish aversion now as well...
Click to expand...
Bullheads suck, plain and simple. Channel cats are delicious if you know how to cook them.
 
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