which trout is better for eating?

[Bobber Down 921]

My fav has to be brook trout in the 9 to 12 inch range. I gut them, leave the head on fill the cavity with butter and maybe some onion add a dash of salt n pepper. Wrap em up in tinfoil and place in the oven or bbq. Now I'm hungry!

[Some Old Guy 968]

I would have to agree with ya. They are good!

 

Roger

[arvey 154]

I like specks , lakers or rainbows pretty much equal , with lakers or rainbows I debone and stuff with shrimp a few spices wrap in tinfoil bbq or oven , specks pan fried.

[RickS 19]

Lakers are goo, but I love any of the stream trout (brookies, browns, or rainbows) and think they are just about perfect in the 10-12" range when pan fried with some mushrooms, almonds, and a little lemon.  I just gut 'em and pull out the ribs and spine after cooking.  

 

Unfortunately, catching an eating-size brookie is pretty rare where I live (Virginia).

 

 

[2112 174]

Ill start by saying i love all trout. It is my favourite of all fish. I cook them all the same way every time. I fillet them, and the put a garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. Medium on the pan with butter. Get 85% of it cooked on skin side. Flip it, cook for like 3 min and done. Im a big fan of eating trout skin. Sometimes its particulary crisp and ill roll it up like a stogie and just crush it. But the real secret i think is the cayenne. I find trout just takes that little zip of heat beautifully. 

 

So ya. While i wanna go ahead and say specks are my favourite to fit in, my heart, mouth and colon say rainbow; winning by just a hair.

[Zackcorbin1401 536]

Brook trout wrapped in tinfoil with butter and spices has got to be my favorite.

[filletandrelease 17]

All trout can be pretty great,  but a splake 4lb and over is the greatest tasting fish in the world. Baked, barbequed, fried or as salt fish. Something about when they get over 4lb mark they are always bright red inside.(same for steelhead) Another thing I noticed is that people who "don't like trout" just don't like baked fish. Fry em boneless skinless the same as a walleye and everyone loves it

[fishman1 164]

10 minutes ago, filletandrelease said:

All trout can be pretty great,  but a splake 4lb and over is the greatest tasting fish in the world. Baked, barbequed, fried or as salt fish. Something about when they get over 4lb mark they are always bright red inside.(same for steelhead) Another thing I noticed is that people who "don't like trout" just don't like baked fish. Fry em boneless skinless the same as a walleye and everyone loves it

Steelhead are not always bright red, many are white fleshed

[naden 131]

I hardly keep trout anymore but when I do I find removing the dark meat along the lateral line improves the taste of trout, especially if they are larger fish. I agree that it is hard to beat small pan fried specks. 

[Billy Strings 2]

Lake Superior Brown Trout are my favorite.  I typically grill them on my smoker grill.  Preferably 15-22ish inch fish.  Under 15 have to go back and I typically release those over low 20's.  I really like the firm texture compared to other trout.  After that brookies, splake and lakers in that order.  I typically release rainbows/steelhead.

[filletandrelease 17]

3 hours ago, fishman1 said:

Steelhead are not always bright red, many are white fleshed

Definately true but odds of getting a red one seem much better with the 4 lb and over, maybe because I mostly keep the males?

 

[scandiman 114]

1 hour ago, filletandrelease said:

Definately true but odds of getting a red one seem much better with the 4 lb and over, maybe because I mostly keep the males?

 

Every Steelhead I've ever kept and ate out of Lake Superior was ruby colored flesh and mighty tasty!!!!

[Billy Strings 2]

Most steelhead that are running will be white unless fresh in the river.  Most in the lake that aren't caught around the run are red.  I don't keep them anymore but that was my experience when I did.

[pastor norm 125]

Stuffed speck or splake in the 2-4 lb range

garden vegetable is made with butter, onions, butter, mushrooms, butter, parsley, butter, shredded carrots, butter, lemon juice n salt and butter.  

 

It is my favourite dish but after my heart attack I can't eat it anymore. 

[scandiman 114]

On 3/1/2018 at 5:29 PM, Billy Strings said:

Most steelhead that are running will be white unless fresh in the river.  Most in the lake that aren't caught around the run are red.  I don't keep them anymore but that was my experience when I did.

Ya you're probably on the money there.  I only fish them through the ice to ensure I  always get nice pink flesh

[fishman1 164]

I've found that it is a crap shoot on steelhead, some bride red fish taste like sh&$t and some of the white fleshed ones are great.

by the way, on the west coast, the Asians prefer the white fleshed salmon compared to the red fleshed. I rarely keep steelhead for dinner anymore, not really that great eating from the rivers in the spring, fall is different

[fishman1 164]

Never heard this before, their flesh turns red when they enter the rivers??????????

perhaps my kiss can put in his 2 cents on this one? I don't believe this.

[James01 223]

On ‎2018‎-‎02‎-‎24 at 11:45 AM, Bobber Down said:

My fav has to be brook trout in the 9 to 12 inch range. I gut them, leave the head on fill the cavity with butter and maybe some onion add a dash of salt n pepper. Wrap em up in tinfoil and place in the oven or bbq. Now I'm hungry!

I have to agree with you on creek sized brookies.... alas, I seldom get out for them - although, I am always meaning to during soft water season. I love wading down creeks and picking up a few.

 

Albeit, I just gut them and take the head off, and fry in butter with salt and pepper, and often a side of fried green tomatoes. Not sure why this last part, other than it is something my brother-in-law and I used to do when we fished them on a more regular basis. 

[James01 223]

Getting good ideas in this thread... almonds, mushrooms, and cayenne pepper. I am getting hungry. 

[Silver 3]

9 hours ago, fishman1 said:

I've found that it is a crap shoot on steelhead, some bride red fish taste like sh&$t and some of the white fleshed ones are great.

by the way, on the west coast, the Asians prefer the white fleshed salmon compared to the red fleshed. I rarely keep steelhead for dinner anymore, not really that great eating from the rivers in the spring, fall is different

Spec's - touch S&P, dusted with flour, fried in oil/butter.

 

I lived 8 years on Vancouver Island and fished out there annually for another 15. My sisters favourite  salmon was the white fleshed Chinook. I'd hazard a guess that 1% of my catch  was white. I did not notice the difference red vs white but she sure did. Asians, not wishing to stereotype, are fish connoisseurs.

I believe red/pink flesh color results when fish feed on shrimp or insects with a hard larval shell. Anyone seen a pinkish fleshed pike? i believe they feed on shrimp. I know that bass, perch. pickeral feed on crayfish so shellfish , in my mind, is not the coloring factor. It's got to be shrimp/insects. 

Opinions?

[eddylives 99]

1 hour ago, Silver said:

Spec's - touch S&P, dusted with flour, fried in oil/butter.

 

I lived 8 years on Vancouver Island and fished out there annually for another 15. My sisters favourite  salmon was the white fleshed Chinook. I'd hazard a guess that 1% of my catch  was white. I did not notice the difference red vs white but she sure did. Asians, not wishing to stereotype, are fish connoisseurs.

I believe red/pink flesh color results when fish feed on shrimp or insects with a hard larval shell. Anyone seen a pinkish fleshed pike? i believe they feed on shrimp. I know that bass, perch. pickeral feed on crayfish so shellfish , in my mind, is not the coloring factor. It's got to be shrimp/insects. 

Opinions?

 

 

I spoke to a biologist about the pike we would catch from a spring fed lake on top of a mountain.

I was also curious as to why some would have flesh as deep red a a speck while others where the typical greyish white.

The answer was that they probably feed on a fresh water shrimp.

It would be interesting to find out the real reason for sure.

 

Also pan fried creek specks are my favorite and small lakers stuffed with butter onions and garlic and cooked in the coals of a fire are extremely tasty too hehe

 

[pastor norm 125]

Most fish have an enzyme that breaks down the orange colouring from a food chain based on crustaceans.  Most salmon and trout lack this enzyme, so the carotenoids build up in their flesh if they are feeding on things like shrimp and and krill.  The exception is that some minority runs of chinook salmon with white meat have different genes so that they DO produce the enzyme breaking down carotenoids. 

I have also caught ling cod on the west coast which had a blue or turquoise tinge in their flesh because they were feeding on crustaceans that were very blue.   And if I am not mistaken, we humans also lack this enzyme for breaking down carotenoids. If we ate shrimp and carrots and salmon exclusively, we would turn orange as well (see example below). 

 

I suspect that stress, diet change, and the spawning hormonal changes will also affect the colouring and quality of salmon and trout flesh.  Which is why I don't chase spawning steelhead or salmon.