Northwest Fishing Reports

So intellectually, I am comfortable with the fact that stockers dont taste good and wild fish from wild lakes do. But once in a while I'll eat a stocker that I kept because I speared it in the eye or something (not one that's been in 6 months ... a new stocker) and think to myself ... "eh, this isn't bad". I've never eaten one alongside anything else.

Well, tonight I put it to the test. I had 3 great test subjects:

#1 new "steelhead" stocker from Greenlake caught 11/28 and in fridge overnight
#2 very dark, spawn ready male cutthroat from Lost Lake caught 11/29
#3 very light, only vestigal egg sacs female cutthroat from Lost Lake caught 11/29

All 3 pan fried in same pan at same time so no cooking variance.

Spent ages picking all skin and bones from meat of all 3, had my share of the fish in 3 neat little piles, add a dash of salt, ready to evaluate.

I started with #1. It seemed fine, as usual. Tasted kinda like trout. Texture ok. I wasn't excited about it, but seemed fairly bland and harmless. Given the complete lack of effort required to catch these stockers, I gave it a grade of adequate.

Next I tried #2. It was definitely better. Meat a little more dry, a little more firm, so texture definitely better. It didn't have a ton of flavor, but tasted a bit more like ... well, like trout. More ... nutty, or earthy, or something like that I'm not sure. Let's just go with "it tasted better". But, my expectations were higher. So again, I'm going to give it a grade of adequate.

So then I tried #3. This was clearly, with no shadow of a doubt, far superior. Meat was more dry and firm, like salmon. Flavor more complex, again, reminiscent of salmon. It was not as good as the last fish I ate from Lost Lake, but that was the best cutthroat I've ever eaten, so I wasn't expecting such. But this was very, very good. I gave it a grade of excellent.

So the I made a huge mistake. I went back to #1. I'm not exaggerating here - I made a face and nearly spit it out. Because as it turns out, the stocker was only edible when it was being related to ... nothing. When being related to actual high quality trout, its true nature showed through clear as day. The stocker actually had a sour, almost ... I hate to use this word, as people are going to get all up in arms, but it reminded me of vomit. Everyone should know what I'm talking about. That powerful, overwhelming stomach acid flavor - that's what the stockers really taste like. Same as the water really. I was introduced to the strong "sour" aroma of municipal water in Lake Ballinger. It's bad. I haven't been in a municipal lake in a while, but then on Thursday afternoon I put my raft into Bitter Lake to rescue a castmaster I had stuck in a tree. When I took the boat out and walked it to the car, that strong sour smell assaulted my nose. Lakes out in the country generally smell like nothing. Your boots, your clothes, whatever you get wet - it may smell a slight bit like swamp, but basically it doesn't smell much. The municipal lakes REALLY smell. Apparently, that smell permeates the meat of the stockers somehow. Or maybe it's the hatchery food. Who knows. But it's shocking to sample them back to back. I had NO idea what was really going on.

I know everyone picks where they fish for a myriad of reasons. Some of you dont have any options. But if you can, I strongly urge you to get out of the Greenlakes of the world and find a place to fish where the quality of your lunch is going to be better. Because when you sit down and try that stocker against ANY real fish, let me tell you, you're going to have trouble eating those stockers ever again.

Your #1 seems to have the same taste as the trout I cooked a couple years ago out of Sawyer. One bite and it was kinda acidic, sour as you put it. I threw it away. Never had a fish taste that bad before. It was about 16"-18" long, rainbow.

Great taste testing report. No doubt, the "real" thing will always taste better. Where the fish is plated into and how long they've been there makes a big difference, too. Planted rainbow that have been in Lake Roosevelt feeding for awhile are like nothing else, yum!

Only one other category to have tried, would have been grocery store farmed trout. But that would have required a heroic sacrifice on your part.

Funny you should say that ... a buddy of mine at the gym made some comment about eating trout the other night, about how he hadn't had trout in a long time and how great it was. I said no kidding, you fish? He said yeah, at the counter at Whole Foods. He laughed at the face I made.

He's getting married in a couple of weeks. I think he may get a wedding gift that ruins his ability to go fishing for trout at Whole Foods forever haha!

If you must eat a stocked trout try smoking it. A good brine should pull that nasty acidic foul taste from their soft pasty flesh lol it still won't be as good as the real thing, but at least won't taste like vomit.

Mike Carey wrote:
Only one other category to have tried, would have been grocery store farmed trout. But that would have required a heroic sacrifice on your part.

That is nasty! I wouldn't let my dogs eat farmed trout....although farmed trout taste much like dog food.

As anglers that eat our catch we should feel pity for the many city dwellers that have no idea what freshly caught fish tastes like. I truly feel sorry for them. And the prices... Cooper River Salmon $30/pound. Give me a break. At Christmas this year I think I'll cook up a batch of Baker Lake sockeye and call it Cooper Baker Sockeye.

Copper.

Copper River.

Lol, yes, copper.

I'm with Mike! I'm so spoiled super RED flesh trout from lake Roosevelt or Rock lake in Eastern Washington. Walleye, small mouth bass and perch for my white meat fish fix. And then there's the kokanee and fall bright salmon. To say I'm spoiled would be an understatement!

As for smoking....bad fish is smoke flavored bad fish. Bend those barbs down and release those city fish to swim another day. It will be interesting to see what the steelhead are like after a year living in a clean lake. WDFW put 389,000 fingerling steelhead (6 to 7") in Sprague lake. It will be interesting to see how they do. Sprague grows giant trout but they don't taste good either as they eat a diet rich in snails. Tried smok'in them to no avail. Even the dog wouldn't eat them. Sure fun to catch and release though.

Tight lines all - Alan

I wouldn't even give the bad tasting fish to my dog. It wasn't good enough for me and I sure wasn't going to poison my dog.

Mike Carey wrote:Where the fish is plated into and how long they've been there makes a big difference, too. Planted rainbow that have been in Lake Roosevelt feeding for awhile are like nothing else, yum!

So true Mike, but one BIG difference, rainbows and kokanee are not "planted" at/in Roosevelt they are raised in net pens ON Lake Roosevelt and simply released. That, IMO, is what makes them so good.

Yeah, those filets are ideal. That's the kind of trout I prefer to eat right there. Nice ones hewesfisher .

Let's just face it - We're fish snobs. I know I am.
Stocker Lake trout - released, given away or smoked
Coho with any color at all, smoked
Kings with any color at all, smoked
Pinks - smoked
Chum - released
The only thing that goes on our dinner plate is chrome bright on the outside and nice and red on the inside.

My father inlaw lives in Mexico City and loves salmon. In Mexico there is no Coho, King, etc. there is just "salmon" (and who knows if that is what it is or not) so when he came here for the 1st time he was floored (and overjoyed).

A few years back we had a family BBQ with family from Nebraska, I brought a salt-caught Pink and a Coho and cooked em both up exactly the same way. It was interesting because the majority of the Nebraskans like the pink better, said the Coho tasted too fishy. Well, this makes sense figuring there is not a whole lot for non stocker trout fishing in Nebraska and the blander taste of the pink would better resemble that.

Rufus woods trout are on par with steelhead in my opinion, I've never had trout taste as good as those beasts. The meat is as red as a sockeyes.

Raise your hand and repeat after me... "I am a fishing snob".

I would disagree on one thing. I have had kokanee that had pale colored flesh that tasted every bit as good as deeper red fleshed fish. I don't think it's the color per say that dictates flavor, but I will admit nothing looks better than a deep red fleshed salmon. (to this snob anyway)

I don't know about that. The BEST trout I've ever had were small brook trout from a high mountain stream. Fresh cooked, and then again for breakfast.

ya, I've had the pleasure of that in my younger days. Nice way to start the day!

sickbayer wrote:Rufus woods trout are on par with steelhead in my opinion, I've never had trout taste as good as those beasts. The meat is as red as a sockeyes.

Agreed, Rufus woods trout are awesome table fare. I think it has something to do with the constant flow of water instead of swimming around in a giant bathtub

Smoked kokanee is my favorite of all possible combos of fish and preparation/cooking methods. Fried perch (no walleye in W Wash) is a close second. I only get to saltwater fish occasionally or perch might get bumped for lingcod.
I like fish so it's all good but those are my favorites. I'm only a fish snob to the point I don't want to eat store bought anymore.
One practice I picked up from my grandparents is soaking perch and skinned trout in water before rinsing and freezing, they also did it with catfish but I don't fish for them over here. Not positive but I think it helps pull out unpleasant tastes. The planter trout I've fried up come out lite, flaky and tasty. Maybe that helps, not sure. I mostly do it because my grandparents did and it appears to work as the fish tastes great.
I know a lot of people that think good oily fresh salmon is to fishy for their liking, I think they're nuts but to each their own right.
Tight lines all.