Which trout would you prefer to eat

A Baker Lake Kokanee comes to mind. Somehow got lucky catching one out a school that came up out of the gin clear water to take my lure. Quite tasty.
 
I don't have the benefit of eating brook trout as a benchmark, so in my experience SRC are the best trout I've eaten. Very mild, delicate seems like the right word to describe their flavor. Quite a contrast to steelhead and nothing like any salmon. Arctic char were mentioned above. Had that once, fresh caught and cooked over a fire on a gravel bar. It was really delicious too. Porter mentioned mud flavored trout. Reminds me of my learning experience regarding Columbia basin seep lake rainbow trout. Caught from the cold water in the early spring season, they are pretty good. So back when they had split seasons and reopened on Oct. 1, I caught and kept a couple nice rainbow trout. And that is how I learned that the summer algal blooms normal to such lakes gives trout flesh the unmistakable flavor of alkaline mud. The fall trout are larger, having fed all summer, but it turns out, they are not edible. Live and learn!
 
I’m another fan of brook trout as the best-eatin’ trout. You don’t want them too big. About 6-8” is about right for cooking them through, gutted and whole, preferably over a twig fire, just so the rack pulls right off the meat.
The worst trout I ever ate was an early Spring holdover rainbow out of Lake Ballinger that was bleeding heavily, so I kept it.
 
Matt B said:
I’m another fan of brook trout as the best-eatin’ trout. You don’t want them too big. About 6-8” is about right for cooking them through, gutted and whole, preferably over a twig fire, just so the rack pulls right off the meat.
The worst trout I ever ate was an early Spring holdover rainbow out of Lake Ballinger that was bleeding heavily, so I kept it.
Click to expand...
I am thankful that the NE WA lakes I fish always seem to have a resident Bald Eagle or Ospreys ready to handle those issues.
 
Holdover rainbow in Detroit Reservoir in September/October…big and firm…the pellet taste flushed from their flesh…pink meat…dry brined with salt and brown sugar…smoked = YUM 😋
 
I've got the put my .02 in this thread.
In the days when I was younger and hungry I caught 'em and I ate 'em.
Crappy were my favorite, but this is about trout and again I caught 'em and ate 'em all.
Any trout caught in cold clean water are the best.
Some of my favorites are German Brown in the bigger sizes. These fish are meat eaters and in a river with crawdads mmmmmm good.
High lake Brook trout again in the bigger sizes, again these are meat eaters and the flesh is bright red.
I caught a hatchery steel head one time in the Wenatchee river that was damn tasty. This was long before the river was closed to fishing.
I caught a Dolly Varden in the Imnaha river once mmmmmm good. That fish fed three of use. Big Varden.
Love remembering fishing and eating.
These days it's C&R unless it's a hatchery fish in the river.
Diamond lake trout are pretty good, but I haven't kept one in a long time.
I caught a mess of blue gill, some really nice size and I didn't keep any of those either.
I'll buy some rock fish at the market if I want to eat fish.
Tight lines my friends
 
I'm, a seafood snob. Trout are not on my list of culinary delights. That being said, a small, wild trout, stuck, on a stick and cooked over an open fire with butter can be a most memorable memory. I was once compelled to do this at a stream side campsite in the Eastern Sierras by my girlfriend . We had rainbow, cutthroat and brown..all small but natural trout from a pristine stream. Were they culinary exemplary? Oh Hell no...but eating these fish, dipped in butter, right off the stick, cooked over a campfire was magical. For me that is how a trout should be eaten.
 
I am finicky about trout, depends on what the temperature regime is in the body of water, and if the fish was stocked recently, but I will take one or two home occasionally because it impresses the family and convinces my significant other fishing isn't a complete waste of time and money.
 
Brook trout for sure, high mountain lakes. Boy scout days we would take canned bacon. I always volunteered for pot cleaning detail as it kept me free during daylight to fish. Southern gentleman introduced us to his seasoned cornmeal, and fried in the saved bacon fat tasted rather good. That along with the wild huckleberry scones ala Dutch oven my dad made.
Remember the Jameson Lake trout before the accidental WDFW eradication of the "Jameson Shrimp"? Those were good eating.
 
Ronbow said:
Brook trout for sure, high mountain lakes. Boy scout days we would take canned bacon. I always volunteered for pot cleaning detail as it kept me free during daylight to fish. Southern gentleman introduced us to his seasoned cornmeal, and fried in the saved bacon fat tasted rather good. That along with the wild huckleberry scones ala Dutch oven my dad made.
Remember the Jameson Lake trout before the accidental WDFW eradication of the "Jameson Shrimp"? Those were good eating.
Click to expand...
As I said in my previous post ,brook trout cooked in bacon grease ,with just salt ,and pepper would be hard to beat . I'm sure some go to great lengths to season or marinate their trout , but this simple cooking with bacon grease ,and of course high mountain brook trout is as good as it gets .
 
Brookies are my favorite. Then browns, cutthroat and rainbow in descending order. With an exception for triploids from the upper Columbia, those are excellent fare. Otherwise I’ll stick to sockeye, springers and steelhead and leave the trout alone.
 
I like brook trout best. Any trout caught in a lake full of moss and weeds taste off.

Smoked trout are my favorite. A little cheese and cracker or just plain for beer snacks. Yum. I just pick them apart..

20240727_163721.jpg
 
Another backpacking trick learned: a packet of Lipton onion soup. Make the soup, cut up trout on the rib line bias into chunks, and poach. I would usually scale fish first.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top