Do Lake trout taste good?

[filetandrelease]

Morning trapp I see its still going lmao many people confuse up state NY with NY city , lmao , you should invite Yukoner  down for a Ontario laker , I personally only pan fry no bathing here of any fish and smoking now that hides a lot,  once I smoked a catfish took it to work the guys said it was the best smoke salmon they ever had 🤪after that being said I didn’t have the heart to tell them it was an old mud guzzler ,
  I’m truley enjoying this thread ,

[T-Rok]

Yuk ...you mite as well catch a creek chub and eat that its in the same family ..

...and perch are related to pike. They even breed together to make pike-perch which are really just walleye. And carp are related to salmon so you may as well just eat carp.. Come to think of it carp is probably better than salmon river spawners. Ever try to eat one of those? Hopefully you were joking about chubs being related to lake trout.  Either that or that was really one of the most ignorant things I've ever heard anyone say.

[iloveacrappiedinner]

anyways  back  to my question  and  I  don't  care if you like  or  don't  like  lake  trout , i'm just wondering ,is there  people that  honestly prefer  a  meal of  lake trout over   a walleye or perch  dinner

My personal ranking for NY freshwater is Rainbow, Brookie, Laker, brown, LL salmon, walleye, crappie, perch, pike/pickerel (can't taste a difference), , b bluegill, last of all is bass.

[Yukoner]

We have no perch or walleye, which are also both cousins, up here, and it's been a long time since I ate a perch dinner.  Having said that, the perch was certainly delicious, and I would say they are as good tasting as lake trout.  I ate a lot of good walleye in Northern Ontario before moving to the Yukon in 1971.

Would look forward to cooking up a nice shore lunch of fresh lake trout or char for you some day.




Just let me know when you are coming.  Coffee is always on!



Ted

[youngmook500]

I think they are amazing. But I think water quality has a lot to do with it.

[DDeMarco]

A oldtimer who lived in Owasco lake have me a recipe about 25years ago while working in Auburn cook a carrot an onion and a stalk of celery with top leaves on. Till soft then fillet and cut lake trout into about 2 inch strips blanch for about 3 to 4 minutes batter in your choice and fry it is delicious also works good for bluefish

[bigredonice]

Dwaytkus bakes strong tasting fish like lake ontario trout and salmon in chicken stock and says they come out tasting great.

I keep one laker every year from the King and bake it up just to remind the fish who's boss Coat with seasoned bread crumbs and lots of lemon pepper. good stuff 

[trapper2000]

We have no perch or walleye, which are also both cousins, up here, and it's been a long time since I ate a perch dinner.  Having said that, the perch was certainly delicious, and I would say they are as good tasting as lake trout.  I ate a lot of good walleye in Northern Ontario before moving to the Yukon in 1971.

Would look forward to cooking up a nice shore lunch of fresh lake trout or char for you some day.




Just let me know when you are coming.  Coffee is always on!



Ted

   


ted I would take you up on that in return  the next night I'm cooking and we are feasting on perch crappies and bluegills ....maybe even some whitetail tenderloin .....

[trapper2000]

Quote from: big_guy_13021 on Jan 07, 2018, 11:13 PM

Yuk ...you mite as well catch a creek chub and eat that its in the same family ..

...and perch are related to pike. They even breed together to make pike-perch which are really just walleye. And carp are related to salmon so you may as well just eat carp.. Come to think of it carp is probably better than salmon river spawners. Ever try to eat one of those? Hopefully you were joking about chubs being related to lake trout.  Either that or that was really one of the most ignorant things I've ever heard anyone say.

actually big guy is 100% correct in his statement they both belong to the family known as   fishapainasorois, little is know  when the  two spieces split it is believed to be when half started  stealing worms  from cave children fishing near culverts and the other started  feeding off dieing mooneyes ..... either way  this explains why they in fact do taste similar ....I think gizzard shad and buzzards are also in that family ....... this is the only time I will preach catch and release

[Yukoner]

ted I would take you up on that in return  the next night I'm cooking and we are feasting on perch crappies and bluegills ....maybe even some whitetail tenderloin .....

I would surely enjoy that dinner!  Especially if you serve it with french fries and root beer.

Ted

[Akhardwater]

Come on Ted we can’t talk sense to these guys they think burbot are trash fish😀.  I think water quality and forage play a big part in how a fish tastes as well as handeling after the fish is caught.  Trout, char, and salmon need to be bled immediately after being caught.  I think allot of guys just don’t know how to take care of their meat no pun intended. 

[wec]

Great smoked, also baked with mayo, onions, and spiced up.  Bake at 350 for about 40 min, tasted great.

[trapper2000]

Come on Ted we can’t talk sense to these guys they think burbot are trash fish😀.  I think water quality and forage play a big part in how a fish tastes as well as handeling after the fish is caught.  Trout, char, and salmon need to be bled immediately after being caught.  I think allot of guys just don’t know how to take care of their meat no pun intended.

well Adhardwater you may have a good point  sir  ,living up there in the frozen wilderness with 50 below temps and  20 foot of snow, you probably have "taken care of a lot more meat" then we have .....however  what makes most lake trout and salmonoids  have a muddy taste is a natural chemical called geosmin.....

ted rootbeer is my favorite 

[outfisherman1]

Line the bottom of your pan with horse s#$% and lay the fillets on top. Cook them good. Throw out the fillets and eat the rest it will taste better.  Lol 

[dabills]

I think they taste great. I only had them once. Caught my limit,  bled them after catching,  soaked filets in milk over night.  Tasted fantastic. Ate some and froze some. Not sure if milk is necessary but I read it somewhere. I will definitely eat again.

[taxi1]

Soak them in toilet water for about an hour, Drain, Deep Fry,  throw fish out the window and drink the water.

IOW they taste like s**t?

[beershanty]

I'd rather eat a 8lb laker than a 8lb eye...

[spot]

Just about any fish deep fried is better than tofu cooked... well, any way at all.

[T-Rok]

Here is the thing.. People in new York.. Especially people that live near or around the finger lake's like I do..they take lake trout for granted. They are so numerous and easy to catch that people get tired of them. They turn into bothersome fish that make you have to reset your downriggers or eat your expensive moon eyes instead of being any type of desirable fish. But in most parts of the country lake trout are kind of a mystery. They get huge and they look cool and most fishermen never even get to see one in real life. I lived in the south before and there are almost no salmonids to speak of let alone lake trout. The fact is.. Lake trout don't really taste a lot different than other trout when they are small. But when they get big they don't taste so good. Just like almost every other salmonid. Big rainbows taste bad. Big browns taste bad. And big freshwater mooneye eating salmon.. Especially spawners taste like straight garbage. But if you're not from around here you still keep them and eat them and imagine they taste great because they are huge and look cool as hell.

[fullThrottle]

I got a nice 24 inch lake trout last year. Cleaned it and poped it in the freezer. Went looking for it a few weeks later and couldn’t find it !  My wife threw it out !

[Yukoner]

Come on Ted we can’t talk sense to these guys they think burbot are trash fish😀.  I think water quality and forage play a big part in how a fish tastes as well as handeling after the fish is caught.  Trout, char, and salmon need to be bled immediately after being caught.  I think allot of guys just don’t know how to take care of their meat no pun intended.

Roger that.  Water quality has to be a big part of taste.  A few years ago myself and another guy were guiding two businessmen on a hunt. They were totally flabbergasted that we actually drank the water out of the lake and no one got sick.  "Where is the water?   Is there any bottled water here?"  "Well there is water, but none in a bottle."

They also ate a lot of lake trout while here.  One morning we had fresh lake trout steaks, bear sausage, and fried potatoes for breakfast.     They figured they had really hit the jackpot that day!

I bleed every fish that we are going to eat.  The quickest way is to just cut through a lot of gills on both sides as soon as it goes in the cooler or on the ice.  Most everybody I fish with does the same. 

Hey, any of you guys over there targeting burbot yet?  I mean actually focusing on them, not incidental catches.  I have been just crazy busy all winter, and not been on the ice at all yet.

Ted

[trapper2000]

now ted I might be a lowly dumb new Yorker but I do know you don't drank lake water ,beaver fever is very possible as is e coli , if you have to drank back country water you pick ice cold fast moving water close to the source ,never a slow moving lake where animal activity is seen .....and you don't get symptons  usually for several weeks..... carry a few iodine tablets ole boy or a quality filter straw

[Yukoner]

Sorry, Trapper, but we have been drinking it since 1971.

You really need to come and see our lakes.  Glacier fed, and you can watch the fish hit a spoon 30 feet down in the water.

Ted

[Akhardwater]

I target lakers during the day and burbs at night.  I’m moving my shack this weekend to a new burb spot that has allot of potential.  Something tells me I’m going to finally break that 20lb mark.  I’ve been real close on a few by only a couple ounces but that 20 just keeps eluding me.  I know what you mean about the water up here, we regularly drink straight out of the lakes with no problems. 

[reeleyz]

Morning trapp I see its still going lmao many people confuse up state NY with NY city , lmao , you should invite Yukoner  down for a Ontario laker , I personally only pan fry no bathing here of any fish and smoking now that hides a lot,  once I smoked a catfish took it to work the guys said it was the best smoke salmon they ever had 🤪after that being said I didn’t have the heart to tell them it was an old mud guzzler ,
  I’m truley enjoying this thread ,

My dad that with a carp! He smoked it and my mom took it to work and everyone raved about it. LOL! 

[oldbuck]

Apparently it just depends who you ask. Everyone has their own taste

[bigfish1212]

Apparently it just depends who you ask. Everyone has their own taste

No it can't be that.

[Lucky13]

As was stated elsewhere, if a water body is high in Geosmin, fish taste will be affected, but then all the species should have an earthy, muddy flavor.   But woodcock hunters will likely think they taste great!

Method of preparation makes a big difference as well.  Oily fish like trout and Salmon do not deep fry well, you seal all the natural fish oils in them in the hot fat, and then it oxidizes as it has a lower temperature of oxidation, imparting a strong oily flavor.  These fish are best cooked by baking on a rack, broiling on a rack, or grilling, so some of the fat can escape and the temperature does not get hot enough to oxidize their fat.   White fleshed fish like walleye, perch, and bass have a lot less oil (and not much of the good omega 3), so they do well breaded and deep fried, but end up pretty bland if baked or broiled.  As to geosmin, spring bullheads, or even any bullheads from cold ADK ponds, taste great because geosmin concentrations have been low all winter.  As the water warms and more geosmin is produced, bottom dwellers pick up more and start to taste muddy.  That is why you don't see a lot of bullhead fishers at night in the summer, even though there may be solid resident populations.

[Rather-B-Fishin]

Yukon and Trapper count me in! I have a full freezer of whitetail to contribute!
Fiery debate we have here.....
Location of water, their diet, preparation and the size/age of fish are all factors that are contributing to the wide array of opinions. Maybe some beer too.
I love trout of all types, give me a 16 - 20ish' fish of any of the species and , depending on the above factors, they taste great. Landed a huge 24"  fat lake run brown last winter, it tasted absolutely awful and had lakers that I kept in the low 20's taste great.

[SirCranksalot]

Like so many other fish, the smaller ones tast the best.