Do Lake trout taste good?

[stringer02]

northern ones have a little more flavor than southern ones prolly the mercury

[Wind Flag]

I've cooked a lot of lake trout a lot of different ways for a lot of people who said they hate the taste of lake trout.

They always ask me how I made it taste so much better than theirs. My response is pretty simple. "I fileted it, prepared it, and cooked it correctly. You didn't."

[wishinfishin]

bleed them, ice them , remove skin, and remove the lateral line blood/fat meet, cook fresh.

do the above before you freeze them if you have to.

[prchslyr]

I like them if they're masked like crazy. I only take lake trout that are mortally wounded.
I smoke the fillets. Then prepare like tuna by chunking the meat up and mixing with mayo.
A slice of gouda with some potato bread. Spread some mayo on the outside and grill it like grilled cheese.
Lake trout aren't the greatest, but I like this better than any can of tuna.

[Zeker259]

Best recipe, bury them. If I ever caught 1 ice fishing it would be released.

 

[trapper2000]

bleed them, ice them , remove skin, and remove the lateral line blood/fat meet, cook fresh.

do the above before you freeze them if you have to.

I like them if they're masked like crazy. I only take lake trout that are mortally wounded.
I smoke the fillets. Then prepare like tuna by chunking the meat up and mixing with mayo.
A slice of gouda with some potato bread. Spread some mayo on the outside and grill it like grilled cheese.
Lake trout aren't the greatest, but I like this better than any can of tuna.

 if  ya  got to  do all that  in order to eat them  why not just catch a perch??

[Spoondangler]

I like to smoke a couple, everything is good smoked.  Like mackerel and bluefish, most people like them when smoked, fewer people like them grilled.  I just think there are much better fish to eat grilled/ pan seared.  If you don't love fishy oily fish like mackerel you prolly won't like them.  I run a restaurant, wife trained at the french culinary and best friend is or chef, butcher, ect, and i can tell you that people not liking them has little to do with preparation imo.
The claim that they would be hard to tell apart from a landlocked salmon?

[trapper2000]

spoon I have  a  theory .... I think a lot of  people as  their  taste  go  same  as  vision or hearing  like   stronger fish!  just like  people  with hearing problems  turn up the  TV ....  I  fished the fingerlakes  a little  bit in my  day and  I  don't  think  lakers  compare  to landlocks  ....I have  noticed   as  people get older they  do seem  to  enjoy   more oily fish .... I joke  a lot  but if  someone  enjoys a  lake trout  more power  to them  .... I  have  had then  from  northern waters  the finger lakes  and  lake Ontario  I  just don't like  them .... blue  fish I  can  eat (cocktail blues)  mayo on it then  grilled big blues  toss  back in, mackerel smell the house  up  to much .....

[pmac3]

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

  not great tasting, but a blast to catch. I’d usually target lakers and landlockeds, release lakers and keep the locks.

[desmobob]

The claim that they would be hard to tell apart from a landlocked salmon?

I'm certainly no chef, and probably wouldn't even be considered a "good cook," but I swear I cooked two fillets side-by-side (pan-fried; dipped in milk-flour-egg-breadcrumbs) and thought they were both outstanding. 

The laker was a barely-legal Lake George, NY fish (~24") and the salmon was of similar size.  The fillets were skinned and the dark lateral line and belly fat removed from the lake trout, as always.

I know they are called "oily" fish, as are bluefish.  I've cooked freshly-caught bluefish, too, and never thought for a second they were "oily" or "fishy."  Is it because some folks don't remove the skin, dark lateral line area, or belly fat?  I don't think I've ever had ANY fish that I would describe as "oily."

I have had fish I'd describe as "fishy" but I always assumed that was a matter of freshness.  I rarely freeze fish, and generally only keep fish if I'll be cooking them the same day.  I've had many different types of freshwater and saltwater fish and don't recall any that I didn't really enjoy.

Bon appetite,
Bob

[trapper2000]

desmobob  when  you say bluefish  are  you talking  snappers  or  cocktail  blues  or  big old tackle busting  gorrillas ?  you  can  skin a  big blue fish  cut  the  dark meat  out (half the fish)  and  the  fleash is   a grey color  and  oily to the  touch ....i'm not tring to be  mean  here i'm  just confused  your the  first person that ever  told me  blue fish wasn't  oily  and  I  surf  fish a lot 

[Spoondangler]

Ah, i thought you were saying that you just pan seared them, didn't realize that you had battered, I'm sure that makes them more indiscernible .  Smoking acts in much the same way, masking some flavors, and enhancing sweetness or saltiness or both.  Most people who i give smoked lakers to rave about them.  If you gave them smoke landlockeds they'ed really rave.  Even browns or bows are amazing smoked.  I think the oily fish thing is a acquired taste in some cases, but i don't think a "super-taster" is going to like them. 
If you don't really like them though, id suggest perch, gills, bullhead, etc. as lake trout do take a tremendous amount of time to grow big.

[desmobob]

desmobob  when  you say bluefish  are  you talking  snappers  or  cocktail  blues  or  big old tackle busting  gorrillas ?  you  can  skin a  big blue fish  cut  the  dark meat  out (half the fish)  and  the  fleash is   a grey color  and  oily to the  touch ....i'm not tring to be  mean  here i'm  just confused  your the  first person that ever  told me  blue fish wasn't  oily  and  I  surf  fish a lot

I didn't take your response as "mean" at all.  I don't have a lot of experience eating bluefish, so it's understandable for you to question my post.

I'm not sure of my knowledge of the slang descriptions for bluefish sizes, but I'm talking about smaller bluefish (a few pounds) I've caught as bycatch while fly fishing for stripers in MA.  We call them "snappers."  They were still flopping when filleted and cooked immediately on the gas grill.

Tight lines,
Bob

[ice dawg]

I like them filleted, dipped in egg wash, rolled in cracker crumbs and pan fried when fresh out of the lake. After they have been frozen they hit the brine and
the smoker. The only place I fish for them is northern Manitoba.

[trapper2000]

those  are  cocktails .those  are  a lot  more  edible then  big  blue fish,   and  not as  oily , as  the  get   a  few  pounds bigger they  get pretty  nasty ....lot of  fun on the  fly rod  especially if  you get in on a  blitz ...... snappers  are  even  smaller  you catch  them  around  docks  they are   12  inches  or less ..... sort of  remind me  of  bullheads  really ......big  ones  I let  go 

[Spoondangler]

Some folks (my older relatives) like to soak the blues in milk for 24 hours which makes them more palatable.  Never tried this with lakers

[FISH4WISH]

Find a recipe to pickle them,they are awesome that way!


           F4W

[T-Rok]

Small bluefish are good. Big blues are terrible. Small Lakers are good. Big Lakers are good for smoking only.. Brined overnight and seasoned well before smoking. I've caught a lot of all of the above. There isnt a lot of difference in taste between a small laker and any other trout but the big Lakers are very strong and the meat has a strange texture. That being said, mooneyes/alewives/sawbellies.. whatever you prefer to call them make lake trout taste worse. I really hate gobies but since they have been introduced and are becoming a bigger part of lake trout diet Lakers are beginning to taste better. Anything that eats alewives seem to taste worse.. Doesn't matter what kind of fish it is. They seem to taste a little like alewivez smell. If that makes any sense.

[62&done]

I agree about the alewives  fish all ways taste like what they eat   a bottom feeder will taste like mud  If you bar-b-que a small laker rite on the grate no foil or cover  just a good soaking in red wine & vinegar dressing they're not terrible  but the big ones should be baked on an oak plank   throw out the fish and eat the plank  blue gills or perch for me any day

[reddog11]

I bake my lakers. Soak them in milk the night before we cook them.

[MikeSJ]

I agree about the alewives  fish all ways taste like what they eat   a bottom feeder will taste like mud  If you bar-b-que a small laker rite on the grate no foil or cover  just a good soaking in red wine & vinegar dressing they're not terrible  but the big ones should be baked on an oak plank   throw out the fish and eat the plank  blue gills or perch for me any day

It must be an acquired taste, like Scotch Whiskey and I can't stand that either   As far as the plank goes, I prefer Cedar it's a softer wood.   My teeth aren't what they use to be

[trapper2000]

I agree about the alewives  fish all ways taste like what they eat   a bottom feeder will taste like mud  If you bar-b-que a small laker rite on the grate no foil or cover  just a good soaking in red wine & vinegar dressing they're not terrible  but the big ones should be baked on an oak plank   throw out the fish and eat the plank  blue gills or perch for me any day

if that were true  bullheads  and  catfish  would be  the worse  eating fish in the world ......

now  in all honesty  there is  no  right or  wrong here  it's all in what you personally like  my  question isn't if  lakers  taste  good  or  bad  my question is there anyone  here that would  rather eat a lake  trout over a  perch or  walleye  diner?

[iloveacrappiedinner]

So much hate! Lakers are one of my favorites. I've cooked them on the open fire on a lake shore a half hour after being pulled out of the water with skin and all with no seasoning and they were delicious. I've baked them, grilled them, pan seared with blackening seasoning and melted butter. All with the skin on, and lateral line removed, and I've eaten them 18" - 28" (and the 18s were from special regs lakes allowing them that short before anyone pipes in about the legal size). From LG, Otsego, and remote ADK lakes. They're a trout, there going to be oily. DON'T overcook it. Like good tuna, medium at most. Like all wild fish and game, what do after you catch it is just as important with the flavor as the animal itself. Treat it well, and you'll love it.

[bigfish1212]

I've come to the conclusion that a majority of people who don't like lake trout don't really like fish at all the really like bread crumbs. Not all but there is definitely a strong majority. 

[TRT]

i remove the belly fat an dark meat along the lateral line. I like smaller fish from our glacier lakes and make fish sticks.Quite good

[big_guy_13021]

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

[Yukoner]

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

The lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush, is a member of the char family. We also have arctic char up here, Salvelinus alpinus, the same fish that costs you $30 for a four ounce piece in one of your NY restaurants. You might say they are cousins....

... and are almost as delicious as lake trout.

Ted

[Yukoner]

So much hate! Lakers are one of my favorites. I've cooked them on the open fire on a lake shore a half hour after being pulled out of the water with skin and all with no seasoning and they were delicious. I've baked them, grilled them, pan seared with blackening seasoning and melted butter. All with the skin on, and lateral line removed, and I've eaten them 18" - 28" (and the 18s were from special regs lakes allowing them that short before anyone pipes in about the legal size). From LG, Otsego, and remote ADK lakes. They're a trout, there going to be oily. DON'T overcook it. Like good tuna, medium at most. Like all wild fish and game, what do after you catch it is just as important with the flavor as the animal itself. Treat it well, and you'll love it.

They are also mighty fine grilled and served with a side of caribou tenderloin and fresh garden veggies.  Here's a typical dinner for four at our home!




Come by and try some some time!
Ted

[captin bill]

If you like haddock your going to be disappointed with lake trout. Best way is to cpr

[trapper2000]

The lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush, is a member of the char family. We also have arctic char up here, Salvelinus alpinus, the same fish that costs you $30 for a four ounce piece in one of your NY restaurants. You might say they are cousins....

... and are almost as delicious as lake trout.

Ted

I  think  you  mistake people  from  new  York state    to those  from  new  York city  I have  never seen  arctic char or  lake trout  on a restaurants menu .....I have seen  perch and  bullhead dinners ......

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