Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Best eating in freshwater

Let's here your opinions. For me.

1) channel cats and flatheads - easy choice if forced

2) burbut

3) paddlefish - the firm meat makes me think of halibut

Crappie

Crappie
Spoonbill
Perch/Goggle-eye
Flathead
Redhorse/sucker
Walleye
Blue cat
Channel cat

walleye
trout

spot

Fresh Grayling on the stream, lake or pond.
Walleye.
Crappie.

best,
bhtr

Crappie...

trout
walleye

perch

Crappie killer how do you prepare redhorse/sucker, do you bleed them or do anything special to clean them.
the moutain stream where my camp is has alot of them but we do not fish for them.

arky65

I have tried them many ways, but my favorite is to remove scales and scour/score (sp?) them on the sides to aid in cooking the small bones found there and then deep fry to golden brown and serve with fried taters and onions. I have also filleted them after they were scaled leaving the outer skin intact. Remove the rib bones and scour from the fillets from the inside and then deep fry. I think the backbone adds more flavor and I like to eat the tail fin for dessert. I have also pickled them and canned them for use making fish patties later. I grew up on the Gasconade River (stream fed) and during the fall/winter, we would gig them at night using a gas light. We still get together once or twice a week for a night on the river and fish fry on the bank afterwards. The colder the water the more firm the meat is and the better I like it.

CK

I will give em a try.


Thanks

They can be quite good the way Crappie Killer describes. I've caught them with rod/reel, and, done some gigging on the Current and Jacks Fork. Those gravel bar nighttime fish fries are great! I like to fillet them, leave the skin on, then score them from the flesh side down to the skin. Dredge them in seasoned corn meal/flour and them drop them in hot oil and dip them out when the fillet bobs to the surface. Add fried taters with onion, some peppers, baked bread, and the drink of your choice. All this under a crystal Ozark sky on a cold fall night when the barred owls and coyotes sing to you... Not a bad experience at all.

In my area, sauger or crappie get the nod for skillet fish.

For some reason, I find fish taken through the ice seem to taste better.
That said, I'll take a bucket of yellows (perch) any day. I make "poor man's shrimp" out of them.

Lake perch, walleye and sturgeon for me. Channel cats are never turned down either for that matter. I eat more of them then any other fish. I would not eat one over 5 pounds though and prefer them under 3 lbs.

bream, walleye, crappie and smallish bass.

Kokanee, channel cat, walleye.

I tried a walleye a couple years ago and would eat a whole lot more if I knew how to catch them. so my favorite hands down is catfish, the more the better. I don't even care what species. I wouldn't give you a nickle for a train load of trout and/or salmon.

walleye, crappie, little catfish under 2 lbs

bucktales

I have heard of "poor mans shrimp" but never heard how it is made. Can you give me a quick explanation.Thanks

wes

There might be other ways and with differant fish, tried it with bass and trout, but yellow perch works best for me.
Fillet and skin perch and cut into shrimp size chunks.
Boil pot of water, I add spices such as OLD BAY crab spice to the boiling water.
Using a metal basket or strainer, put fish into boiling water.
Shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes, The fish pieces will turn white and curl up.
Remove basket from boiling water and run under ICE COLD water.
This gives it a shrimp like look and feel.
Now whip up some cocktail sauce with extra horseradish and open a bottle of adult beverage and enjoy.

+1 !

Love'em!

Best caught through the ice too.

John

Yellow perch fried in bacon grease and spring caught walleye. Fresh caught , I mean one hour ago, salmon on the grill with just a couple of wood chips to make it taste like a wood fire.

Thanks bucktales, IM gonna give that a try.

wes

Make it catfish (salt and peppered deep fried) for me

Me too!

Down here in the Southern fresh water I rank em' like this;

1. Big hybred blue gill
2. Crappie
3. Channel cats

If you get into the saltwater I like flounder, red fish, and speckled trout.

MMMMMMMM.....Yellow Perch through the ice. Oh the sweet sweet taste on your lips. Ahhh.....

Oh and walleye of course. Yummy! Salmon on the grill is great.

1)Rainbow trout
2) perch & crappie
3) sauger & walleye

Trout if your stream-side but that's kinda like cheatin'....

Crappie/Walleye
Bluegill/Catfish
Bass

Catching and eating the same day are a big plus. Now I'm really hungry!!!

Walleye and Eelpout through the ice!

Mike

No brainer: lake/yellow perch, spring, summer fall or winter. Hands down the #1 eating freshwater fish. Fried, deep fat fried, sauteed in butter, baked, or broiled. My favorite way is floured fried in bacon grease served with sunny side up eggs and hashbrowns at the cabin. Or beer battered and served up with steak fries and homemade coleslaw.

in second place Northerns, 3rd real bluegills not the sunfish people call bluegills. a tie with rockbass.

Real, wild trout
Good, farm pond cats
Bream, breaded and pand fried.

yellow perch
bluegill
walleye
muskellunge

Crappie !!!!

This is a pic from one of our nights on the river.

CK

The best eating in fresh water would be to sit in your bathtub with a "T" bone steak cooked on a Cabela's Smoker Grill!

CK,
Fine mess of suckers! Hey, that one on the lower right doesn't seem to be the same...

CK, How do you catch them, they are usually a by product in my net. I have only caught one and I foul hooked it in the tail with a grub while smallmouth fishing.

Arky65

The one on the lower right was one of Carson's (6 yrs old), Danielle killed her fare share during the night. These were gigged. I have tight lined for them during the spring and summer also. I love them during the winter.

CK

My ratings are admittedly colored by the fact I am a Southern boy.

I have (a few times) tasted Walleye and it could possibly make a run for the top spot, but I just don't have enough experience to make that call. Trout seem to have a good taste if propperly prepared, but are much too soft-fleshed (mushy) to make the top list.

Most people who say they like fish.....really don't like a "fishy" taste. For them Crappie may be prefered due to it's firm flesh and mild flavor.

For that matter Largemouth / Smallmouth Bass are in the same catigory and you get the added benifit of a great feeling when cleaning them. Make sure you are close to a dock favored by the fanatical catch-and-release crowd and openly clean your catch. The look on their faces is worth as much as the filets.

Great flavor is had in Pike, Buffalo and Carp.....but the trouble with the many tiny "Y" bones takes them out of first place.

Over-all it's got to be catfish. Not just any catfish though.....they are different.

Any catfish living in still waters (lake, pond, ect) is inferior to one caught in a flowing river. The fact these have to "work for a living" makes their flesh so much firmer and tastey.

Pond raised catfish are the worst of the lot as they not only have the disadvantages of any still-water cats, but also are fed pellets that take away the true "catfish" flavor. Maybe that's why so many prefer them because, as stated before, many who claim to love fish really don't like the fish taste.

Also eleminate catfish caught in most tailrace areas in rivers as the constant flow of injued baitfish allows them to simply sit on the bottom and eat without working...makes for a fat, soft flesh.

Wild river cats are rated as such......Flatheads are best. Always firm fleshed, even if of tremendous size. Guess it's because they are true preditors and eat alsmost exclusivly live bait.

Channel cats.....also firm fleshed and seldom so big as to get "fat". Flavor is milder than Flatheads and Blues, but still difinitely "catfishy".

Blue Cats.......under about 10 pounds. Great taste and if caught in a free flowing river firm fleshed. Over 10 pounds or so they begin to get fat and soft and once over 25 pound or so are as bad as still-water cats.

I love bream also, but small size means many, many fish are needed for a meal. However, if you run into ones big enough to filet (3/4 pound or so)....they are great.

Just my opinion, but gained over 50 years of eating everything that swims. By the way.....worst you'll ever eat are Grinnel unless eaten right out of the grease. Once they start to cool at all.......are almost inedible.

TexasRick,

When I was a student doing a internship down south, TN, catfish was definitely the prefered fish of choice. Unfortunately, us northern boys (Pittsburgh) who fish the rivers aren't recommended to eat any catfish from there. Ashame, as I quite a few really nice size flatheads from there. Mouths big enough to stick my to fist in there down to my elbows. Trying to retrieve my shad rap rapla (size 5 or 7) which look like a midget fry in their mouth!!!


Regards,

Leo

Perch is first, followed by Bluegill.

Salmon follow by catfish. All others run a distance third.

Walleye
Rainbow Trout
Crappie
Channel Catfish

1. walleye
2. perch
3. cold smoked salmon(lox)
4. smoked eel(unagi)

Crappie !

Lake Superior Yellow Perch....

Most definately Crappie....
Bluegill and smallmouth bass rounding out my top three.

Sea-run cutthroat returnin' from the ocean.

Northerns, Walleyes, and Perch. Through the ice is best.

Fish just seem to taste a lot better that are caught in colder water vs warmer summer months.

Ted

Spring Chinook, Pretty hard to beat on the BBQ or in the smoker.

walleye,no question

1. walleye
2. crappie perch bluegill

I would rate crappie as #1. These were caught two years ago by my son on our first trip with our new boat. Great day.
#2 would be flathead. That white, flaky meat is hard to beat.
I think I would rate a smallish cold water river smallmouth next. Any of those three work for me.

Walleye

Rainbow trout of at least a pound, but only from either of two lakes in BC. On second thought, I'll not name the lakes. The strain of fish in them produce heavy bodied trout with firm red meat.

Channel catfish
Crappie

Brook trout only if we heat the skillet before casting a fly, and pop them right in the skillet. They go soft fast but are superb if super fresh. I like to stop by a brookie lake for lunch when hunting my favorite moose area.

Doesn't seem fair to me to include sockeye and other salmon, though we catch them in freshwater.

Bluegill

Arctic grayling is the best tasting in freshwater.

1. Walleye
2. Yellow Perch
3. Channel Cat

1. Pike
2. Flathead Catfish
3. Bluegill

buffalo. In the carp family. Don't laugh. You'll spit catfish out if you're eating it along with buffalo. I've eaten walleye
and every other scaled fish there is. I worked on a catfish farm in Missippi (correct spelling BTW) for years...Buffalo is wonderful by comparison.

Also gar is very good but hard to clean.

Eddie

+1 on buffalo, especially the ribs which are big and meaty and dont have the small bones of the fillets....also sauger is very good, (member of the walleye family)

Poor man's shrimp: Cut panfish into bite size bits....boil in beer for 3-4 minutes....plunge into ice water to stop all cooking....dip in your favorite cocktail sauce....ENJOY!!!!

Walleye
Trout

Spot

Sorry guys! none of the above...

fresh run sea bass from the Yoshino Gawa in Tokushima, Japan. You eat them raw as sushi, dipped in soya / wasabi sauce. Cooking, steaming or frying only covers their incredibly delicate taste.

You haven't lived till ...

walleye gets my vote!

Bluegills
Crappie
Walleyes

Kokanee (Not the beer)
Sturgeon
Wild Rainbow Trout

Mike D.

My order...
Walleye
Crappie
Bluegill
and perch too.

Sturgeon
Walleye
(cold water)pike

Fresh cold water mountain trout from NC streams. Fried lightly in a black iron skillet. Nothing better.

1 Yellow Perch
2 Pike with Y bones removed
3 Walleye
4 Bluegill
5 boneless wild trout

1. Wild Rainbow Trout, can't stand those Purina Trout Chow fed hatchery fish, flesh is like mush
2. Yellow Perch
3. Channel Cat

#1 Walleye/Sauger
#2 Crappie
#3 Perch
#4 Pickled Northern

What Ted said... That looks to be a lake trout Yukoner has baked.

Funny how folks get real good saltwater fish and they can no longer eat freshwater fish...
art

Sturgeon, Mmmmmmm

Mark

Crappie
Blegill/Bream
Largemouth Bass

Walleye/Sauger
Blugill/Redear
Bass
Crappie
Early spring fiddler size channel cats

Walleye, but I hear Ling is better. Never tasted it myself.

Arctic Grayling

There are a lot that I haven't eaten, but fresh crappie gets my vote.

+1

Gotta go with walleye myself...But don't mind Brookie or Rainbow trout.Pike from cold water, breaded and deep fried isn't bad either.

I've always put Arctic Grayling back due to never catching them too often and their low numbers north of here.

crappie, trout and catfish work for me!

Bull head. Gotta let them swim in some fresh water to make sure their cleaned out.

Then I fillet and pan fry in butter, salt and pepper.

I gotta roll with perch and walleye. bluegill and crappie were pretty durn good the few times I've had em. Same for steelhead on the grill.

Had halibut once covered in a crab sauce. It was the bomb.

I like everything, as I've said many times.

But I'd reach across a platter of trout to get to a single crappie, or bluegill, or catfish, or perch, or walleye.

My all-time favorite is any of them, served with hushpuppies, good slaw and a cold beer.

Perch
Perch
Perch!
[img][IMG]http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m238/Kevin_Teed/Perchin.jpg[/img][/img]

I've been told Lamprey eels are really tastey. I won't eat one though.

Alaskan arctic grayling is the best.

Barramundi, Northern Territory, Australia

Perch #1, Crappie #2 Might be different if we had walleye around here......

Crappie, then trout. I am not a big catfish fan.

The snowbelt! would that be western NY?
Lake Chautaugua by any chance?

Close! NW PA.
This day we were on Erie.

Cool!
I used to live in WNY and every weekend we would frequent either Chautaugua or Erie, sure do miss those giant perch......good eating they are.

They sure are! It won't be long now and we'll be back out filling up the freezer with fillets!

I pulled in 2 one pound bluegills this weekend and a few dozen bass with a buddy. We kept the bluegills and a couple bass that were gill hooked. I'm looking forward to the bluegill. I'll try to sneak the bass on someone else's plate.