Rainbow trout in my plate

[Thundercatcher]

What the best way to cook Rainbows. The one from CHickakoo didn't taste muddy but it didn't have lots of flovour. And what the easiest way to clean them?

[kargor]

to clean I cut from the anus to the gills , cut thru the back of the head and then pull head and intestines out , then clean the blood vessel along the back and rinse with water. To cook , salt and pepper the inside , dredge the fish in flour and fry in butter about 7 mins a side

[gr8tbigkid]

ok that works for the 13" one how long for the 22" giggle i caught two today was just wondering...lol:test::sign0161::sign0068:

[ericlin0122]

sashimi

[Kim473]

I fillet like a walleye or perch with no bones on the bigger ones. Under 13" I would just gut and bake whole, no head or tail.

[Bigtoad]

ok that works for the 13" one how long for the 22" giggle i caught

Easy answer... you keep the 13" and you give the 22" a kiss and gently slide it back down the hole. He's not going to taste any better than the 13", he's harder to cook properly, and a field photo with a 22" still breathing looks a hell of a lot better than a picture of it dead in your sink.

If everyone put back the big boys and kept one or two small-medium fish, the trout fishing (nay, all fishing) in Alberta would be significantly better.

With that off my chest, nice job on catching a nice fish. They sure do look big down the hole when they get that big. Now I'm itching to get out there.

Oh, and you might try making steaks out of it and then frying, bbqing, baking, or poaching it.

Cheers.

[Geezle]

Easy answer... you keep the 13" and you give the 22" a kiss and gently slide it back down the hole. He's not going to taste any better than the 13", he's harder to cook properly, and a field photo with a 22" still breathing looks a hell of a lot better than a picture of it dead in your sink.

If everyone put back the big boys and kept one or two small-medium fish, the trout fishing (nay, all fishing) in Alberta would be significantly better.

With that off my chest, nice job on catching a nice fish. They sure do look big down the hole when they get that big. Now I'm itching to get out there.

Oh, and you might try making steaks out of it and then frying, bbqing, baking, or poaching it.

Cheers.

Are you really preaching about somebody presumably keeping a (presumably) stocked rainbow?

Really?

[Lefty-Canuck]

Are you really preaching about somebody presumably keeping a (presumably) stocked rainbow?

Really?

X2....the stocked ones don't reproduce so one is no more or less "valuable" than the other.....pike on the other hand.....:) oh yah you can't keep the small ones :thinking-006:

LC

[Saltmania]

For large trout, butterfly fillets always work well. Also, most salmon fillet recipes work well on trout.

I usually butterfly the fish then remove the intramuscular bones (pin bones) using tweezers. I sometimes remove the skin especially if I have a guest who is a picky eater but usually not. If you're not familiar with butterfly filets, just look up how to do it on youtube - it's easy.

Place the fillets skin-side down on a baking sheet that's covered in tin foil.
Add a topping and then cover the sheet with a top layer of foil and bake at 400F for about 12-18 minutes depending on the size of fish.

For topping I have quite a few different recipes I use, but here are a few that always turn out great:

Lemon-Pepper:
Drizzle olive oil, a pinch of salt, a tsp of garlic powder, and a pinch of pepper over the filets
Lay very thinly sliced Jalepeno peppers all over the filets
Lay thinly sliced lemons over the filets.
Cover and bake as above
The Jalepenos put a nice capsicum taste and it's not really spicy in case you were worried about that

Teriyaki:
Put a cup and a half of soy sauce in a bowl
Add white sugar and stir to dissolve. Keep adding sugar into it no longer dissolves.
Pour sauce over fillets in a glass dish. Marinade in the refrigerator for an hour or so.
Place on baking pan skin side down and cook as per above.

French Onion:
Mix a half package of Lipton french onion soup mix into a small container of sour cream. Spread mixture evenly over filets. Lay in pan and bake as above except uncovered.

Like I said, any baked salmon filet recipe should work fine so just consult Lord Google if you want to more ideas :)

P.S. If you're lucky enough to have kept spawning females with roe, home-made trout caviar is awesome. Again, just google how to mix up the brine and separate the eggs from their membrane. Easy and delicious. I try not to waste anything I keep. If you have dogs or cat's they're sure to love the organs. Just freeze them for 24 hours first to kill any parasites they might have.

[Bigtoad]

Are you really preaching about somebody presumably keeping a (presumably) stocked rainbow?

Yup, I sure am Geezle. I realize that stocked trout are never going to reproduce, so yes, it is even more important to put back spawner pike, walleye, trout in streams, etc. However, your "just a stocked trout" philosophy is stupid.:snapoutofit: My reasoning:

I'm fine with someone keeping a few small trout that are stocked, but why do we need to keep 5 and why do we need to keep the big ones? Local lakes are not your personal grocery store so leave some for others.

I am suggesting that you put the bigger ones back so that they can grow to larger sizes so the overall fishery is better in Alberta. Many Albertans drive 14 hours to Manitoba or 6 hours to BC to find a decent trout fishery that is run correctly. If more of us had a different philosophy on fishing here in Alberta, perhaps many of us could save some money on gas and just fish here.

Ahhhh.. fishing here; where we pay a ton of cash every year to restock our lakes and then even more money to aerate them to help the stocked trout to overwinter but allow so many people to bonk them, that we don't allow them to grow any bigger. So we happily aerate a lake and then sit there catching 13" fish thinking how awesome the fishery is. That makes no sense. If we are going to aerate a lake, then put some restrictions on it.

Now Geezle, just give me ONE good reason why you should keep a 22" trout from just a stocked lake? And "just because you can," doesn't count as an argument. Tell me how that helps anyone else other than yourself. If you want bragging rights, take a picture and then put the fish down the hole.

Cheers.

[Saltmania]

Now Geezle, just give me ONE good reason why you should keep a 22" trout from just a stocked lake? And "just because you can," doesn't count as an argument. Tell me how that helps anyone else other than yourself. If you want bragging rights, take a picture and then put the fish down the hole.


I could feed my family with a single 22" trout whereas I'd need to keep three or four 13" fish. Also, some people like canning, smoking, etc. Large fish are much better for these purposes - less cleaning, scaling, etc.

Limiting out with 22" fish throughout the season would be greedy, but why grind someone's gears for keeping the odd nice fat trout?

[packhuntr]

Bigtoad, you are fighting a losing battle and Ive watched you do it for some time here. There have been multiple try me included and its a sad waste of time. Its sick and sad as hell but there is nothing we can do on any individual basis to make any change. Best thing you could do is get mad at er and drop the hammer. If this province wants a sh*t show, join em, and lets show them what a bunch of VERY LEGALLY destroyed resources look like. Once these remnants we see today are blown completely out of the water we will have all these dip sh*ts on board (FINALLY) and we can push for the other side of the coin from conservation,, you guessed it, PROTECTION, cause that will be the only avenue ethically and socially persuable. Read below, if ya cant beat em join em. Do it legally and have a blast, F*** IT!!

[HunterDave]

Frying pan sized trout are dusted with flour and thrown in a frying pan with butter. Head cut off. Put it on your dinner plate when it's cooked and just peel the skin off and season to taste.

Larger trout are wiped with butter and then seasoned inside and out. I leave the head on so I can eat the cheeks. We wrap it in aluminum foil and cook it on the top rack of the bbq. When it's done the skin sticks to the foil and comes off when it's unwrapped. Instead of putting the whole fish on the table the meat is taken off of the bones and portions are put on dinner plates so people can season it the way that they like it.

I like lemon juice, lemon pepper and/or salt on my trout.

Bon appetit! :)

[raoul]

for larger trout ive been making pork stuffing in a frying pan(like for your turkey dinner) and putting it in the trouts cavity and baking or bbq'ing it.

[gr8tbigkid]

well not sure after reading will do any good to say but ..oh well lololol:snapoutofit: i had caught 4 big ones and 3 little one kept one of each cause i wanted to eat both was enuff for a MEAL...... and there seems to be alot more large ones there than small ones or mabye in just that area i had 2 friends with me and we caught quite few large ones and almost all went back into the holes....was a blast ..i have ate alot of smaller trout b4 just not big ones.... so my question was how long to cook the big one......and today i was at chain and limited out in 1 hour was there for 3 again was a blast and most fish went back in the hole thnx for advice on where to go DEEPFRYED...wast the amount yu got but bet we had 24-25 fish total... i had never been north that far..always at south parkinglot straight out...150yrds always catch fish my kids love it....today i just went for fun and a meal....lol :argue2: so i am srry if i offended somebody about eating a big fish...lmao:angry3: and just so someone tells me limit is five there was two of us there fishing....lololol:argue2::love0025::sHa_shakeshou t:

[WayneChristie]

Bigtoad, you are fighting a losing battle and Ive watched you do it for some time here. There have been multiple try me included and its a sad waste of time. Its sick and sad as hell but there is nothing we can do on any individual basis to make any change. Best thing you could do is get mad at er and drop the hammer. If this province wants a sh*t show, join em, and lets show them what a bunch of VERY LEGALLY destroyed resources look like. Once these remnants we see today are blown completely out of the water we will have all these dip sh*ts on board (FINALLY) and we can push for the other side of the coin from conservation,, you guessed it, PROTECTION, cause that will be the only avenue ethically and socially persuable. Read below, if ya cant beat em join em. Do it legally and have a blast, F*** IT!!

what a sad sad attitude you have. these stocked trout are put into these waters for exactly what people are doing, to catch and EAT! so in your eyes its better to let them winterkill in a lot of Albertas lakes, than to let people catch them for a meal. these are not natural trout, these are put into the potholes to give people a chance to catch a fish where there would be none. they dont reproduce, and how big is a trout going to get in a tiny body of water??? maybe we should all grow our own fish so we can brag them up like you do, and make pets out of them. your attitude sucks, and so does your language, for a family forum, even if you have to use fancy punctuation marks because the words are too hard for you to spell. and by the way, how many times have you passed up trophy bucks to save the gene pool and just shot a spike to eat? why should people do any different when fishing???

sorry dont have any trout recipes, dont eat trout :bad_boys_20:

[Sundancefisher]

What the best way to cook Rainbows. The one from CHickakoo didn't taste muddy but it didn't have lots of flovour. And what the easiest way to clean them?

Put the gutted trout or fillets in a baggie with kraft golden italian salad dressing. Let marinade over night...or for about 4 hours at least. Then pan fry or bbq

[gr8tbigkid]

that one sounds awsome i will try that
:thinking-006::love0025:

[HunterDave]

i had caught 4 big ones and 3 little one kept one of each cause i wanted to eat both was enuff for a MEAL...... and there seems to be alot more large ones there than small ones or mabye in just that area i had 2 friends with me and we caught quite few large ones and almost all went back into the holes....was a blast......

Are you pulling my leg gr8bigkid? I see that you are from Calgary and I've been told that the only place near Calgary that you can catch a 22" trout is in Bullshead Reservoir and that's only because it's a "quality" trout fishery.....it's closed right now. I've also been told that all of the other lakes that are stocked around there are fished out in a matter of days. So what's up with being able to catch all of those 22" trout? :confused0024:

[packhuntr]

what a sad sad attitude you have. these stocked trout are put into these waters for exactly what people are doing, to catch and EAT! so in your eyes its better to let them winterkill in a lot of Albertas lakes, than to let people catch them for a meal. these are not natural trout, these are put into the potholes to give people a chance to catch a fish where there would be none. they dont reproduce, and how big is a trout going to get in a tiny body of water??? maybe we should all grow our own fish so we can brag them up like you do, and make pets out of them. your attitude sucks, and so does your language, for a family forum, even if you have to use fancy punctuation marks because the words are too hard for you to spell. and by the way, how many times have you passed up trophy bucks to save the gene pool and just shot a spike to eat? why should people do any different when fishing???

sorry dont have any trout recipes, dont eat trout :bad_boys_20:

Sorry to confuse you Wayne, some of what I speak of has little to do with stocked trout, the assumption that direct correlation can be drawn directly between birds of the same feather can not be assumed, its far too confusing and detail dependant! For EVERYTHING ELSE besides all stocked fish but NOT excluding baby stockling rainbows, lightly breaded in flour seasoned to choice and sealed up hard and fast on cast iron is tough to beat. It seals in the moisture, like mentioned before hand, afew minutes and shes showtime, as long as the spuds and onions are set and ready! Old chef's secret: closed stream trout, and bait harvested high mountain stream trout or whitefish are slicker than a fresh pan of corn bread and buscuits! Take my word on it Wayne,,, if you ever wanna kill anything other than big "released" hen pike.

[Kim473]

Yup, I sure am Geezle. I realize that stocked trout are never going to reproduce, so yes, it is even more important to put back spawner pike, walleye, trout in streams, etc. However, your "just a stocked trout" philosophy is stupid.:snapoutofit: My reasoning:

I'm fine with someone keeping a few small trout that are stocked, but why do we need to keep 5 and why do we need to keep the big ones? Local lakes are not your personal grocery store so leave some for others.

I am suggesting that you put the bigger ones back so that they can grow to larger sizes so the overall fishery is better in Alberta. Many Albertans drive 14 hours to Manitoba or 6 hours to BC to find a decent trout fishery that is run correctly. If more of us had a different philosophy on fishing here in Alberta, perhaps many of us could save some money on gas and just fish here.

Ahhhh.. fishing here; where we pay a ton of cash every year to restock our lakes and then even more money to aerate them to help the stocked trout to overwinter but allow so many people to bonk them, that we don't allow them to grow any bigger. So we happily aerate a lake and then sit there catching 13" fish thinking how awesome the fishery is. That makes no sense. If we are going to aerate a lake, then put some restrictions on it.

Now Geezle, just give me ONE good reason why you should keep a 22" trout from just a stocked lake? And "just because you can," doesn't count as an argument. Tell me how that helps anyone else other than yourself. If you want bragging rights, take a picture and then put the fish down the hole.

Cheers.

Caught 5 - 13" trout had to cook all 5 to make a meal for our family. Went someplace else and caught 3 - 18" put back about 10 - 13" ones only needed to cook 2 for the same meal. Which is better harvest 5 or harvest 2 or 3 for the same meal? IMO the lesser amount of bigger fish is a better way to harvest. More fish for others to catch and don't need to go back again for another meal. Next year the 13" will be bigger.

Don't stock fish that don't reproduce.

Perch, catch 15 under 10" for a meal or 6 to 8 over 10" for the same meal. Which is better?

IMO. Catch and keep fewer large ones, no restocking is needed.

Everyone has there own opinion, this is just mine.

[WayneChristie]

Are you pulling my leg gr8bigkid? I see that you are from Calgary and I've been told that the only place near Calgary that you can catch a 22" trout is in Bullshead Reservoir and that's only because it's a "quality" trout fishery.....it's closed right now. I've also been told that all of the other lakes that are stocked around there are fished out in a matter of days. So what's up with being able to catch all of those 22" trout? :confused0024:

really? I can name 3 places that have big trout and non are Bullshead. and by big I mean 5 pounds plus. ok 4 places, no wait, even more! but Im not going to name them, sorry, you will have to find them for yourself, I did. Pakhunter your opinion is your opinion, right or wrong, same for mine. Never killed a fish over 10 pounds and unless its a new record never will, thanks.

[WayneChristie]

Old chef's secret: closed stream trout, and bait harvested high mountain stream trout or whitefish are slicker than a fresh pan of corn bread and buscuits! Take my word on it Wayne,,, if you ever wanna kill anything other than big "released" hen pike.
so you admit to poaching? nice

[Bigtoad]

what a sad sad attitude you have. these stocked trout are put into these waters for exactly what people are doing, to catch and EAT! so in your eyes its better to let them winterkill in a lot of Albertas lakes, than to let people catch them for a meal.

First Wayne, I said right at the beginning that I'm all for people keeping some fish to eat. What I am suggesting is taking a philosophy of not keeping your limit and letting the bigger fish go.

I agree that stocked lakes are for catching fish but I don't think that they are for filling your freezer like many do, or worse, feeding them to the dogs when you get home cause you don't feel like cleaning them (I'm not suggesting Thundercatcher was doing any of these).

And if the fish are going to winterkill, then have at it Wayne, but many lakes in Alberta are aerated to allow fish to survive the winter and get bigger yet allow a harvest of 5 fish of any size. Either install an aerator and change the regs accordingly or get rid of the aerator.



these are not natural trout, these are put into the potholes to give people a chance to catch a fish where there would be none. they dont reproduce, and how big is a trout going to get in a tiny body of water???
Really big actually.. really, really big.


and by the way, how many times have you passed up trophy bucks to save the gene pool and just shot a spike to eat? why should people do any different when fishing???

I see your point. I think it's mainly two reasons why it's different. One, you don't need to kill a fish to get a mount done of it or pose with it in a picture. The challenge is in catching it, not killing it. It's somehow different with deer. And it's difficult to mount a deer or pose with it unless you've shot it:sHa_shakeshout:

Second, it's not like in lot of lakes in Alberta that are stocked we're just passing up trophy fish. We're not finding many. It would be similar to the speedgoat situation in Southern Ab, that due to harsh winters and mismanagement, there are very few trophies around. I'd be saying the same thing there if you could kill 5 pronghorns; please limit your harvest.

I'd just like to see a different philosophy adopted by more Albertans, which is to limit their catch and release the big boys when and if you do catch them. Don't think this is too much to ask really.

Cheers.

[Sundancefisher]

Now Geezle, just give me ONE good reason why you should keep a 22" trout from just a stocked lake? And "just because you can," doesn't count as an argument. Tell me how that helps anyone else other than yourself. If you want bragging rights, take a picture and then put the fish down the hole.

Cheers.

If the lake is a put and take lake then it is managed to sustain a harvest...so my interest in eating one falls in line with management strategies and does not hurt you or anyone else. If I want to keep 2 or 5 eight inch trout or one 22 inch trout and it is within my right and the management principles to do so...more power to me.

If the lake is managed as a quality fishery then I can harvest that fish because that is why it is being managed...to harvest after 20 inches. If I want a meal...it is a way better size than keeping 2 or 5 - 8 inch trout in my humble opinion.

Over all we need to know that the fish are not solely yours or mine to dictate eat or not eat. It is a public resource, put and take lake, managed with all our tax dollars. This conversation should be about friendly balance and sharing and mutual respect...not slamming someone wanting to eat one in a sustainable way.

If you want a lake that has no harvest over 20 inches...consider where and make a pitch and point out the pros and cons.

Personally...in your average lake stocked with fingerlings...unless stocked lightly... a 22 inch trout only has a couple years left before old age kills it...so why not harvest. Maximizing value for our tax dollars needs to be a balance between harvest and recreational value based upon location, demographics, lake physical characteristics etc.

Just a thought.

[gr8tbigkid]

wow everybody has an opinion lol i ate all the fish i caught already and they were all delicious......:snapoutofit: ok i lied i still have one large baggie full of burbot that we are going to deepfry today for supper at the inlaws...:angry3: i do apreciate all the info on cooking fish thnx to everyone that posted ....:medium-smiley-035::grouphugg: and you guys shud all get along ...if you dnt have anything good to say pm it.....ROFLMFAO!!!!!:character0053::fishing::shake 2::thinking-017:

[HunterDave]

really? I can name 3 places that have big trout and non are Bullshead. and by big I mean 5 pounds plus. ok 4 places, no wait, even more! but Im not going to name them, sorry, you will have to find them for yourself, I did.

Yeah, I believe you. I kind of figured that what I was being told about there being no big trout near Calgary and stocked lakes getting fished out wasn't true. People that were stating that as fact were trying to justify the creation of more "quality" trout fisheries down that way......or.......they really just don't know where the fish are. These were the same people that told me that there were no big trout in non-"quality" lakes around Edmonton and I know for a fact that isn't true. ;)

[Bigtoad]

If the lake is a put and take lake then it is managed to sustain a harvest...so my interest in eating one falls in line with management strategies and does not hurt you or anyone else. If I want to keep 2 or 5 eight inch trout or one 22 inch trout and it is within my right and the management principles to do so...more power to me.

If the lake is managed as a quality fishery then I can harvest that fish because that is why it is being managed...to harvest after 20 inches. If I want a meal...it is a way better size than keeping 2 or 5 - 8 inch trout in my humble opinion.

Over all we need to know that the fish are not solely yours or mine to dictate eat or not eat. It is a public resource, put and take lake, managed with all our tax dollars. This conversation should be about friendly balance and sharing and mutual respect...not slamming someone wanting to eat one in a sustainable way.

If you want a lake that has no harvest over 20 inches...consider where and make a pitch and point out the pros and cons.

Personally...in your average lake stocked with fingerlings...unless stocked lightly... a 22 inch trout only has a couple years left before old age kills it...so why not harvest. Maximizing value for our tax dollars needs to be a balance between harvest and recreational value based upon location, demographics, lake physical characteristics etc.

Just a thought.

I agree with you Sundance, I really do. But lets be honest here. Why is there a 3 pike limit now in Alberta and zero walleye? (generalizing of course) People were well in their right to keep more than that because the regs allowed it. Absolutely. But if it was managed so well by SRD then why did the walleye collapse and the pike nearly do the same? And why did they need to put more strict regs in place?

Because the simple fact is, that SRD doesn't seem to be able to manage themselves out of a wet paper bag.

So is it within someone's right to keep 5 little one's - yup.
Is it in their rights to keep 5 big one's - again, yup.
Should we be keeping a few less and letting a few bigger ones go? I'd like to think so. I'd like to see people in Alberta not see the limits on fish like they do the speed limit on the QE2. If the regs say you can keep 5 trout, that doesn't mean you have to. Doesn't mean you can't either, and once in a while go ahead. But practicing a little conservation now and again would be awesome.

Back to the original post that Thundercatcher put up... I think he was well within his rights to keep those fish and I'm fine that he did. But next time he goes, I'd like him to think about maybe releasing another big one if he catches it and keeping one or two smaller ones instead. If more of us practiced this, the fishing in Alberta would be a lot better, a lot faster.

You've got to remember Sundance, not all of us have 10lbers swimming in our backyards. Sometimes catching 13" fish from stocked lakes gets a little tiring when it could be so much better.

Cheers.

[Drop_Tine]

Im with Bigtoad and pack , i went out this morning, caught 15 rainbows , kept 2 13"s.. threw back the rest, including a couple 18+ inchers, just cause u can keep'em doesnt mean you have to, i love catching big rainbows , actually any big fish ! Stocked or not a big fish is a big fish !

[HunterDave]

I agree with keeping the smaller "eating" sized fish and leaving the bigger ones in the lake and that's what I do. I'm not going to bash someone for keeping a big fish though. If that's all that you're catching a man's gotta eat........it's happened to me before.

[Bigtoad]

I agree with keeping the smaller "eating" sized fish and leaving the bigger ones in the lake and that's what I do. I'm not going to bash someone for keeping a big fish though. If that's all that you're catching a man's gotta eat........it's happened to me before.

Dave, are we agreeing with each other again? It must be Christmas.

And I think "big" is relative to where you are fishing. An 18" might be common at one lake and a 6lber not out of the question. Keep a couple 18"s but let the bigger ones go. However, at another lake 18" might be huge and 13" be the norm. Again, I would suggest keeping the smaller and releasing the larger. However, if all you are catching is one class size, then whatever, just practice some conservation and restraint.

And if the limit is 5, then keep 2 or 3. If the limit is 3, then keep 1 or none. A little self control would go a long way in improving our fisheries. Besides, when the freezer gets empty sooner, it's a good excuse to get back fishing again.

Cheers.

[HunterDave]

Dave, are we agreeing with each other again? It must be Christmas.

Indeed we are....lol. Yes, size is relative. My opinion is that people in Alberta are conditioned by the fishing regs to keep the big fish. I have fished in several different provinces and everywhere else anglers generally know to keep the smaller "eating" sized fish and to leave the large "spawners" in the lake. That is for all species. I realize that Alberta is unique in that the majority of the trout are stocked and do not spawn however I don't think that is a valid reason to change the way that I fish. Besides, despite what other people might say, I think that smaller "eating" sized trout taste much better than a big old greasy one. To each their own. :)