Safe to eat???

[JamesonW]

HEY ALL,

headin to drayton valley and up the north sask from there, lookin to take a few goldeye home for the smoker (heard they were good smoked)

now i know that once it hits edmonton the nsr gets a little too polluted to eat the fish


above drayton valley are we ok to eat em or no?

what do u guys think?

[Guitarplayingfish]

HEY ALL,

headin to drayton valley and up the north sask from there, lookin to take a few goldeye home for the smoker (heard they were good smoked)

now i know that once it hits edmonton the nsr gets a little too polluted to eat the fish


above drayton valley are we ok to eat em or no?

what do u guys think?

Goldeye do not taste good... I have had a few friends try them now and they thought it was nasty.

[338Bluff]

They are fine when smoked. Have a cooler of ice near by. Scale and gut immediately (I do this by splitting them down the back - for the smoker). If you don't do this they will be soft and mushy within an hour.

They are safe to eat. You won't get cooties from them. As for pollution, the NSR has naturally occurring mercury so it is recommend to limit the number of meals you make of fish from that river (refer to regs).

Goldeye are at the lower end of the food chain and do not likely accumulate as much.

I make it a point to catch a half dozen every year to smoke and enjoy later with a cold beer.

[JamesonW]

They are fine when smoked. Have a cooler of ice near by. Scale and gut immediately (I do this by splitting them down the back - for the smoker). If you don't do this they will be soft and mushy within an hour.

They are safe to eat. You won't get cooties from them. As for pollution, the NSR has naturally occurring mercury so it is recommend to limit the number of meals you make of fish from that river (refer to regs).

Goldeye are at the lower end of the food chain and do not likely accumulate as much.

I make it a point to catch a half dozen every year to smoke and enjoy later with a cold beer.

thanks for the pointers,

[dragon]

just because you catch a fish upstream of Edmonton does not mean that it has never been downstream of edmonton...There is no magic waterline that says from this point in the river contamination occurs. Even if we said there was such as down stream of the waste treatment facility, i doubt the fish recognize that line.

[Gary K]

Goldeye do not taste good... I have had a few friends try them now and they thought it was nasty.

WRONG
they are beyond good!

[JamesonW]

WRONG
they are beyond good!

how do u like to eat em gary any recipes u could pass on

[Fishnafterwork]

Ya I was wondering the same thing about the goldeye .... I've seen them smoked in the stores ... Is this the best way of eating goldeye? And has anyone ever tried pickled pike?

[buckbrushoutdoors]

Goldeye do not taste good... I have had a few friends try them now and they thought it was nasty.

Very wrong absolutely delicious left in a brine for 12 hours and smoked!

[pechetr]

If you are seriously worried about any form of contamination be it mercury, heavy metals, pcb's etc. remove the fatty areas of the fish as this is where most of the potential toxins end up (non fat soluble) Not sure about Goldeys, but in most fish, it is the dark brownish area that runs the length of the fillet. Remove that and just use the whitest meat. This will significantly reduce any levels if any of toxins.

[Guitarplayingfish]

Very wrong absolutely delicious left in a brine for 12 hours and smoked!

Really?...

Well, someone should probably hook me up with a taste... :)

[LeroyvdH]

Ya I was wondering the same thing about the goldeye .... I've seen them smoked in the stores ... Is this the best way of eating goldeye? And has anyone ever tried pickled pike?

Pickled pike is fabulous. Dennis from Lane archery makes the best pickled pike with onions mmmmmmmmmmmmm. drool on keyboard:happy0180:
Leroy

[coyotezh]

sucker is way better than goldeye if you really want to try a fish from the river,imo

but red tail is no good, try other species!

[JamesonW]

what is the best way to prepare a sucker? smoking?

[coyotezh]

what is the best way to prepare a sucker? smoking?

no, i don't smoke it.. my theory to get a good taste of a fish is to keep it as fresh as possible. we all know fish stinky and smelly when dead for a couple of hours. if you could keep it very fresh..you clean it up and prepare it for a soup. ohhhhhhhhhhhh delicious, :sHa_shakeshout: remember don't use too much fish meat, one sucker will be way enough, of course don't use the fish head. one more thing, use the wine to get rid of the ugly smell if any.

[lifesaflyin]

There is no magic waterline that says from this point in the river contamination occurs.

yes there is. its called abraham lake.;)

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

They are fine when smoked. Have a cooler of ice near by. Scale and gut immediately (I do this by splitting them down the back - for the smoker). If you don't do this they will be soft and mushy within an hour.

They are safe to eat. You won't get cooties from them. As for pollution, the NSR has naturally occurring mercury so it is recommend to limit the number of meals you make of fish from that river (refer to regs).

Goldeye are at the lower end of the food chain and do not likely accumulate as much.

I make it a point to catch a half dozen every year to smoke and enjoy later with a cold beer.


X2 lol I love the un educated answers from people , just because the river is muddy and dirty does not mean its polluted . I'm sure some stuff gets in there by idiots who dump and throw stuff into the water . But other than that the northsaskatchewan is as clean as its been in forever . Lots of money and hard work has Gone into making this possible .

Google north saskatchewan watershed alliance . They have lots of good info about the river .
http://www.nswa.ab.ca/

[jrs]

Clean isn't the word id use, improving maybe, but clean not so much.
It takes a river a long time to recover from past abuse and over exploitation in terms of loading/ inputs. These papers discuss some of the history.
http://environment.gov.ab.ca/info/library/8060.pdf

http://www.gov.edmonton.ab.ca/city_government/documents/Discussion_Paper_4_North_Saskatchewan_River_Water_ Quality.pdf

[BigA]

X2 lol I love the un educated answers from people , just because the river is muddy and dirty does not mean its polluted . I'm sure some stuff gets in there by idiots who dump and throw stuff into the water . But other than that the northsaskatchewan is as clean as its been in forever . Lots of money and hard work has Gone into making this possible .

Google north saskatchewan watershed alliance . They have lots of good info about the river .
http://www.nswa.ab.ca/

Well said!!!!

[Guitarplayingfish]

Well said!!!!

x2 on clarity issues.. of course if the river is muddy it has nothing to do with how clean the water is.

I personally would not eat anything near a huge city like Edmonton..Calgary..Lethbridge.. etc..

This is my personal choice.. I have seen some pretty gross stuff in our river systems and the thought of eating a fish from some of them is enough for me to release them 100% of the time. Also, I like to think that the more fish I release the more fish there will be to catch in urban areas in the future.

[Alberta Bigbore]

smoked goldeye is a delicacy in Manitoba, and can be found in Sobeys ready to eat.

It as a very satisfying flavor and a treat everytime I visit Winnipeg. I've never kept any to smoke as we always end up saving them to use as cut bait for the big catfish on the red river.

[tight line]

yes there is. its called abraham lake.;)

Lol very true! Best tasting lakers ive tasted!