Trout for the table

[porochi]

Always filleted them, just like Phil said. I like em fried. And have found that if you leave skin on, the breading doesn't stay on as well. And besides, I don't like to eat the skin. I don't cut out the ribs unless it's a big fillet. With these stockers, it's just too much hassle to cut em out; when fried, the ribs just pull right out, if not simply cooked out.

[mcp633]

In the group that I fish with we gut and skin the fish. Then we fillet them and then cut the fillets into about one to two inch pieces. We soak them in clean water until the water gets grayish in color and then change the water and repeat until the water stays clear. This helps to eliminate the "fishy" taste that some people don't care for. Then just fry em up like you would a slab of crappie.

[vince]

If I take them home I fillet them. If I fix them for shore lunch I keep small trout and fry them whole.

To clean them I slit them from just below the gills to their bottom hole, then slid my index finger in the slit up under the gills and pop them and the guts out. Next bend the head back and push the body of the trout out of the skin then cut tail off and pull fins out. Once you get the hang of this it is almost as fast as filleting. I usually start my frier before cleaning fish, after rinsing them, drop them in a zip lock bag with cornmeal, salt and pepper and their ready to fry. The meat pulls easily away from the bones. They are usually ready to eat in less than 30 minutes . Vince

[ryan]

You filet a trout like you filet a bass, crappie or white bass. You start behind the gill plate, cut to the back bone and then follow the back bone to the tail, lay the meat over and run the knife between the skin and meat. then you cut out the rib cage. If you have a larger filet, you could slit the meat along the Y bone line just above the top edge of where the ribs were. When you bread the filet, make sure you get some in the slit to cook the small bones inside. But generally they cook in a smaller filet.

Well I guess I will have to try and fillet them the next time I always thought that the texture of the meat would fall apart or crumble without the skin

[Phil Lilley]

The key is not cooking them too long. If you do, they will crumble. 300 degree oil is ideal. Time? You'll have to experiement. It depends on the size filet.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Has anyone tried one of the deboners that Cabelas sold some years ago?

[Thom]

I was wondering has anyone heard of filleting trout I had someone tell me about it and couldn't say I had ever heard of it, if so how exactly is it done, I usually just clean my fish leaving them whole. I was also wondering if anyone has any new recipies they would like to share. My brother and I fished below fall creek saturday w/ our flyrods drifting midges around moss pockets caught about 30 fish from 2-5pm lots of 12-14 inch fish with a couple over 17, kept the smaller fish to eat and threw back the big big boys boat traffic was bad and my brother almost took a dive off the back of the boat when wake from another boat caught him the wrong way in the middle of his backcast ( absolutely hillarious) well wont get back on the water for about another week and a half with school and work taking priorities but keep me posted

we usually filet them and fry them if we are at the Lake. They filet just like crappie and if they are fresh hold together well. The secret is to keep them alive as long as possible before fileting.

Another good way to cook whole fish is to make a dressing just like you do for stuffing a turkey and stuff in the cavity. We sometimes add small cocktail shrimp or crabmeat to the dressing along with carrots, celery, onions, salt, pepper and add to cornmeal dressing mix per directions. Place a strip of bacon on the skin and brush with butter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until flaky. You can just peel the meat back on one side and grab the bones and pull them our leaving dressing and fish. Delicious.

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

Luke - I've posted the receipe today. Hope you enjoy it!

[Jrasnick]

In the group that I fish with we gut and skin the fish. Then we fillet them and then cut the fillets into about one to two inch pieces. We soak them in clean water until the water gets grayish in color and then change the water and repeat until the water stays clear. This helps to eliminate the "fishy" taste that some people don't care for. Then just fry em up like you would a slab of crappie.

I am curious why you would gut and skin a trout before you fillet'd it, doesn't that double the work with the same end product............Im just wondering....Please explain and I might learn something new about cleaning a trout.

Thanks

[gonefishin]

Has anyone tried one of the deboners that Cabelas sold some years ago?

Never heard of them-deboners I mean. I would like to know more about them though. I have a friend who works in the food industry he sells whole boneless trout. !?!? Whole boneless trout - isnt that a conundrum.

Bud