Cleaning Catfish?

[snagged in outlet 3]

Trout taste terrible.  IMHO.   And before you go all wild, native or you haven’t cooked them right.  Save your breath.  I’ve eaten them all every different way.   Dredge em in fry mix, dip in ketchup or hot sauce and get it over with.   😆

I like wild salmon though.  

[tjm]

Salmon and trout don't taste alike, but neither do brooks taste like rainbow. Most people deliberately ruin what little taste a rainbow has though, by not bleeding it immediately and by over cooking.  And by filleting them, which almost guarantees overcooking. 

[Ryan Miloshewski]

3 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Trout taste terrible.  IMHO.   And before you go all wild, native or you haven’t cooked them right.  Save your breath.  I’ve eaten them all every different way.   Dredge em in fry mix, dip in ketchup or hot sauce and get it over with.   😆

I like wild salmon though.  

Smoked trout dip is the only way I genuinely like it. Anyway else, especially if they're pellet pig stockers, is garbage. Fried/baked is about the worst. There's just so many better eating fish..like bluegille and redear. 

I do want to keep a 20-22" rainbow one of these days if it looks like it's been in the water a while with a diet of sculpins/scuds/etc. and smoke it. See how that tastes. There's enough in there now I wouldn't feel bad. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

7 hours ago, Ryan Miloshewski said:

Smoked trout dip is the only way I genuinely like it. Anyway else, especially if they're pellet pig stockers, is garbage. Fried/baked is about the worst. There's just so many better eating fish..like bluegille and redear. 

I do want to keep a 20-22" rainbow one of these days if it looks like it's been in the water a while with a diet of sculpins/scuds/etc. and smoke it. See how that tastes. There's enough in there now I wouldn't feel bad. 

Yeah smoked trout dip is ok since they cover the trout taste with smoke and sauce😆.  

[bfishn]

When I was a trout farmer, we did some catering too. Brined, cured, and smoked (~5hrs) was the only way I'd serve them. Done right, the flesh and bone separate like oil and water, and you can pack it w/o refrigeration for a couple days if needed. Whatever's left you make dip out of.

[BilletHead]

8 hours ago, tjm said:

Salmon and trout don't taste alike, but neither do brooks taste like rainbow. Most people deliberately ruin what little taste a rainbow has though, by not bleeding it immediately and by over cooking.  And by filleting them, which almost guarantees overcooking. 

           I fully concur with this tjm. Never had a problem with crappie or bluegill but other larger fish get bled. Overcooking can be an issue. Cutting fish up and making "nuggets" is even worse. 350 to 375 oil it only takes a few seconds to cook a small or thin piece of fish. If the coating used becomes darker than a light honey, it's went too far. Inch thick or more fish can be taken farther but when the flesh turns from translucent to the first signs of opaque take them out. 

[jdmidwest]

How do you bleed your trout?  I typically clean as soon as I catch and throw in cooler.  Gut and gill, head and skin left on.

[BilletHead]

Any gill cut or rip out when fish is alive will do it. Bigger fish like hybrids cut at base of gills and cut into heart area on fish at bottom gill intersection ant blood will squirt out.

[Terrierman]

OK I forgot about salmon.  Trout are for when a person is really hungry.

[Ryan Miloshewski]

9 hours ago, jdmidwest said:

How do you bleed your trout?  I typically clean as soon as I catch and throw in cooler.  Gut and gill, head and skin left on.

Just ask 90% of people who handle trout. They do a helluva job.