Steelhead Consumption

[Hiho]

Is their much difference in taste in a fresh silver steelhead or one that has color and has been in the river a while? Would there also be a difference if one was caught in the Rouge River vs the PM?

TX

[Herb@BBT]

Essentially, it depends upon if you like fish. Growing up where I did, I really don't like the taste of Salmonids. They taste like fish........ But, I grew up in a house where my mom did not know how to cook salmon, and I really got tired of the smell of how she cooked it, so I don't eat it any more.

[Jeff]

I've eaten them at all stages, from the Root River in Wisc., where there is no natural reproduction.

The really bright fish are fresh and subtle, very much like an Atlantic Salmon. If you ever had really good Atlantic Salmon it smells more like cucumber than like fish when you first put a knife to it. As they darken they get stronger, quickly getting like a fresh Pacific specie salmon (King), then progressively darker, oilier and stronger.

The bigger or darker the fish the stronger. The females get strong in flavor very quickly, even when fairly bright as they put so much of themselves into egg production. Never kill a hen fish.

I advocate returning all steel in rivers where there is any natural reproduction. But if you must take one, make it a small bright male. Ice it right away and then eat it within a day, when it is at it's peak.

If your not going to treat it as something really special, then buy some farm raised salmon at the grocery store. It will be just as good and you'll know that your fish is still out there taking some other guy on a tour of a log jam.

Jeff

[Admiral]

Well put Jeff!

A fresh fish is always the best tasting. The darker they are the stronger they will be.

[fishindude]

Fresh fish that have been in the river for only a couple of days will be much more pink and closer to if you bought salmon at a store. The longer the fish has been in the river the more the meat turns into a "spongy" texture. Im not sure if thats the best way to describe it but you can get my point. As far as the Rouge vs. the PM there really isnt much of a difference.