Eating your Catch

[manhex]

Normally I make it a habit to catch and release, however there are many times when I just want to clean em and bake em, or fry em (with only certain well populated species like rainbows). I was wondering if anyone had an special recipies or rubs for baked trout fillets?

[okflyfisher]

The only time I kill fish anymore is when I am camping. Double wrap the the cleaned fish in tin foil. For seasoning we keep it simple , butter a slice of onion salt & pepper. Stuff the ingredients in in the foil before you close it. Cook it over low coals for 15 or 20 minutes depending on the fire and size of fish

[manhex]

I don't like to kill fish eaither, but I just happen to love fresh fish. MMMMMMMM Yummy. Thanks for the advice I'll remember it next time I'm camping but what about oven baked.

[Gnu Bee Flyer]

Oven Baked Kokanee or Trout .

One large fish. Say 4 pounds or more.

Sprinkle with a spice mix such as Mrs. Dash in the body cavity and on the top of the fish.
lay fish on oiled tinfoil on a baking sheet. Place thinly sliced lemons 0r limes just barely overlapping in the body cavity. Place another layer of thinly sliced lemons or limes on the top of the fish. Bake in the oven or barbecue loosely covered in tinfoil till the fish is done. 350f .

Another nice way is to bake the fish In tinfoil with just the lemon in the body cavity till done. Then peel off the skin on the top. brush with Barbecue sauce and place under the broiler till the barbecue sauce sizzles and caramelizes. It is very nice this way.

[Flyrodde]

I gill and gut the trout.

For the foil pouch, roll out a piece as long as the trout plus 3 inches. Fold it is half, then fold the sides over .5 inches 3 times. Now you have a rectangle pouch that is as long as the trout. Cut an onion in half and slice in .25 inch sections. Lay the onion in the pouch on one side. Peel a couple cloves of garlic and give them a good wack with the side of a knife, place these in the body cavity of the trout, more or less to taste. Add a good sprinkle of salt and pepper to both sides of the trout and the inside with the garlic. Place the trout on the onion in the pouch and put a fresh herb on the top side of the trout. I like a clump of dill or rosemary, but any fresh herb will do. Now close the pouch with 3 .5 inch folds on the top. Place this whole thing onion side down on a bed of coals for 5-7 minutes, then flip for 2-3 minutes. Cooking time is for a 8-12 inch fish, more for a larger one. Slice open the bag and eat. Don't forget to eat the cheeks, they may be small but Mmmmm.

If you want a stream side lunch, it is easy to carry the pouch with all ingedients in it, add your trout and make a small fire. I supose it would work just as well with 2 fillets, but you can eat one side then lift the whole skeleton out then eat the other side, much easier and faster.

[Flyrodde]

I used to make fresh bluefish this way, but you can substitue type of fish.


Slice up a bunch on baking potatos to cover the bottom of a glass baking dish in one layer and drizzle with oil. Thin potatos get crispy, thicker slices if you like them softer. Season your fillets with salt and pepper. Mince some garlice (more or less to taste) and some lemon zest and add to some good olive oil. Make the oil a few hours before you plan to cook, or a day if you remember. Brush the fillets with your oil mix, make sure you get some good chuncks on the fillets, too. Now pick a fresh herb and cover your fish. Again I like dill. Bake your potatos first for 20 mins (for thin slices a little more for thicker) at 350. Then add your fish on top and bake until the fish is done (For one fillet of a 10 lb bluefish was about 15 mins) If you want to get a little different, use ginger and orange in peanut oil and some seaseme seeds instead of an herb.

[Crotalus]

The only time I kill fish anymore is when I am camping. Double wrap the the cleaned fish in tin foil. For seasoning we keep it simple , butter a slice of onion salt & pepper. Stuff the ingredients in in the foil before you close it. Cook it over low coals for 15 or 20 minutes depending on the fire and size of fish

What he said

[Clay]

I haven't kept a trout this year yet, but I will soon enough. I like to eat them a couple times a year. I also feel that if I don't excercise my right to eat them once in a while the animal rights activists will turn this sport into a catch and release only sport. Or worse yet, in one country in Europe you can't release a fish, when you catch it, it counts toward your bag limit and you must keep it and when you catch your limit, you're done for the day. I don't think many of us would drive 200 miles to catch 2 trout and then be done. OK, off my political soapbox.

Garlic, butter (the real stuff), salt and pepper and onion on the grill or baked in the oven. Pan fried in butter, again the real stuff, and then season to taste. I'm pretty simple about this as well. It tastes so good with a simple recipe that I don't try to overpower the taste of the trout, which I enjoy.

There is a balance between being a meat hog and killing fish every time out to stuff in the freezer, when you have fish in there from last year still and a very strict never eat anything. Notice that I didn't say never kill a fish? That's because mortality exsists even if you let them all go and follow the best catch and release practices. Yes, you can minimize the mortality, but don't fool yourself and say that you never kill a fish because you release them all.

Let's face it, this is a blood sport. If that isn't what you want to do, put up your rod and just take your camera. But like a fat cat, that doesn't need to kill to eat, but kills because it is in his nature, I too kill fish, enjoy it and don't try to be politically correct about it. I like the way that they taste. So I lied about getting off of my political soap box, but this issue is near and dear to me.

Rick

[Backcastwards]

What he said

Exactly!! The only thing I would add is that I cut through the neck and break the head backwards and pull it toward the tail causing the skin to peel right off. Season foil and heat.
Yum,yum.
Gary

[Crackleback]

Normally I make it a habit to catch and release, however there are many times when I just want to clean em and bake em, or fry em (with only certain well populated species like rainbows). I was wondering if anyone had an special recipies or rubs for baked trout fillets?

Manhex, you might like this: Mix some Italian breadcrumbs, dash of grated parmesan cheese, moisten well with olive oil, dash of fresh minced garlic. Stuff cavity with the mix and bake 20-25 minutes at 425 deg. 19-21 minutes on smaller size trout. I always bake mine with the bone still in. Works great for almost any kind off fish, esp. red snapper.

Crackleback