Something that has crossed my mind while reading Fred's posts on the various waters he has covered this season.
Now im pretty sure he dispatches very few fish if any as I think he is not too keen on eating them!
He can correct me on!
Just wondered if the fish from each individual water would have its own distinctive taste, see I was always told the red/ orange belly fish are the best eating fish.
Im not a great lover of trout but prefer sea fish myself.
So do you think that fish from different lochs/ rivers have distinct tastes due to water clarity and feeding or are they all the same
Colin, I only kill sea fish. Never kill trout or salmon.
Yeah the white fleshed ones taste poor, the pink flesh much better.
I keep meaning to take a Braan fish as the water is so pure I bet they are nice.
I'd rather eat a wild trout than a farmed salmon!
QuoteColin, I only kill sea fish. Never kill trout or salmon.
Sort of thought that Fred, After seeing Tony's post on the brook trout wonder how they taste compared to brown trout.
I have had some brookies from a Borders loch about 18 years ago. From what I remember they tasted much the same but the skins were more leathery to start with but more crispy when fried. They were quite pink fleshed so perhaps likely to taste OK.
One River i fish the trout are often full of snails & the flesh is almost red & they taste lovely.I don't kill any wild trout anymore but if it looks like a stocky it can often get chapped.
The brooks i have never tried, always found brown trout a bit bland bar the odd really deep orange red ones.
What about char ! have heard the words a bit earthy used to describe them.
I've tried charr from Loch Lee, could not see much difference from trout, but they were smoked.
I enjoy eating a few trout each season and find the flavour varies quite a bit; generally I'd agree pink fleshed taste better but not always having eaten some nice white fleshed ones as well. I've not taken many river trout but, from the ones I have, I'd say they didn't taste as good as trout from lochs. Cooking in an Abu or other smoker gives them a nice flavour. Any doubt about lack of flavour I cook the trout in the oven in a foil parcel with butter and a few herbs.
Seatrout I'd say taste best but I've not kept any I've caught in the last 10 years due to their scarcity. Same with salmon; can taste very good but have tasted that were not so good. The one char I kept a long time ago I remember being disappointed at how bland it tasted. For me, all the above are still beaten hands down for flavour by haddock and most other sea fish :)
All the fish I eat are wild; killing a few to eat from a healthy population causes no harm and I'm sure this is the case with most wild brown trout populations in Scotland. Any doubt however then they all go back - seatrout, salmon and brown trout from rivers that get a lot of fishing pressure etc.