Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Which salmon and trout are the best size/weight for?
#1
Question 
Which size/weight river salmon, steelhead or trout are the best size/weight for?

1. smoking as fillets (is it true that one needs a 25-30 pound hawg for the smoker as my former fishing buddy on the party boat once told me)?
The people on the party boat referred to smaller legal king salmon as "barbecue". 

2. pan trout only: frying in peanut oil as fillets?

3. grilling on the BBQ as fillets?

These questions are provided these game fish are legal keepers and not shakers. I understand there is an ideal weight for these fish to have the best possible eating depending how they are prepared for table fare.
"Endowed upon us by nature, the absolute right to keep and bear arms and the right to have such arms immediately available to each and every one of us for self-preservation is the inalienable human right of all law-abiding persons worldwide."
Reply
#2
I've never caught 25-30 pound fish before. How big of smoker would you need to smoke a whole fellet that big?. But I smoke up to 5 pound steelhead or trout. I hate bones so unless I am smoking the Fish I will fellet them and cut all bones out. It works best if they are over 2 lbs. for that. You end up with 3 boneless pieces per side that I deep fry in peanut oil. Smaller than 2, I will cook whole. When I grill them or cook them in a camp fire I leave the skin on and wrap them in tin foil with butter, salt and lemon juice inside. Sorry not much of a Salmon fisher. I only smoke fish once a year, as you get kinda tired of it fast. At first it's better than candy!
Reply
#3
(06-07-2020, 04:00 PM)fast_randy Wrote: I've never caught 25-30 pound fish before. How big of smoker would you need to smoke a whole fellet that big?. But I smoke up to 5 pound steelhead or trout. I hate bones so unless I am smoking the Fish I will fellet them and cut all bones out. It works best if they are over 2 lbs. for that. You end up with 3 boneless pieces per side that I deep fry in peanut oil. Smaller than 2, I will cook whole. When I grill them or cook them in a camp fire I leave the skin on and wrap them in tin foil with butter, salt and lemon juice inside. Sorry not much of a Salmon fisher. I only smoke fish once a year, as you get kinda tired of it fast. At first it's better than candy!
My only experience catching salmon was at sea on a party boat. If I caught an 11 pounder, the deck hands would call it "barbecue". The insurance broker in San Francisco who was my fishing buddy in the 1990's said in his words that a 25+ lb. salmon is required for smoking.
"Endowed upon us by nature, the absolute right to keep and bear arms and the right to have such arms immediately available to each and every one of us for self-preservation is the inalienable human right of all law-abiding persons worldwide."
Reply
#4
(06-07-2020, 04:00 PM)fast_randy Wrote: I've never caught 25-30 pound fish before. How big of smoker would you need to smoke a whole fellet that big?. But I smoke up to 5 pound steelhead or trout. I hate bones so unless I am smoking the Fish I will fellet them and cut all bones out. It works best if they are over 2 lbs. for that. You end up with 3 boneless pieces per side that I deep fry in peanut oil. Smaller than 2, I will cook whole. When I grill them or cook them in a camp fire I leave the skin on and wrap them in tin foil with butter, salt and lemon juice inside. Sorry not much of a Salmon fisher. I only smoke fish once a year, as you get kinda tired of it fast. At first it's better than candy!
Last year I started bottling all my kokanee and the good thing about it is there are no bones, the bottling process dissolves the bones or at least makes them so they are soft enough not to bother you. I smoke the fish first, to give them that nice smoky flavor then bottle them and they turn out great and they will last a lot longer than freezing them. I think the largest koke I've caught was around 3 pounds but even at that size this works great.
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)