06-08-2018, 08:59 PM
Maybe I'm weird, but I prefer larger trout. Bigger fish are easier to fillet (for me), plus I only have to kill one to feed my family of 4.
The taste is every bit as good as the meat on a small fish, I've noticed. What factors into the flavor more than size is a mix of several variables:
Gender (females tend to have better flesh, especially with tigers and brookies)
Age (grandpa fish won't be as good as prime-of-its-life fish - size is not necessarily relative to age as much as forage)
Forage (Fish with a plentiful supply of highly nutritious food *bugs tend to have the best meat. If they starve for part of the year, they get mushy and yellowish inside.)
Time of year (During a species' respective spawn time, they should be released IMO - females are "hollow" and there isn't much meat on their sides. Males are usually mushy and slimier than normal. Just not worth it.)
Exceptions: My best advice, based on years of eating a lot of trout, is to look for a white belly - any species, any gender. If the belly is dark, that meat will be off-color and not very firm.
Just my observations.
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The taste is every bit as good as the meat on a small fish, I've noticed. What factors into the flavor more than size is a mix of several variables:
Gender (females tend to have better flesh, especially with tigers and brookies)
Age (grandpa fish won't be as good as prime-of-its-life fish - size is not necessarily relative to age as much as forage)
Forage (Fish with a plentiful supply of highly nutritious food *bugs tend to have the best meat. If they starve for part of the year, they get mushy and yellowish inside.)
Time of year (During a species' respective spawn time, they should be released IMO - females are "hollow" and there isn't much meat on their sides. Males are usually mushy and slimier than normal. Just not worth it.)
Exceptions: My best advice, based on years of eating a lot of trout, is to look for a white belly - any species, any gender. If the belly is dark, that meat will be off-color and not very firm.
Just my observations.
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