Salmon

L

Larry Patrick

New member
What are your favorite eating salmon? Never fished Alaska or Washington State area. Caught my first landlocked salmon in Cayuga finger lakes a couple weeks ago. But my guess is San Juans or Alaska would be the best.I have eaten salmon made with Jim Beam it was great at Lonestar steak house, but im wondering which salmon are favorites without hiding it with other flavours.
 
Columbia river spring chinook would be first on my list. Most any other fresh caught ocean chinook after that. Sockeye are usually a bit too dry for my tastes.
 
As someone who only eats salmon occasionally (sadly) (and those not caught by me), I imagine it would be fun to have a salmon sampler plate with the different kinds -- sort of like those trays of small glasses of different types of beer so that you can compare them.

For me it's usually months between salmon meals, so that there is no way to really compare them even if I get a different type each time. (They're all darned good though!)
 
Someday hope to sample some fresh caught salmon that everybody is suggesting.Ive been Learning how to fish with downrigger for first time,watching the sonar and trying to hook up. Been having some luck,water is 300 to 400 ft deep near Ithaca end of lake.Going tomorrow again. Also using dipsy divers.Looking forward to retirement and fishing the ocean,rivers and bays around the country,using truck camper pulling the boat.
 
Daughter's favorite is smoked Yukon River KIng strips (squaw candy),
oily but great!

We like our fish smoked. Dip netted & smoked about 100 Copper River Reds
(sockeye) this summer, not a hard smoke like the king strips, we brine for
an hour and cold smoke for 6-8 hours, then package & freeze, really seems
to help keep fish from freezer burning.

After CuRiver reds, we like Prince William Sound silvers (also smoked).
Headed there tomorrow for a 5-day trip, longest of the summer and will
bring Angler back to Fairbanks for the winter.

Just happen to live in the right place at the right time ! We love salmon and usually eat weekly,with beer of course.
 
I would like to try smoked salmon,I bet its good. When fishing in the keys years ago ,we traded in our fresh caught King Mackrel for less amount of smoked king at a seafood smokehouse. Everybody liked it, they may have given you 1/5th of smoked by weight of fillet ,I forget but you got fresh smoked fish,it was good. Someday want to catch some crab and salmon from local waters in San Juans and Alaska,maybee try for a halibut also.
 
1) Springers
2) Sockeye
3) Up-river brights or Columbia River summer run
4) Silvers
5) Tules
6) Pinks
7) Chum

All caught out of the salt with the exception of springers. I don't eat river caught fish anymore. Once you're use to eating ocean caught fish, you can never go back.
 
my understanding is that sashimi is usually sockeye? so I'd make that my first choice.

Chinook would be my second.

and honestly those many people don't like Pink Salmon I did three things with mine this weekend:

cut small pieces and cooked it into my omelet (delicious)
cooked it steak style on the grill with butter/garlic (even the wife loved it)
brined the roe and have been sprinkling it on random foods like Quinoa.

can't complain.
 
Sunday I tried a new recipe for King Salmon which was caught in Detour Michigan.

I grated some onions
bowl of honey
salt @ pepper
cedar plank

I just mixed the honey and onions together in a bowl and than placed the fillets in with the mixture.
Placed the salmon on the cedar plank and cooked in a Barb-a-que for about 8 minutes.

Comes out Golden Brown and Tasty
 
My Favorite salmon? Those caught on my boat. We ate fresh pinks last night with crab.

For the beginners. You have to plan to care for your catch. If you don't even the best fish can taste bad. First thing you have to do it kill it quick. Use a small bat or cub. You can buy one in most tackle shops. Hit it in the head just above the eyes twice. Don't miss and hit the meat behind the head or it will bleed and bruise into the flesh. I keep a 5 gallon bucket on board and fill it with salt water. I use a knife and cut thru the gills on both sides and place the fish head first into the bucket. That allows the fish to bleed out faster. I have also seen others place the dead fish in the net and hang it over the side while it bleeds out. Either will work. Then depending on the time I have its either into the ice chest or quickly gut the fish and then place it in the ice chest. The idea is to cool the fish as fast as you can. Removing the blood helps with this. This goes for all fish. I had a friend that hated trout until I cooked some for him and friends at dinner one night. He could not believe how good it was. Seems his dad was one of those guys that used a stringer instead of a ice chest. How do you think fish that is dragged around in the sun all day in the top of the water column, where its the warmest, is going to taste?

I know this is the basics but a lot of people don't know the basics .
 
1. Sockeye / Chinook
2. Coho
3. Pink

Never had a fresh springer so now I really want some! I'll second Forrest that once you go salt, it's hard to go back to river salmon.

While Pinks are at the end of the list, they can still be quite good. Rinse and blot dry the fillet then cake the flesh side in salt. Put it in the fridge for 20-30 min. After that, rinse the fillet well and prep as normal. Firms the flesh up quite nice and improves the texture since their meat is on the soft side compared to the other species.

Something that was really good this past weekend was rubbing down the fillet with brown sugar and lightly drizzling real maple syrup over it. BBQ's for 10 min. Good stuff.
 
starcrafttom":2yg7xxn2 said:
I know this is the basics but a lot of people don't know the basics .
Click to expand...

So true and you can count at least one interested reader here :thup For example, I had no idea one was supposed to bleed a fish after catching it (maybe those Skipjack tuna would have been good eating if I had known that...)

I grew up catching smaller fish/panfish on an inland lake, but have barely fished since then. Seems like things are very different in salt water and "big" fishing (and, too, maybe we could have done better back then if we had known more, e.g. icing the fish, etc.).
 
tcr_pnw":gr42009c said:
While Pinks are at the end of the list, they can still be quite good. Rinse and blot dry the fillet then cake the flesh side in salt. Put it in the fridge for 20-30 min. After that, rinse the fillet well and prep as normal. Firms the flesh up quite nice and improves the texture since their meat is on the soft side compared to the other species.
.
Click to expand...

I have a dish of BBQ'd pink salmon, roe, and quinoa sitting in the fridge for lunch right now :thup
 
starcrafttom":1qbqygue said:
My Favorite salmon? Those caught on my boat. We ate fresh pinks last night with crab.

For the beginners. You have to plan to care for your catch. If you don't even the best fish can taste bad. First thing you have to do it kill it quick. Use a small bat or cub. You can buy one in most tackle shops. Hit it in the head just above the eyes twice. Don't miss and hit the meat behind the head or it will bleed and bruise into the flesh. I keep a 5 gallon bucket on board and fill it with salt water. I use a knife and cut thru the gills on both sides and place the fish head first into the bucket. That allows the fish to bleed out faster. I have also seen others place the dead fish in the net and hang it over the side while it bleeds out. Either will work. Then depending on the time I have its either into the ice chest or quickly gut the fish and then place it in the ice chest. The idea is to cool the fish as fast as you can. Removing the blood helps with this. This goes for all fish. I had a friend that hated trout until I cooked some for him and friends at dinner one night. He could not believe how good it was. Seems his dad was one of those guys that used a stringer instead of a ice chest. How do you think fish that is dragged around in the sun all day in the top of the water column, where its the warmest, is going to taste?

I know this is the basics but a lot of people don't know the basics .
Click to expand...
Hey Tom, did you steal your method from me? :lol: That's exactly how I bleed my fish, to the tee! I cooked up a Pink the other night, it was delicious. As all have said above, it's all in the way you take care of the fish after you catch it. Can't wait to smoke some Pinks!!

Oh yeah,

Chinook
Coho
Sockeye
Pink
Chum-NO WAY

Peter
 
If no bucket on hand, after a quick tap to the head, I put them on a stringer (or just one made with rope on hand), slit the gills and tie them off to a stern cleat just low enough to get the head in the water. Best to whack them just enough to knock them out and keep the heart beating so they continue to pump the blood out of their system. After 5 min or so I'll get them gutted and belly iced to drop the core temp down. Nice thing about the stringer is if they slip out of your hand while being gutted they aren't lost if overboard. Have not had a problem with seals trying to steal the catch.
 
DuckDogTitus":2xqfiiid said:
brined the roe and have been sprinkling it on random foods like Quinoa.
Click to expand...
That's a waste of good steelhead bait. :wink:

My favorite Pink recipe goes something like this:

Apply wood shampoo; bleed fish immediately and chill.
Once home, vacuum pack fish and store in freezer.
A few days before the first Saturday in May, remove fish from freezer.
Cut into small portions.
Run portions through meat grinder into a small bucket.
Add clam necks, cat food, and a little Alaska Fish Fertilizer for texture.
Return to freezer.
On the first Saturday in May, remove bucket and scoop contents into shrimp pot bait holder.
Soak bait in about 300' of water in Hood Canal.
After about an hour you'll have something to eat that actually tastes good.
8)
 
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