# Eating dark skanky salmon



## walleyerick (Sep 30, 2004)

Do you guys eat these half dead, skanky looking kings? I have have cut into these fish and the meat is usually tanish in color. Just not very appealing to me. I guess that I am used to the pretty pink meat that you see when you catch them out in the big lake.


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## bombcast (Sep 16, 2003)

taste crummy. I won't eat any great lakes salmonid over 5 lbs. Possible exception would be skamania steelhead.

These fish are such a poor comparison on the table to real salt-water kings it's ridiculous. I give them away or feed them to the dogs. 

As for river fish- help yourself.


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## abstract_72 (May 27, 2007)

The darker the tastier! Salmon are like a fine wine... boldness and maturity of the flavor really develops the longer they hang around in the river...


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## REG (Oct 25, 2002)

It's not just the taste, it's the smell. Kind of reminds me of this:

Kilgore: Smell that? You smell that? 
Lance: What? 
Kilgore: Kings, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that. 
[kneels] 
Kilgore: I love the smell of chins in the morning. You know, one time we had a river bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of 'em, not one stinkin' boot body. The smell, you know that chinook smell, the whole river. Smelled like 
[sniffing, pondering] 
Kilgore: victory. Someday this season's gonna end...


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## wartfroggy (Jan 25, 2007)

abstract_72 said:


> The darker the tastier! Salmon are like a fine wine... boldness and maturity of the flavor really develops the longer they hang around in the river...


 What I really love is scraping the white crust off the tails. Great on a cracker. Almost like an anchovy paste crossed with cream cheese.


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## wally-eye (Oct 27, 2004)

Haven't tried that one Chris but we always just scrape up the white stuff and put it in a cottage cheese container and then when it's full we mix it with some french onion dip and then eat it with potato chips.....yummmm o.


Dan




.


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## Fish Eye (Mar 30, 2007)

walleyerick said:


> Do you guys eat these half dead, skanky looking kings? I have have cut into these fish and the meat is usually tanish in color. Just not very appealing to me. I guess that I am used to the pretty pink meat that you see when you catch them out in the big lake.


 Just put some Italian dressing on them and grill them 10 minutes an inch over a medium high flame.


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## captjimtc (Aug 10, 2005)

Heck no! Once they hit the rivers you can have em.....Plus there are so many fresh juvenile ones in the lake why bother????? Black rotten salmon = garden fertilizer...


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## wabakimi07 (Mar 13, 2009)

I saw some guys with a few on a stringer. The tail on one was completely gone with bones sticking out. The rest were black with white spots and rotting flesh. :lol:


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## Bull Market (Mar 12, 2005)

Best thread I've read in a looooonng time! Keep it alive!


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## Sam22 (Jan 22, 2003)

Yeah Waba, it's a mystery why they keep those fish. Especially the males. Some people claim to smoke them. I think your better off smoking a old hunting boot, but I don't really know. I wouldn't keep them, no way Jose.


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## Frogpoopin (Sep 6, 2006)

MMMMMMmmmmm zesty options !!!!!


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## fishnpbr (Dec 2, 2007)

I work with a guy that for years brought in smoked black bettys. I think Little Friskies salmon buffet canned cat food would taste better. That stuff was terrible.


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## outfishin_ (Jul 28, 2004)

wartfroggy said:


> What I really love is scraping the white crust off the tails. Great on a cracker. Almost like an anchovy paste crossed with cream cheese.



YUMMMM Cheesy Salmon....:lol:


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## Fishslayer5789 (Mar 1, 2007)

abstract_72 said:


> The darker the tastier! Salmon are like a fine wine... boldness and maturity of the flavor really develops the longer they hang around in the river...


Wow I just got a great laugh out of that. The sad thing is that I have had people tell me that they are delicious eating. nasty!!!


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## Fishslayer5789 (Mar 1, 2007)

wabakimi07 said:


> I saw some guys with a few on a stringer. The tail on one was completely gone with bones sticking out. The rest were black with white spots and rotting flesh. :lol:


......just threw up in my mouth........


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## JackieB (Aug 31, 2009)

fishnpbr said:


> I think Little Friskies salmon buffet canned cat food would taste better.


This really cracked me up! I didn't catch one to have a chance to eat it this fall, but they taste great from the Big Lake and I also really enjoy browns and steelhead.


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## wabakimi07 (Mar 13, 2009)

The best part of it is the guys that I saw that kept those nasty fish weren't using rods. They had kite string wrapped around 20 ounce coke bottles and then some sort of crudely fashioned grappling hook on the end. They would kind of throw it out like a lasso and leave it there until some unassuming rotting salmon came along and they give it a nice jerk. What entertainment :lol: Some people say that the older fish are better for smoking because the meat is "cured" or something. I personally won't eat one after it has been in the river for a week or so.


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## Treble (Sep 13, 2009)

This year out of 28 fish, 5 were no good. ABout 15 of them still had a little silver on them and the rest were green. They were nice fish that I think are great for eating. Now the black or rotting fish, no way. If they have any sign of being spawned out or starting to decay. They definitly go back. but there are plenty of fresh fish to be had.


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## wartfroggy (Jan 25, 2007)

Treble said:


> ABout 15 of them still had a little silver on them....


 a little silver? 
I like them all silver
If I get fish that are starting to turn dark, they usually get frozen for a fish boil or given away. I like them silver. There are too many good eating fish out there for me to eat dark kings. Not saying there is anything "wrong" with them. But there are better to be had. 
Once they are in the rivers, they are pretty much useless to me except for some loose eggs and something to kill some time.


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## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

I will keep some chrome fresh Kings for the smoker - to give away. "Green" Salmon make me green under the gills. :lol: I love walking from the lower parking lot at Tippy to Suicide Bend during Salmon season, and seeing people drag a stringer of ******* along the ground to where they are parked. Must like those nasties tenderized. 
Cohos will stay halfway decent to eat far longer than Kings, and are my favorite Great Lakes Salmon to eat when they are lake-caught. Thinking I will have to try for Atlantics soon, as I have heard good things about them. Steelhead stay good to eat once they enter rivers, unless they are coming in just to spawn right away. Fresh fall chrome Steel is pretty decent table fare. Nothing beats beer battered Walleyes, though.


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## Ifish (Aug 4, 2009)

I don't understand why people knock river fish. Ok they aren't chromers from the big lake but the ones we get still have silver on them and for me not having access to a boat and no money for a pricey charter I am just fine with my river fish. And you can argue all you want about it , it's alot more fun to catch a Salmon in a river drifting then letting some rig do all the work and not even getting to feel the strike.


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## streamertosser (May 20, 2008)

Ifish said:


> I don't understand why people knock river fish. Ok they aren't chromers from the big lake but the ones we get still have silver on them and for me not having access to a boat and no money for a pricey charter I am just fine with my river fish. And you can argue all you want about it , it's alot more fun to catch a Salmon in a river drifting then letting some rig do all the work and not even getting to feel the strike.


 

Yeah that!


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## FISH BUM (Oct 15, 2009)

streamertosser said:


> Yeah that!


 Agreed! "catching" fresh run salmon in the river is much better than fishing the big lake...Boring! Snagging those black decomposed spawners and bucks, and then trying to say they are OK to eat when smoked is another thing. I would suggest that those people who eat those black snagged kings should grind them up, heat them in a microwave, served with brown sugar on them, and pretend it is oatmeal!


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## Ieatantlers (Oct 7, 2008)

Milts in your mouth, not in your hands.:corkysm55


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## UltimateOutdoorsman (Sep 13, 2001)

Ifish said:


> And you can argue all you want about it , it's alot more fun to catch a Salmon in a river drifting then letting some rig do all the work and not even getting to feel the strike.



I couldn't disagree more. Both are fun. I'll take the lake over the river anyday. The lake to me means fresh chrome fish, and I can get away from the crowds.

If you don't have a boat, and want fresh fish, just hit the local pier! That's how I did it for years.


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## Ifish (Aug 4, 2009)

You can disagree all you want, it's an opinion. I'm not out to come home with a crap load of fish I want to have fun on my vacation. Where we fish we are completely away from the crowds, I'm not a casual fisherman who goes to Tippy. We camp right by the river and do it rustic. Whats so fun about using a rigger and not being able to feel the strike. Let's stare at poles all day and when one goes down grab it. Seems like alot of fun to me... not. But to each his own I guess. 

You say you can get away from the crowds so why would I want to go to a pier where ever tom dick and harry are there and half of them don't know what the hell they are doing


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## clackercraft (Feb 19, 2009)

The best way I have found to cook salmon is, get a nice piece of cedar board, soak it in water, lie salmon on the board and put it on the grill untill cooked. Throw away the salmon and eat the ceader plank.


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## UltimateOutdoorsman (Sep 13, 2001)

Ifish said:


> You say you can get away from the crowds so why would I want to go to a pier where ever tom dick and harry are there and half of them don't know what the hell they are doing


If you re-read my post, I said: if you wanted FRESH fish, fish the pier. 

Meaning if you don't have access to a boat, fish the pier. I didn't say you'd have it to yourself. I should've been more clear about it. My bad.

Unless you're fishing thundersticks (or streamers), you're not feeling a "strike." How is fishing a chunk of skein under a bobber any different than trolling? You're just waiting for a strike to occur, exactly like on the boat in the big lake. I don't really see the difference.

Just like you said, to each his own. Don't get me wrong, I like river fishing too, but for table fare and solitude it's hard to beat the big lake.


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## UltimateOutdoorsman (Sep 13, 2001)

clackercraft said:


> The best way I have found to cook salmon is, get a nice piece of cedar board, soak it in water, lie salmon on the board and put it on the grill untill cooked. Throw away the salmon and eat the ceader plank.


LOL! :lol:


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## Fishslayer5789 (Mar 1, 2007)

wartfroggy said:


> a little silver?
> I like them all silver
> 
> Once they are in the rivers, they are pretty much useless to me except for some loose eggs and something to kill some time.


AMEN TO THAT! :lol:


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## Fishslayer5789 (Mar 1, 2007)

Ifish said:


> it's alot more fun to catch a Salmon in a river drifting then letting some rig do all the work and not even getting to feel the strike.


I have one answer to that: PIER FISHING.


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## Fishslayer5789 (Mar 1, 2007)

Ifish said:


> You say you can get away from the crowds so why would I want to go to a pier where ever tom dick and harry are there and half of them don't know what the hell they are doing


I would have to say that 99% of guys you see on a pier when the time and conditions are right will know exactly what they are doing. I rarely see people using the wrong technique from the pier but I do see a ton of people on the river (yellow rodders, white rodders, red/white/blue rodders etc.) with all these goofy balls of yarn attached to treble hooks with a couple of nice-size shot a few inches above the "bait". You just don't see that out on the pier. If you want an example of what real fish look like from a pier, here ya go:


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## UltimateOutdoorsman (Sep 13, 2001)

Fishslayer5789 said:


> I would have to say that 99% of guys you see on a pier when the time and conditions are right will know exactly what they are doing. I rarely see people using the wrong technique from the pier but I do see a ton of people on the river (yellow rodders, white rodders, red/white/blue rodders etc.) with all these goofy balls of yarn attached to treble hooks with a couple of nice-size shot a few inches above the "bait". You just don't see that out on the pier. If you want an example of what real fish look like from a pier, here ya go:


Good point.


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## ausable_steelhead (Sep 30, 2002)

Just because a river fish is silver, doesn't mean their meat is good to go. If a salmon is loose at all, no matter how silver still, it's gonna have soft, pale meat. I'm not a fish eater, though I will, once in a while, eat fried walleye. I'm just not to big on the taste/texture of fish flesh.


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## rupej (Oct 31, 2005)

I know some guys that eat a lot of canned river salmon...one guy told me that he puts a tablespoon of ketchup into each canning jar to make the meat look pink (instead of white).


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## jrv (Nov 11, 2008)

rupej said:


> I know some guys that eat a lot of canned river salmon...one guy told me that he puts a tablespoon of ketchup into each canning jar to make the meat look pink (instead of white).


All else fails, put some Ketchup on it!


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## jrv (Nov 11, 2008)

The first year I started salmon fishin I kept some of those nasty, slimmy, rotten things and found that it's better to take a pic if you need evidence and throw them back.


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## walleyerick (Sep 30, 2004)

jrv said:


> The first year I started salmon fishin I kept some of those nasty, slimmy, rotten things and found that it's better to take a pic if you need evidence and throw them back.


Amen!


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## MASONMAN66 (Aug 9, 2008)

nice pics slayer an good point as well !


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