# I Wouldn't eat fish from?



## AutoModGod (Jan 14, 2003)

Jamie7117's point about removing the lateral line and all "fatty parts" including the belly is a good one. Doing these things improves the taste of all fish, IHMO. The MDNR, IDNR and the ODNR recommend that fish be cleaned in this manner in order to minimize pollutants.

Fellow fishermen give me all kinds of grief at cleaning stations for cleaning fish in this manner. They claim I am wasting fish. My response is to scoop up a big handfull of lateral line and skin with fat attached and ask them if they would like to have it.  That usually ends the conversation.


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## scottfree (Jan 24, 2003)

i was a sceptic about the lateral lines myself. until i took a charter for Salmon and the captain was cleaning them and i opened my "RATHER" large mouth and said that he was wasting fish.....AutoModGod you are absolutely correct. a face full of lateral lines and fish fat will end the conversation of WASTING FISH. but they did taste rather delicious. minus the lateral line and fatty tissue of the belly. now when i clean my own great lake fish the lateral line comes off and even on walleye from inland lakes. needless to say it made a believer out of me.


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## Melon (Feb 22, 2002)

I would rather eat the occasional fish dinner straight from LSC with a few toxins in it, than puff down a pack of smokes everyday!


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## Banditto (Jun 9, 2000)

I eat fish from the Detroit River, St. Clair River, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, etc. 

I make doubly sure to dress them the correct way and cut out the fat veins.


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## jamie7117 (Aug 15, 2001)

nothing better than a plate full of corn meal battered lake erie/detroit river walleye, fried to perfection, washing them down with a cold michelob, kicking back after with a macanudo cigar and glass full of wisers on the rocks, taking in a deep breath of the fresh crisp, dioxin filled air, now that's livin!


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## eyebuster (Jan 10, 2003)

I eat them as often as possible, properly cleaned, cared for and cooked. I love them Detroit River 15 to 18 inch males in the spring time are awesome. Lake Erie in the summer time can't be beat. Just talking about this is making me hungry, think I'll get a batch out of the freezer and fry em up with some fries and some country hush puppies and some slaw and I think 2 mic. lights..I'm trying to watch my weight.......


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## pmtiny (Dec 11, 2002)

I've heard that when they test fish for toxins; that they test the whole fish...head, skin, bones, etc. They just grind it up & test it. Anybody know if thats true?


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## Melon (Feb 22, 2002)

I dont believe all the warnings about the toxins.
When I was a kid I ate paint chips, not I eat fresh Michigan fish on a regualr basis. Besides the 3rd arm that grew out of my back, I havent noticed any side affects. The extra limb comes in handy, now I can hold 2 rods and 1 beer


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## fmontie (Dec 24, 2002)

We're not worried about eating fish from these areas. We eat only walleyes between 13" to 17". Anything over that we release because they taste different. We only keep what we can eat fresh (without freezing). We love perch, bluegills, and crappie.
We release all bass because we don't eat them. Trim all fatty areas and skin. Frying fish in grease is probably worse for you then the toxic threat. We fish at least once a week and aren't turning green yet.......


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## Fishfoote (Jan 2, 2001)

The pollution in that lake has gotten too much press for me.


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## AutoModGod (Jan 14, 2003)

pmtiny mentioned hearing that when fish are tested for toxins the entire fish is tested.

I used to be on the Board of Directors for Salmon Unlimited of Indiana and at one of our monthly meeting an IDNR representative told us that they test the entire fish - head, guts, skin, scales, you name it. They said that they had to test the fish in this manner (grind up the entire fish) because it is possible that some folks might consume the entire fish (yuck!). Anyway, they also told us that MSU had tested properly cleaned (filleted with lateral lines, skin/fat and belly meat removed) and cooked fish (broiled or grilled so juices drip off of the fish, aka not fried or deep fried) and determined that there were less toxins (PCBs and heavy metals were the subject of the study if I remember correctly) in the cooked Lake Michigan Salmon than the peanut butter we feed our kids.

I quit feeding my kids peanut butter after that.


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## ERGOMAN (Jan 14, 2001)

I do a fair amount of fishing on belleville and ford lake but hadn't fed any of the fish to my family (only lived here a few years and the locals kept telling me how polluted it used to be). 

Did a www search on belleville lk water quality a month ago and came up with consultants report from 1996?ish that stated 10 walleye and 10 carp were tested for a large list of toxins (carp with the skin off and walleye with the skin on) 1 fish from each group tested slightly off of scale for merc/pcb's. I called a C.O. who does fishery assessment for the area, he stated that he would/does eat the fish from bellevile and ford lakes and implied that earie is more polluted but compared on a more liberal toxin scale as it is for COMMERCIAL/RESTURANT use. 

Captain Nichols perch boat out of south haven was on trosts show months ago stating that he ate perch from lk michigan numerous times a week and was part of a long term merc study with the govt measuring his levels ever 3? years. I know they didn't go up and think they may have been lower than the population average.
WHO KNOWS/
Ron


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## jeremy L (Sep 19, 2002)

I wouldn't eat any type of "big" fish out of the lower or middle saginaw bay, from bay port on north i would eat bigger fish as long as they were not carp, catfish, etc. Too many stories on how the Flint, Cass, and saginaw rivers have those sewage spills in the summer.


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## bivenser (Dec 1, 2000)

I will not eat fish from......... Long John Silver


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

Long John Silver serves fish??? I never knew what that swill was, but it's fish??? Do you have any evidence to back this up? I don't believe it, no one could make ANY fish taste that nasty.


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## scottfree (Jan 24, 2003)

well i guess if everyone else is doin it then it must be ok? just keep us posted on any good cheap fishing equipment that will no longer be of use!! what a morbid thing to say. but actually if it says made from "MINCED" pieces of fish. then i would probably think twice. as for Long John Silver's, they have never served fish. i think it was a fish by-product.


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## patcheroo (Jan 3, 2003)

A few years ago we began catching eyes out of the saginaw river with big ugly ulcers on them. I will add that most of the ugly fish were caught in the spring. We ran into a C.O. and asked him what was going on with these fish. He said that the biologists told him that the ulcers were caused when a large number of fish are brought together in a small area, such as the spawning run. He said that they were alot like acne in humans and that, although ugly, they pose no threat to humans. I have filleted a few of these fish to see how deep the ulcers went. All of the fish I looked at, the ulcers were all confined to the skin and never went into the meat. The meat looked the same as a "healthy" fish, oh yea and it tasted great too!...My 2 cents....Patch


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## krt (Nov 5, 2001)

I can understand why some people would hesitate to eat fish from the places mentioned, but where do the fish (walleye,perch) come from that you order in restaurants? Don't commercial fisherman sell their catches locally?


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## trout (Jan 17, 2000)

All Seafood and fresh water fish have some type of contaminents.
As do your veggies and the paper you wipe with is treated too!


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## jpollman (Jan 14, 2001)

I wouldn't eat ANYTHING from the Detroit River, St. Clair River, or Erie.

But, the way I fish I don't have much to worry about anyway.


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## bignoccursg (Dec 31, 2002)

I dont have any scientific evidence, but I'm sure ive read articles about the long distance travels of walleyes that were tagged and recaptured. Dont be so sure that walleye from saginaw bay thats on your dinner table wasnt swimming around in the Detroit river a few months earlier.


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## Melon (Feb 22, 2002)

Yeah bignoccursg, I thought I read before that most walleye come up from Lake Erie then the Detroit River.


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## dieseldude (Oct 25, 2002)

I preety much never eat any fish from the Great Lakes.


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## pollywog (Jan 23, 2003)

BEEN EATING WALLEYE FROM DETROIT ST CLAIR RIVER FOR YEARS ,PERCH FROM LAKE ST CLAIR,I'M STILL ALIVE(HOLD ON I'M HAVING A TOXIC MINUNTE) ANYWAY SERIOUSLY DON'T CONSUME 
THE FISH DAILY CLEAN THEM GOOD,THROW THE HOGS BACK(THEY HAVE THE HIGEST LEVEL OF TOXCINS,)
BELIEVE IT OR NOT THE WATER IS CLEANER THEN ITS BEEN IN YEARS.


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## bignoccursg (Dec 31, 2002)

Im with you pollywog, I eat fish from those areas as well. Its my opinion that a properly cleaned fish from the Detroit river system is probably as safe as any chemical injected or fed piece of beef or chicken I might purchase from the grocery store. Ate perch from lake ST Clair 5 days of the last 10. mmmmm good. Im not glowing in the dark yet.


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## Can't Touch This (Dec 31, 2002)

Me, my dad, and my brother have been eating fish out of the lower detroit river/lake erie all of our lives. We found the perch taste great, the walleyes over 20 inches get a weird, fishy taste to it, so we release all of those, and keep the 13-18 inchers. I think they taste wierd because of the warm, muddy water, not the pollution. It seems where ever there is warm, muddy water, the worst the fish will taste, and the clearer, colder water, the better it will taste. I hope it's not polluted, i swim in it all the time in summer!!!!! I think the water in lake erie and the detroit river aren't too pulluted, because it's such a great fishery, and the water is reallly clear in lake erie, and the river can get clear, but the swift currents usually make it muddy. I think the river's problem isn't the actually water pollution, but the river bottom. It's full of park benches, chairs, ect., but the walleyes obviously don't mind, but the fishermen who loses 10lb of jig heads on them do!!!! But, it's a great fishery, and i will keep eating fish from it as long as there's still fish.


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## AutoModGod (Jan 14, 2003)

As mentioned in another post, you might try removing the lateral line in those larger walleye. It improves the flavor dramatically (less fishy), IMHO.


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## patcheroo (Jan 3, 2003)

One little lesson I learned from a buddy in Escanaba helps larger walleyes taste like the 15" to 20"ers. Bleed them out! Between the gills on the underside of the fish is a triangle of skin, cut through this with a sharp knife almost to the gills. This cuts through the main artery. Either put the fish in the livewell, with water in it, or hang the fish over the side of the boat on a stringer. The heart keeps pumping until all the blood is out of the fish. When you fillet the fish out the meat is as white as can be, no blood!! Take out the latteral line and all the dark flesh,FAT, by the skin. These fish taste wonderful! I bleed out all my eyes now. Try it I think you'll like it...Patch


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## The Whale (Jan 12, 2001)

You nailed it Patcheroo,....you bleed them fish out. A tip for in the summer on the boat, instead of messing the livewell, five gallon bucket with four or five inches of water in the bottom does a great job on controlling the bleed out mess. Also, obviously, proper cleaning is key for whatever fish. I've been eating the Walleyes and Perch from the mentioned waters for 40 years, no problems at all, have you seen me ?

P.S. Anybody doesn't want to eat their catch from these waters, I'll take 'em !


Whale


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## Big Frank 25 (Feb 21, 2002)

Anybody remember the PBB in cattle feed? Contaminated milk and all. Here is a link to a more recent problem. Farm group says USDA put bad corn into feed chain


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## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

Ummm...




> Long John Silver serves fish??? I never knew what that swill was, but it's fish??? Do you have any evidence to back this up? I don't believe it, no one could make ANY fish taste that nasty.


Hey E... the secret is in the breading...lmao

 SFW


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## patcheroo (Jan 3, 2003)

Hey....ya do what ya have to in a pinch...Patch


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