First trout stock of the year

[catman529]

Here on the Harpeth river in Franklin. Myself, my friend and his friend all got our limit. I stopped at 7 but they kept fishing. Going to put them in the Weber with some hickory smoke this evening right before work, they will be ready when I get home tonight. The smoked trout dip is the only way I really like these fish

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[MidTennFisher]

Smoking those trout sounds like an awesome idea!

Trust me, they do taste so much better when they've lived longer in the wild. It makes sense because they're eating a natural diet. There is debate on whether any natural reproduction occurs with rainbows in the Caney or not but even if they don't, a lot of them are stocked as fingerlings. I've eaten the fresh stocked trout and the ones from the Caney are so much better.

 

[AllOutdoors]

Nice pics! Hope the eating is better. I prefer my trout on the grill with a little smoke as well.

 

[catman529]

Nice pics! Hope the eating is better. I prefer my trout on the grill with a little smoke as well.

Oh the smoked trout dip is very good. The fish already smell good now that they are smoked. Just got to buy the rest of the ingredients, mix it up and let it sit for a couple days to get good.

 

[Crosshairy]

Nice pics! Hope the eating is better. I prefer my trout on the grill with a little smoke as well.

Oh the smoked trout dip is very good. The fish already smell good now that they are smoked. Just got to buy the rest of the ingredients, mix it up and let it sit for a couple days to get good.

I've had good success grilling with butter and cajun seasoning, although sometimes I have to use foil to keep from stripping the skin off.

The big problem is letting them age. A fresh trout (same-day catch) is decent table fare. If you ever freeze them, they drop pretty dramatically in quality compared to most other fish. That's why I never keep more than I can eat at one time, because I never eat them once they've hit the freezer!

 

[AllOutdoors]

Agreed , Catman is going to have to let us in on this dip though.

 

[spottedbass]

Crosshair, you must not be freezing them properly. I have froze them for as long as a year and they come out just as good as they were fresh. I use a food saver and vacuum seal them. Never had any that weren't good after being thawed. Also I always thaw them overnight in the refrig.

 

[RUGER]

They stocked the "lake" at Martin last week as well.
I went for about 45 minutes Sunday and caught two.
Missed 5 or 6 starting out.
The wind was blowing so hard I couldn't tell when they hit my line going by the float.

Took the float off and caught one then caught another on a spoon.

Didn't keep either of them, wasn't gonna clean them anyway.

I just hope they all don't die in these warm temps we got coming.

 

[catman529]

They stocked the "lake" at Martin last week as well.
I went for about 45 minutes Sunday and caught two.
Missed 5 or 6 starting out.
The wind was blowing so hard I couldn't tell when they hit my line going by the float.

Took the float off and caught one then caught another on a spoon.

Didn't keep either of them, wasn't gonna clean them anyway.

I just hope they all don't die in these warm temps we got coming.

you didn't want to clean them? easiest fish I have cleaned, scissors in the bunghole up to the gills and then pull the guts out and scrape that blood line off the spine with your finger.
I hope they don't get killed off in your lake.


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[RUGER]

Don't mind cleaning them at all.
By far the easiest for sure.
Had a thing I had to go to at church and didn't have time to mess with them.
Rather catch, clean and grill all at the same time.
When I freeze them when I am in the mood to eat them they are always still frozen.

 

[go_okfishin]

I took 3 kids to Spring Hill Saturday. We ended up with 17. At one point they all had a fish on. I caught one and laid my rod down to help them. Made my day to see those kids have so much fun.

 

[catman529]

Don't mind cleaning them at all.
By far the easiest for sure.
Had a thing I had to go to at church and didn't have time to mess with them.
Rather catch, clean and grill all at the same time.
When I freeze them when I am in the mood to eat them they are always still frozen.

you like them grilled? That's about the only way I like them other than smoked trout dip. And yea I'm the same way with frozen stuff. I have started freezing meat in single portions in freezer bags so I can set in a bowl in the sink and run a small stream of water to thaw it out quicker.


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[catman529]

I took 3 kids to Spring Hill Saturday. We ended up with 17. At one point they all had a fish on. I caught one and laid my rod down to help them. Made my day to see those kids have so much fun.

Thats awesome. Small creek isnt it?

 

[go_okfishin]

I took 3 kids to Spring Hill Saturday. We ended up with 17. At one point they all had a fish on. I caught one and laid my rod down to help them. Made my day to see those kids have so much fun.

Thats awesome. Small creek isnt it?

Yes on Kedron road. Under Saturn Parkway.

 

[Forvols]

Man I wished we had some winter stockings here in Northeast TN. No stocking I know of around me until like late Feb/early Mar 16

 

[catman529]

I took 3 kids to Spring Hill Saturday. We ended up with 17. At one point they all had a fish on. I caught one and laid my rod down to help them. Made my day to see those kids have so much fun.

Thats awesome. Small creek isnt it?

Yes on Kedron road. Under Saturn Parkway.

yeah I have caught a few there, it's fun to drift a piece of corn in one of those pools


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[Setterman]

Man I wished we had some winter stockings here in Northeast TN. No stocking I know of around me until like late Feb/early Mar 16

There's a ton of water in NE TN that holds trout year round. No reason to wait, get out there and catch a few.

 

[TNGRIZZLY_]

beside fly fishing, what are the best bait to catch trout?

 

[fishboy1]

Grilled is good but here is my favorite way to eat trout.

Big cast iron skillet, plenty of real butter. flour, salt n pepper.

Gut and Head the fish, use a hose with sprayer and blast all the scales off, might need to do a little clean up work on the belly and around the fins.

Mix salt and pepper in with your flour and dredge the trout.
Fry in pure butter on the cast iron skillet. I like to add a little more black pepper while its cooking.
The trick is to keep the temp as high as you can get it, WITHOUT burning the butter. This will be lower than you usually fry fish when using oil so it will take longer.
Both sides should be a gorgeous golden color with good crispness when its ready.
Squeeze of lemon is optional. Use a butter knife to slide in along the backbone and carefully lift the fillet off, If you do it just right, the Y bones should stay attached to the spine and you get a boneless fillet. MMMM. Throw a handfull of sliced almonds in the pan when you flip the fish to toast to a golden brown as the second side of the fish gets done. Spoon the toasted almonds over the trout...

 

[RUGER]

beside fly fishing, what are the best bait to catch trout?

Night crawlers.