Got my limit of trout today

[catman529]

in the Harpeth River @ Lewisburg Pike in Franklin TN 3 days after the trout were stocked.

So as in my other post, yesterday I had no luck and there were too many fishermen and not enough room to catch any. There were a few there today as well, but I had plenty of room to share the sweet spot with a couple other guys and since there was some current, we could all alternate casts to the same hole without crossing lines.

So with only corn for bait I caught my limit in only an hour. The guys who were in the same spot when I got there left after a little while because they had caught their limit, and then some new guys came down and I left it to them after I had caught my limit.

Got them gutted and going to fillet them...should be tasty

 

[Blount County Hunter]

Nice catman, I knew you'd get em, go back after them again soon, they still might be around

 

[scn]

You may want to re-think filleting them. They aren't really constructed like a bass or crappie, and I will bet you will leave more bones in the meat than what you will cut out.

The best way to prepare IMO is to either pan fry or grill with the skin on and then peal the meat from the bones as you eat.

 

[catman529]

I thought of doing em that way but I have filleted them in the past, only got the occasional small bone...they are tough to get the bones out of for sure. I want a few strips to deep fry sometime later so I'll have to find a way to cut some of them so I can fry them. The fillets will be skin-on when I cook them in the oven or over the grill.

 

[JA1234]

You may want to re-think filleting them. They aren't really constructed like a bass or crappie, and I will bet you will leave more bones in the meat than what you will cut out.

The best way to prepare IMO is to either pan fry or grill with the skin on and then peal the meat from the bones as you eat.

x 10

 

[Str8Shooter]

congrats on your catch!

 

[catman529]

Thanks

 

[double browtine]

Nice ones. Skillet fry them with garlic salt or lemon pepper in olive oil.

 

[catman529]

I have done lemon pepper in the past and it's pretty good. Might do it again, and if not then I will go heavier on the spices

 

[stik]

You may want to re-think filleting them. They aren't really constructed like a bass or crappie, and I will bet you will leave more bones in the meat than what you will cut out.

The best way to prepare IMO is to either pan fry or grill with the skin on and then peal the meat from the bones as you eat.

x 10

+1

 

[double browtine]

Catman. Google how to clean a trout. You can cut just under the gill plate and pop their head back like an old pez candy dispenser. Then you just peel the skin off. Gut it and your done.

 

[knightrider]

congrats, i love to catch them but i cant eat a bunch of 'snot rockets'

 

[B.D.]

I hate cooking trout whole and having to contend with the bones when I'm eating them. There's nothing more annoying than having to pick through a piece of cooked fish searching for bones. I filet them instead - you just have to do it slightly differently to get the Y bones out of the meat.

First, I filet them just like you would a bluegill or bass. Start behind the gill plate, cut down to the backbone, and then cut back along the backbone toward the tail to separate the filet from the backbone. You can trim the skin away at this point, but I usually leave the skin on because of the way I cook the filets (see below).

After separating the filet from the backbone, you find the ribcage and take a REALLY sharp knife and trim the ribcage away from the filet.

Then comes the tricky part - removing the Y bones. Take your finger and run it along the middle of the filet, back to front, above where the rib cage was.

You will feel a line of prickly tips of bones sticking out of the meat. They slant slightly downward into the meat. Take that VERY sharp knife again and make one slice immediately above the row of Y bones, keeping in mind that they slant slightly downward rather than going straight in. Then make another slice immediately below the Y bones.

At this point, you should have a very narrow strip of meat with the Y bones in it. Grab it by the end and peel it out of the filet. You lose a tiny bit of meat this way, but it's much, MUCH easier than contending with the bones after the fish is cooked.

It takes some practice, and you probably won't get 100% of the bones the first time you try it. But you will get most of them if you are careful, and they are very small, fine bones, so if you only leave a couple, you probably won't notice much.

Here's an added "cheat": When you cook the de-boned filets, fry them skin-side down in a hot cast iron skillet with a little bacon grease, with a light dusting of cornmeal on top.

Crush some almonds very fine and toast them light brown, and then sprinkle a spoonfull or two over each of the filets as they cook.

First of all, this is the most delicious way I know to cook trout. But even better, if you miss a bone or two, you are much less likely to notice because you are crunching the almonds.

This recipe is especially handy if you are cooking for squeamish people who are likely to freak out if they find even one single tiny little bone in their fish.

Enjoy,

bd

 

[762hunter]

Looks good

Now go get a license!!!

 

[easy45]

looks good

 

[ShaneHallum]

I always gut them, and put lemon and pepper inside the cavity.

 

[catman529]

I hate cooking trout whole and having to contend with the bones when I'm eating them. There's nothing more annoying than having to pick through a piece of cooked fish searching for bones. I filet them instead - you just have to do it slightly differently to get the Y bones out of the meat.

First, I filet them just like you would a bluegill or bass. Start behind the gill plate, cut down to the backbone, and then cut back along the backbone toward the tail to separate the filet from the backbone. You can trim the skin away at this point, but I usually leave the skin on because of the way I cook the filets (see below).

After separating the filet from the backbone, you find the ribcage and take a REALLY sharp knife and trim the ribcage away from the filet.

Then comes the tricky part - removing the Y bones. Take your finger and run it along the middle of the filet, back to front, above where the rib cage was.

You will feel a line of prickly tips of bones sticking out of the meat. They slant slightly downward into the meat. Take that VERY sharp knife again and make one slice immediately above the row of Y bones, keeping in mind that they slant slightly downward rather than going straight in. Then make another slice immediately below the Y bones.

At this point, you should have a very narrow strip of meat with the Y bones in it. Grab it by the end and peel it out of the filet. You lose a tiny bit of meat this way, but it's much, MUCH easier than contending with the bones after the fish is cooked.

It takes some practice, and you probably won't get 100% of the bones the first time you try it. But you will get most of them if you are careful, and they are very small, fine bones, so if you only leave a couple, you probably won't notice much.

Here's an added "cheat": When you cook the de-boned filets, fry them skin-side down in a hot cast iron skillet with a little bacon grease, with a light dusting of cornmeal on top.

Crush some almonds very fine and toast them light brown, and then sprinkle a spoonfull or two over each of the filets as they cook.

First of all, this is the most delicious way I know to cook trout. But even better, if you miss a bone or two, you are much less likely to notice because you are crunching the almonds.

This recipe is especially handy if you are cooking for squeamish people who are likely to freak out if they find even one single tiny little bone in their fish.

Enjoy,

bd

That is pretty much exactly what I did tonight, I filleted them and cut out the strip of bones so I had 2 strips of boneless instead of 1 fillet with bones. Also I skinned the fillets before deboning them. Pan fried them in some butter with dried basil, tarragon and a little salt and pepper. Not bad. I caught 7 more trout today and I will be freezing their fillets for a future deep fry cookout.

Looks good

Now go get a license!!!

Done it today man, now I have a total of 4 TWRA licenses including the trout stamp I just bought.

 

[Beekeeper]

 

[spitndrum]

 

[buckhorn40]