# Where are the best tasting trout caught?



## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

Today was my day off and before I headed to the stream for some flyfishing, I enjoyed a tasty lunch of splake from Fish lake. IMO, FL splake is one of the tastiest trout/char one could find in the state and I always bring some home when hitting Fish Lake. This got me to thinking about other places that have yummy tasting trout. 

Trout seem to be unique because some fisheries will produce trout that is just incredible table fare and other places will have trout that are nearly inedible, and there are a huge range of variation in between. Trout also have the factor of often being stocked and recently stocked "finless Freddies" aren't exactly the best eating _/O . Other species really aren't quite like this. I have never eaten a yucky perch, walleye, or crappie. 

So what do you think? Of the well known fisheries, which produces good eating fish? I'll start.


1. As noted, Fish lake splake. Super red meat and phenomenal flavor. Interestingly, rainbows out of Fish Lake are very mediocre to poor for some reason and I never keep bows there if it can be helped. 

2. Huntington/Hunnington/Mammoth reservoir. The tiger trout there have some of the reddest meat you will find, especially if you keep the pale colored "silver bullets". Delicious!

3. Deer Creek. Of course, this does not include recently stocked finless Freddies, but after about 6 months of eating a diet of zooplankton or a good holdover bow that's been there longer, the bows have a delicious red meat that is a real treat. For the problems DC has with other species, it is an underrated bow fishery and a good place to keep a few for the grill.


----------



## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

Of the popular fisheries, you named the top two with Fish Lake and Mammoth. For delicious rainbows, the hard bodied silver females from Flaming Gorge are amazing.
As for the best tasting char in Utah, I am not quite willing to disclose the spot at this time. The fat scud-fed bright red fillets smell like watermelon while you're preparing them. Mmmmmm.


----------



## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

brookieguy1 said:


> As for the best tasting char in Utah, I am not quite willing to disclose the spot at this time. The fat scud-fed bright red fillets smell like watermelon while you're preparing them. Mmmmmm.


Hmmmm, I bet I have an idea of the general geograhic area though. -Ov-

Speaking of char, one area that can be hard to predict is the Uintas. Some brookie lakes have outstanding fish for the table and others can produce fish that are downright nasty. (Golden pond come to mind) It usually seems to be a function of how well fed the fish are.


----------



## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

Catherder said:


> Hmmmm, I bet I have an idea of the general geograhic area though. -Ov-
> 
> Speaking of char, one area that can be hard to predict is the Uintas. Some brookie lakes have outstanding fish for the table and others can produce fish that are downright nasty. (Golden pond come to mind) It usually seems to be a function of how well fed the fish are.


 Agreed. Scuds and cold, clean water are key factors.
Further up the basin aways from Golden pond are some tasty fellers. Like I say, scuds are key.


----------



## spencerD (Jan 14, 2014)

Mammoth and Fish Lake definitely. Produced amazing fish for me every time I choose to keep them for dinner. 

The tiger trout out at Joe's Valley have all been excellent eating for me. Not nearly as red as the tigers from Mammoth, but very close. The splake, though? Disgusting. Yellow and mushy every time. I'm not sure if that's because the splake and the tigers feed in different areas of the water column or whatever, but that's just what I've found.

As far as community ponds go, if you catch some holdover bows out of Burraston Ponds, down in Mona, they've tasted pretty good for me usually. And the cutthroat from Cleveland are great as well. 

And, I've never had a bad brookie off Boulder mountain, but I think everyone knows about that. The trick there is finding the big ones.


----------



## fishnate (Sep 11, 2007)

I'm not much for eating trout since I found perch, walleye, bluegill, crappie and bass 30 some-odd years ago. But when I go to Flaming Gorge or Starvation I'm often convinced to keep one or two since they are the best rainbow trout I've had. I've heard the smaller lakers in the Gorge aren't bad either, but my neighbors usually volunteer to eat those for me, if I keep any.


----------



## OCF (Nov 4, 2009)

To me there is no better fish than the trout caught at Strawberry through the ice.

The Kokes caught in June & July are very good also.

The worse fish was a cutthroat caught at Current Creek in August. It smelled & tasted just like algae/moss & I ended up throwing it away.


----------



## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

I'll echo the nastiness about JVR splake. I've never eaten one that was tasty, and I just ate a 19" last night. I can't vouch for any of the fish in Joe's, being tasty. It's still a blast to fish though and great scenery.

My preferred trout meat comes from brookies and tiger trout, followed by cutthroat, then rainbow, then the rest.

My favorite brookies come from a sensitive place, so that name will not be dropped. Southern brookies do taste great though.

Same goes for my favorite tigers (sensitive location), but I agree that Huntington tigers are really good, if you can catch one worth keeping (over 16"). Currant Creek tigers are also great tasting. BC tigers (did I just say that?) can be a game of roulette, but if they have a white belly, they're probably really good. Avoid males from there.

Strawberry is the place for excellent cutthroat, if you can get a slot buster. Best cutts around. I'd love to try a BL Cutt from their native home, but haven't gotten that chance yet. I hear they're great as well.

Currant also has tasty cutts. Anything from that lake is pretty good, even the whitefish. I've had mixed results with Electric Lake cutts, with some being incredible and others having yellow mush.

Rainbows seem to taste similar whether they're from DC or the Berry, but I like the Starvation bows, as has been mentioned. I'll have to try the FG bows.

Splake from southern Utah tend to taste better than the other places I've caught them. I'll definitely have to eat a FL splake if I can get myself to fish there instead of driving by...I'd like to fish Navajo someday too.

Lakers - Only tasted one from FG (21") and it was okay. Kind of like a Provo River brown. Edible, don't hate it, but prefer not to eat it.

Browns - Strawberry River, below the Soldier Creek Dam. Mmmmmm, nice PINK flesh to start with and very tasty. They are browns that I will take home on purpose. Never had a bad one from there. I also ate one from Starvation that was pretty good, even at 26".

DC browns - I ate two, a couple of years ago. Nothing stands out in my memory though, as to their flavor.


----------



## smoothie (Nov 21, 2011)

My favorite local places to eat great tasting fish are:

1. Osaka
2. Happy Sumo
3. Tepanyaki


----------



## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

Sea trout cajun style


----------



## spencerD (Jan 14, 2014)

LOAH said:


> I'll echo the nastiness about JVR splake. I've never eaten one that was tasty, and I just ate a 19" last night. I can't vouch for any of the fish in Joe's, being tasty. It's still a blast to fish though and great scenery.
> 
> My preferred trout meat comes from brookies and tiger trout, followed by cutthroat, then rainbow, then the rest.
> 
> ...


I'm glad to hear you've had good luck with the Berry cutts. I've personally never had a really good cutthroat from there. Been unlucky as far as that goes, I guess.

I haven't had lakers yet, and I want to. I guess I'd have to catch one first.

And, as someone else mentioned, KOKES! They kinda count for trout, right? I mean, same family and everything. I've only ever eaten them from the Berry, but they're fabulous from there.


----------



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

spencerD said:


> And, as someone else mentioned, KOKES! They kinda count for trout, right? I mean, same family and everything. I've only ever eaten them from the Berry, but they're fabulous from there.


+1, I've yet to eat anything as good as a early season fresh caught Kokanee. With the recent regulation changes, I made a couple new lures I cannot wait to try out on them.

-DallanC


----------



## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

smoothie said:


> My favorite local places to eat great tasting fish are:
> 
> 1. Osaka
> 2. Happy Sumo
> 3. Tepanyaki


+1, but the thread is about yummy trout and I always seem to order tuna when I find myself at the Happy Sumo. ;-)

RE"I'm glad to hear you've had good luck with the Berry cutts. I've personally never had a really good cutthroat from there. Been unlucky as far as that goes, I guess."

I ice fish Strawberry quite a bit, but since I usually have some trout from either Fish Lake or Mammoth in the freezer at the same time, I infrequently keep fish there. However, on the rare occasions when I have, I agree that they have been really good. I've found the *sub* slotter cutts to be especially tasty, with very red meat and fine flavor. The few bows I've taken home when on the hard deck have also been quite good. I have always released the slot busters I've caught.


----------



## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

DallanC said:


> +1, I've yet to eat anything as good as a early season fresh caught Kokanee. With the recent regulation changes, I made a couple new lures I cannot wait to try out on them.
> 
> -DallanC


Aren't Kokes like perch? They're always good. (unless they are spawning.)


----------



## gmanhunter (Dec 27, 2007)

In my opinion I think it's the time of year that you catch them, that makes them taste differently. I think the fish caught through the ice taste better then they do during the summer. I like the trout from ottercreek, fish lake, and strawberry best. I smoke all my trout, and most times I can't tell the difference in taste. I eat more perch, white bass, cat fish, walleye, crappie, and blue gill than I do trout. Cat fish is another fish that can taste different depending on where it's caught and the time of year its caught. Everyone has different tastes for different fish, but for me trout is one of the last on the list of what me and my family eat.


----------



## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

Kokanee are terrible. No one should even bother fishing for them. Boring to catch, fight like a wet sock, tons of bones in them.

Do the right thing. Leave them for me. ;-)

If you want some good salmon, Fresh Market has some great farm raised color-added atlantic salmon. Getcha some of that.


----------



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Catherder said:


> They're always good. (_*unless they are spawning.*_)


Bolded part is why I phrased it like I did.

-DallanC


----------



## NHS (Sep 7, 2007)

You haven't lived until you've had Jordon River mud cat.


----------



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Best tasting trout in Utah? 

Continent Lake, Cutthroats or Brookies, doesn't matter.

.


----------



## neverdrawn (Jan 3, 2009)

I agree with gman. I like most trout caught through the ice. Later in the year, at some of the same reservoirs, they taste a little like mud. Splake on the other hand, I've always enjoyed. I have only caught them out of Fish Lake and Navajo however so my experience is limited.
In the summer it seems to me the higher the elevation the better the fish are to eat. My guess is the cold water. We used to bring home some from Lee's Ferry where the water which is released from the bottom of the dam was always frigid and they never disappointed.
Cutthroat are too hard to skin after they are filleted. That skin holds on like death so I rarely eat them.


----------



## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

My grandma used to always tell me big fish in the middle of summer are more fun to catch, but smaller fish from cold water taste much better. When it came to cooking, I never heard my grandma say anything that I didn't later find to be true. 

That being said, I've NEVER met a trout I didn't like if taken care of properly. I've eaten BY FAR more Provo River browns than any other fish in Utah... But, given the choice, I'd take a splake from FL every time.


----------



## hunting777 (May 3, 2009)

spencerD said:


> I haven't had lakers yet, and I want to. I guess I'd have to catch one first.
> 
> And, as someone else mentioned, KOKES! They kinda count for trout, right? I mean, same family and everything. I've only ever eaten them from the Berry, but they're fabulous from there.


To me I have to say Lakers are disgusting. I have smaller pups , and the larger ones. They have a really soft meat.

But I have to say Bear lake Cutthroat are by far my favorite. With the Kokes from the Gorge or Strawberry are not far behind.

Nothing beats fried fish to me. :EAT::EAT:


----------



## massmanute (Apr 23, 2012)

I don't know about geographical locations, but brookies taste best to me. Cutthroats aren't too bad. Rainbows and Browns are further down the list.

Actually, my list of fresh water fish goes like this, starting with the best:

Yellow perch
Walleye
Crappie
Catfish (including channel cats and bullheads)
Brook trout
Cutthroat trout
All of the rest.

I have never caught a lake trout, splake or tiger trout.


----------



## massmanute (Apr 23, 2012)

I realize it is getting a little bit off topic, but of ocean fish I have caught, southern flounder is best. Spotted sea trout and sand trout are next. (Both of these are actually in the croaker family, not the trout family.) Mullet caught in a cast net weren't bad either. Strangely enough, the eating mullet seems to be a geographical thing. Based on my limited observations, mullet are a more popular food fish in Florida than in Texas.


----------

