Fish eater or not

[krayfish2]

After spending a lot of time and money chasing trout, people are shocked that I don't eat any of them. As a matter of fact, I don't eat anything that swims or lives in the water. All of it has simply been for relaxation and sport.

I know that I'm in the minority but is there anyone else who does it for fun and doesn't eat any seafood? Just curious.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

I myself only like Flounder, Red Snapper, Tuna and Salmon for fish.

So, as I only fish inland freshwater, I don't fish for food at all.

 

[skeeter bite]

I'm not a trout eater but I do like several varieties of fresh and saltwater fish on the table. Everything I catch personally gets released to fight another day.

 

[JeffK]

I release nearly all the fish I catch but eat a fish or two a year because there is no fresher fish than one you just caught. Very few legal walleyes I catch go back to water and I do a perch fry once or twice a year. Enjoy wild trout from a few spots since they are tasty, but maybe only once a year. Stocked trout are bland but fit for the smoker. I get how you can enjoy fishing without liking seafood though.

I'm an old fart with depression reared parents so any free protein was welcomed. People even canned suckers when I was young. I realize the connection between a fish flopping around and dinner. Now many suburban young people don't even realize the connection between the fish at the end of the line and one you eat. Years ago, I was with a TU trip at the Riverside on the Beaverkill and we were grilling steaks and drinking beer. The Riverside is in the No-Kill section so I said since the coals were hot maybe I would drive down to the open water to catch a couple of trout for the grill. A couple of the kids said they didn't know you could eat trout. That was a shock to me.

 

[Kyle]

never freshwater. but there are some outstanding saltwater fish i eat all the time. i also enjoy visting my local sushi joint. love sushi with wasabi. and who doesnt love a good fish and chips meal.

 

[Kyle]

almost forgot. sardines. i love eating sardines. spicy ones on saltine crackers, a dab of minced garlic with a splash of tabasco hot sauce.

 

[coyoterahn]

I enjoy any most any white flaky fish. No tuna, salmon etc. However, those sardines mentioned above sound tasty. Gotta try me some of those.
I release all my fish, just my personal preference.
However, i was on a back packing trip some 45 or so years ago. We caught a bunch of brookies and kept some to eat. Wrapped them in tinfoil after seasoning them up and buried them in hot coals. Some of the tastiest fish I ever had. Possibly attributable to some stuff we smoked a bit earlier.😂🤷‍♂️😳

 

[Canoetripper]

I lived in the south for 18 years, so I like catfish. I worked for a company in Muskegon, MI and developed a taste for walleye, perch, and whitefish.

On canoe/camping trips in WV, I kept a trout for grilling over the campfire for supper and one for breakfast fried in bacon grease. I never kept more than that though and never took any home in a cooler.

I can kill 5 trout/week at my R&G club, but I don't even do that in a year.

I do like most saltwater/freshwater(walleye) fish that I buy at the grocery store. Not all, but most. I don't care for blue fish or talapia among others.

 

[JeffP]

My family doesn't really like fish. It's super expensive. Farm raised rainbows like $12.99 a pound. I like grouper, tuna steaks, and salmon.

 

[JimNovo]

I don’t anything that I catch in freshwater.

My saltwater rule is that it needs to be big enough to filet to eat it (too many Outer Banks Shake and Bake Spot dinners as a kid).

But I love sushi, tuna, swordfish and haddock. I could eat fish everyday.

 

[Arminacast]

I like sardines once in awhile, you can see an empty can on my kayak in this picture. I took my kayak out for one last time before putting it away for winter. I tied up a stealth bomber that I saw in another post and had an enjoyable day, catching several bass and probbably 50 or 60 bluegill! I don't eat trout but I love to fish for them!

 

[Kyle]

what about the fillet O' fish from Mcdonalds lol.

 

[caddisflyer]

I have not eaten any freshwater fish in a few years with the exception of some catfish, caught from Raystown Lake, which was delicious. I release all trout except 5 or so from a stocked stream each year.

 

[krayfish2]

No shrimp, scallops, crab, lobster, clams.... none of it. Last time I had fish was 40 years ago. Salmon cakes.
I'll blame it on going to Catholic school and being forced to eat haddock with orange sauce on it.

 

[a23fish]

I enjoy fresh pan-fried trout several times a year. Most of the trout I catch are stocked fish, ditto for the trout that become dinner.

 

[falcon]

Don't really like freshwater fish. Some salt species are good. Hate shrimp ... lobster is ok. Crabs ...eh. I don't mind Sardines especially fresh grilled as the Portuguese do. I really like fresh smelt rolled in flour and corn meal, fried crispy with a shot of hot sauce and cold beer. My father used to make cod cakes ...grated onion ,cod mixed with a little mashed potatoes then fried. Again with cold beer.
This may be a interesting thread.

 

[bdhoover77]

I could eat seafood any time — blue crabs, lobster, scallops, shrimp, octopus, oysters, mussels, tuna, salmon, and wahoo are my favorites, but really I’ll eat anything that comes from the sea. I do enjoy walleye but that’s really the only freshwater fish I’ve had other than fried perch as a kid.

I‘d love to take a culinary tour of the Tokyo seafood market some day. Like I said, there’s not much from the sea I would not try.

 

[RLeep2]

I fish to freeze and eat during two periods of the year. Mid May when the crappie are on the beds, I take out 3-5 messes (maybe 20-35 fish total). Then from early October until freeze-up, I stockpile messes of perch and a few walleye, enough to hold me through February or so if I eat them once a week.

Wild trout is OK, but IMO, it can't hold a candle to perch, walleye, crappie, bluegill or even largemouth bass under 14" or so. I grew up in a blue collar family of 6 and my Mom didn't work. We ate fish we caught at least once a week as a part of making ends meet. The creek down behind the house was loaded with largemouth in the 9-12" class. We ate them by the hundreds. This was back when the min legal length was 9".

 

[tomgamber]

I eat fish at least once a week. More if it's available. I try to eat only eat wild caught for as much as the package is accurate anway. Cod, tuna, salmon, steehead are the most regular. If I go to camp I'll keep a few stockies to feed the crew as they enjoy that. If I wasn't so lazy the fish I'd eat most is bluegill.

 

[caddisflyer]

Years ago I ate a lot of the fish I caught. Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass, Rock Bass, Crappie and Walleye from ponds and creeks and the Susquehanna were all enjoyed. We kept stocked trout by the hundreds and ate most of them although I will admit some would get freezer burn and end up in the garden. You can only eat so many.