White fish: fertilizer or good eaten?

[troutdude]

Thanks man. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

 

[strawberry shortcake]

Gosh, everything I learned about whitefish behavior and habitat I learned from my grandma. I never bothered looking it up. The Wiki article said pretty much what grandma said. She was right about everything except the eating part. No way would I use them for fertilizer or throw one off to the side now that I have tasted them. Too good tasting. And I agree, the flesh has a wonderful texture, again more like crab leg meat than fish meat, but more tender. And the color is a purer white than trout. The term "sucker" is a misnomer. They draw in food much like trout do but without the need for those teeth. They don't eat mud. They eat meat. Just like trout. And I eat them.

 

[Growbug]

Whitefish (Fisheries Term) and Mountain Whitefish have completely different entries in Wiki.
The entry for Mountain Whitefish is very short, but covers most of the facts.
The entry under Fisheries Term is NOT referring to the actual fish we are talking about, but to cod, etc.

 

[Griz]

Growing up in Montana we would catch many white fish, but we never ate one of them. We put them in the same class as the suckers and squaw fish and tossed them on the bank. We had a older man come down to the river and watch us kids fish and he would take every white fish we caught home with him. He swore up and down they was good to eat and he smoked them as well, but we never took him up on that idea.
In the winter we had old guys come down to the river fishing for white fish and they would use maggots for bait ! The real sick part of that is they would store the maggots inside the cheek of thier mouths.

 

[fishkiller]

Whitefish (Fisheries Term) and Mountain Whitefish have completely different entries in Wiki.
The entry for Mountain Whitefish is very short, but covers most of the facts.
The entry under Fisheries Term is NOT referring to the actual fish we are talking about, but to cod, etc.

Don't believe everything you read on wikipedia.

 

[RLK]

Whitefish (Fisheries Term) and Mountain Whitefish have completely different entries in Wiki.
The entry for Mountain Whitefish is very short, but covers most of the facts.
The entry under Fisheries Term is NOT referring to the actual fish we are talking about, but to cod, etc.

Your absoulutly correct they are different. The whitefish that we catch and some of us eat here in Oregon is the mountain whitefish.

 

[the_intimidator03]

my understanding of the term "whitefish" generally refers to cod, pollock, sole, etc white fleshed mild flavored fish generally sold for consumption. the whitefish that is being spoken of here is the mountain whitefish which is a member of the char family which as it seems is also good to eat,

 

[capblack]

we have caught a few mountain whitefish in the upper arm of detroit lake fishing worms off the bottom, i put them on the barbie and my daughters loved them. definitely not a sucker, sqwafish, chub, garbage fish, bone fish, whatever any one wants to call them. Brian

 

[Griz]

Link to Montana Outdoors article on the Mountain Whitefish

Mountain whitefish

I may have keep one and try it

 

[lilsalmon]

So, we caught numerous white fish on the Deschutes....would that be the mountain white fish? I assumed they were also a garbage fish but now I know different and I agree with the initial "fish on!" and then pretty much nothing to bring in. Of course all of the fish we caught on the Deschutes were released...be it white, redside, etc.

 

[RLK]

Link to Montana Outdoors article on the Mountain Whitefish

Mountain whitefish

I may have keep one and try it

Great article.

 

[strawberry shortcake]

Wow. Who knew my little tale about white fish would become such a thread! I have asked around at work, and most believe as I have come to believe: Very GOOD eatin! Why didn't I know this earlier!?!?!?!? I could have been eating white fish for the last 5 years! Reminds me of that ago old saying, don't believe everything you hear, and just because your mother told you not to, taint no reason not too!!!!!

(hehehehehe)

 

[troutdude]

FYI

State record for a Whitefish:

4 pounds & 4 ounces / 1994 / Crane Prairie Reservoir / caught by Roger Massey

Source:

Moon Outdoors Oregon Fishing, by Craig Schumann
Avalon Publishing Group, Inc.
1st Ed., January 2007