Walleye in I bay

[baitballin]

Has anyone notice the terrible taste of the walleye in I bay?

 

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[180ccf]

You eat the fish from these waters?

[baitballin]

I eat some browns, perch and walleye.

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[180ccf]

I get it, people do eat them. My father always did. I grew up on the water and we fished all the time and he would eat everything. I was in part, joking. I personally catch and release. I hate the taste of fish. However some of the 2 - 3 lb walleye out of the bay look really clean and very good. I often thought of cooking one up. Now, I doubt I will. Most fish taste like what they are eating. Is it possible their food is nasty due to the muddy waters. In essence, garbage in garbage out.

[lyk2fish]

because these fish eat alewife, when you fillet them you need to take off the red meat along their lateral line. That red meat is very oily due to the alewife diet. if you leave it on they will taste fishy. trim the red meat off so it is just a nice white fillet and you will enjoy them, no matter what size.

[baitballin]

because these fish eat alewife, when you fillet them you need to take off the red meat along their lateral line. That red meat is very oily due to the alewife diet. if you leave it on they will taste fishy. trim the red meat off so it is just a nice white fillet and you will enjoy them, no matter what size.

Thanks I figured it was the alewife. I will give it a try thanks.

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[baitballin]

I get it, people do eat them. My father always did. I grew up on the water and we fished all the time and he would eat everything. I was in part, joking. I personally catch and release. I hate the taste of fish. However some of the 2 - 3 lb walleye out of the bay look really clean and very good. I often thought of cooking one up. Now, I doubt I will. Most fish taste like what they are eating. Is it possible their food is nasty due to the muddy waters. In essence, garbage in garbage out.

Might try to see if the finger lakes offer better tasting fish.

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[muskiedreams]

A long time ago, I asked the owner and chef at a fishing lodge in Hay Bay Off the Bay of Quinte how he prepared and cooked the walleye he served at the lodge. He told me the most important thing is to trim off everything that is not white meat. That includes the skin, lateral line, fat layer, any dark meat and any of the silver inner skin. Having a very sharp filet knife helps make trimming easy. He would dip in an egg and milk mixture and then in cracker crumbs, then fry it in a pan with oil about 1/4 to1/2 inch deep. I use canola oil and it comes out good. I have done it with walleye from Hay Bay, I Bay, Conesus and Oneida Lake. They were all good but I think those from Oneida were best.

[justtracytrolling]

I've heard from many they didn't eyes on an alewife diet, but as Kevin said you trim the filets and remove the lateral line and they are awesome.  I do think water quality is definitely another concern and that's one of the reasons I'm on Otisco.  Bleeding the fish while still alive helps as well especially with smallmouths.

[Kevin J Legg]

ProT and I bleed them and remove all brown meat and everyone we cook them for or give them to love them. Even the big ones!


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[bosco]

I, personally, eat many Walleye out of I-Bay every year. When I first started fishing on the bay I thought they were not as good as the eyes from Honeoye that I grew up eating. I now follow the instructions as described above and they're perfectly fine in my opinion. Bleed them and filet them with great care and they're great. I generally sift through the 23"-28"ers that are common and just keep the 18"-22"ers. I usually don't have a problem fishing until I find some smaller ones. And I do believe it's a matter of Alewife diet over water quality. 

[devoknevo]

I Bay walleye are fine.

Conesus walleye taste like swampass.

[Bluefin54]

How do you bleed them? I've always just thrown my fish on ice


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[bosco]

Short answer...a pair of garden pruners to their throats.

 

Long answer....for me anyways....just before heading back to the launch, I take them out of the live-well and snip their throats, and throw them back in the live-well. Then I throttle back to the launch and while I'm motoring, the live-well drains while the fish bleed out. When I get to the dock and stop the boat, the live-well fills up again and gives them another good washing over. I pull my boat out, the live-well drains again, and I drive them the 1 mile to my garage and clean them immediately. I know this scenario can't work for everyone but that's the program I've developed for my circumstances.

[bosco]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojGhaGwGPg4

 

Bleeding Walleye

[Bluefin54]

Thanks for the info!


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[BlueEye]

We did this last year fishing Erie out front of Cleveland and it made a huge difference in the fillets.  We left one un-bled just to see the difference and it was very noticeable both in color and taste. 

[Kevin J Legg]

I cut their gills with scissors while in the live well before I run in. After running in I drain the bloody water from the live well. If I'm not going to fillet them right away I then put them on ice.


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[justtracytrolling]

Just to clarify the fish need to be alive to bleed them.   

 

How many of you guys filet your walleye without opening up the guts?   I filet them without cutting through the ribs going around them so I  keep the filets spotless and leave the digestive system untouched during fileting.  

[Roughrider IV]

X2


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[GAMBLER]

The same goes for any fish.  That red meat taste horrible.  I trim it off of all the salmon and trout I eat also.