Lakers , grease balls , lake trout any one eat them ?

So a few weeks ago I caught a 19 lbs and being a rookie took it home with thoughts of smoking it . My smoked fish has turned out rather well the last few times with all of the other species so I thought there would be no difference with this big boy . I've been useing the process that is on the Salmon University website . I did all the same steps as I did with the other fish in the batch and was anticipating a taste that would be consistent with other smoked fish. Wow was I wrong I flaked off a bite and the interior of the fillet was one of the grossest things I had seen in my life . Some how I got enough courage to take a bite , the second it touched my mouth I nearly threw up the contents of my stomach . So is this something that every Lake Michigan fisherman goes threw and realizes that you just never take a lake trout home . Or did I smoke it wrong ? Enlighten me please I don't like to waste what I catch but we did release 2 successfully yesterday .

All go back on my boat unless they're small and grillable. The big ones are no better than common carp. Just my opinion.

I smoked 2 larger lake trout (15 lbs) about 2 weeks ago as an experiment, I used the same wet brine I use for all salmonid species. After the 3 hour smoke time I checked some of the pieces on the top tray. They were caramel colored and smelled really good, but were "bleeding out" fat at an excessive rate. After removing them from the smoker I placed them in the oven for about 45 minutes on 325 deg to attempt to get the rest of the fat out. Once removed and cooled they were still quite mushy and fatty tasting. Palatable but not overly satisfying. Now, I love smoked lake trout (smaller fish) more than any other from Lake Michigan and I prefer my smoked fish moist. The larger fish are just too fatty for my taste so I will be avoiding them for now on.

Gee Whiz you guys, Ive been catching and eating Lake Trout since the late seventies. Back when you could keep three apeice. Biggest ones I had smoked was 24 lbs boiled,, smoked, fried. The smaller ones wre great fries with shore lunch coating or corn meal. Clean em cut the belly fat off, scrape the insidefat n bloodline out, fillet em ,chunkem whatever some of the best tasting trout from the coldest water out there. Even had em baked in the oven like a turkey with stuffing.If you dont want em release em in the water, dont even net em. Got a 28 n 30 pounder on da board. Both $1000 plus fish that won derbies for me. My 15 year old son caught a 25 pounder the fish was older than he was. If they taste Bad your doin sometin wrong.

Lake trout and whitefish were what fueled a huge commercial fishing industry for more than a hundred years until overfishing and opening of the St.Lawrence seaway let in lampreys and the whole huge venture crashed down. We still have some regulated commercial fishing. What went wrong Boscrowe? I've had some fresh laker I had commercially smoked in Kewaunee (where I fish), that was WAY better than that dried out salmon from the stores. Cajun spice (already mentioned),is great sprinkled on while cooking fish on a hot grill. On the Link trout are grease balls and frustrated perch fishermen call big whitefish, snot rockets. I don't get it.

I have smoked, broiled, baked, grilled and deep fried them greasy things and have yet to be pleased with the taste of great lakes Lakers. If anything, I'm with Daddy's Dream on the deep fried nuggets, only way I can belly them. The color of the meat(yellowish in color) freshly filleted is an immediate turn off from the get go. Problem is, most fish boated are non-returnable. So unfortunately is usually part of your daily box...

Love to smoke the little ones up to about 5 lb. On the grill they are not very good. They are the best tasting smoked salmonid IMHO. I rarely target them, so I do not catch too many anyway. If I start to catch them, I change something to avoid them.

Been smoking Lake Trout for over 40 years using different brines. Found out you don't need to brine them first. The reason for brining is to preserve them when selling them. Now I fillet and skin them, put sea salt on and smoke. Turns out that it tastes better. What a waste of time and salt....Try it,,,You'll like it.

Like dene said, Lakers over 6 lb or so are really high in mercury and PCBs. It is really best not to eat them, particularly one approaching 20 lb. I rarely keep 4 year old salmon and don't keep browns over 8 lb, either. It just isn't worth it. A 5 lb laker I would totally keep, though. They are tasty buggers when smaller

I save them for deep frying. Cut them up into nuggets and coat with frying magic. Don't over cook them and add steak fries. Eat up!

I smoke many of these lakers over the coarse of a summer and to me it's some of the best smoked fish I have had though I only keep the smaller ones up to about 6 lbs. I use the same process on these fish as all salmon and trout. To me lake trout have gotten a bad rap they used to what all charters targeted years ago they really are a tasty fish. If you ever get a chance to go to some of the other Great Lakes supiorer or Ontario they eat these fish in many different ways. I ask what really makes the lakers out of Michigan any different then ones from other Great Lakes. Try this next time you smoke fish do different types but a blind fold on and have someone give you a random taste test you might be surprised

denesox Well said. I agree. However when approaching my 7th decade shortly and considering how much LT I consume, most likely something else will get to me first. I hang around a lot with guys of my vintage. For you youngins I'd heed what he has to say. Grey Beard

Here's my take: 1. They're one of the last native fish in the lake, that need (and receive) extra protection...due to the fact that they... 2. They grow exceptionally slow 3. As a result of #2, they also live an exceptionally long time. Its really crazy how old they get!! 4. The older a fish is, the less healthy (and tasty), and more fatty and by default, higher toxicity it is destined to contain. No avoiding that, no matter how the fish is cleaned, fat is stored everywhere in a laker. A fish of that size is likely over 20 years old, possibly much older. I don't care what people say about how the toxins are assimilated by the body, there's little doubt that a large Laker is probably the least healthy fish in the lake (obvious exception is the carp, but who wants to eat them?). A 4 year old salmon is borderline for me (not really, its off limits to be truthful), and its only been in the lake 4 years. Now think of something that has been in the Lake Michigan environment for 4, 5, 6 (or more) times longer...no thanks, not worth it IMO. Lakers actually feed even higher on the food chain when they get large. They make use of those big heads by enjoying large meals. As an example, last week a friend caught a 10-12lb laker, sticking out of the back of its throat was a forked tail...it was a 6lb salmon! This kind of feeding significantly increases the amount of toxins in a fish...toxins which, in fish, never go down (only up). Yes much is stored in the fat, but these fish are so fatty that there's no avoiding it. Its ingrained in the flesh, cook one and you'll see it run off like 50 sticks of butter...mega fat content, even in the least fatty part of a fillet. The best thing you can do with a large laker is take a nice pic and release it...or mount it...if you want to eat lakers, please be smart and stick to smaller ones....even if you can make them taste good, its not the best idea to even try. With the right spices and care I could make the leather on my chair taste good, but its obviously not a great idea to do so. Just because you can, doesn't make it a good or smart decision.

Both salmon and lake trout are high in selenium which negates the absorption of methyl mercury into the body. Lots of articles on this. I used to worry about consumption, but after reading the newest research I am pleasantly surprised to know that removing the fatty tissue and limiting consumption of larger trout is enough to be safe. Selenium actually chelates/binds to the methyl mercury and the body passes it away instead of absorbing it. Look it up.

I recently talked to a friend who told me to try this with my next laker... cut meat into 1" squares, boil in regular Sprite and dip in melted butter (like lobster). He said that the boiling takes out most of the fat/fishy flavor and the sugar in the Sprite gives the meet a sweet taste. He claims that it is every bit as good as lobster!!?? Please post back if you have tried this and let us all know if it truly tastes that good!!

I have grilled LT under 8 lb with Cajun butter and it was very good. Esp with LT we remove the skin as it holds a lot of the fat. We make sure to remove the fat along the back and and inside belly. When grilling I also remove most of the lateral line. My various crew members do the smoking and all of them use LT when in the catch and some turn down Chinook for LT. They all do a fine job of it and we eat a lot when fishing. I hope our stinky fingers don't slow the bite. Just watched a salmon show from out west and guide wore rubber gloves. Another washed his hands with toothpaste. The contaminents of concern for great lakes fish are PCBs not mercury. PCBs concentrate in fat so removing fat as described above decreases exposure. Mercury distributes throughout entire fish. Problems with mercury most often seen in fresh water fish exposed to water affected by acid rain. Acidic water makes naturally occuring mercury more soluable. A large amount of mercury in WI waters from industrial waste out of smoke stacks carried here by wind.