What to do with a 50+ lbs Tule?

[BUGLEMAN]

Sorry folks I had to bonk it! It is one large buck. I could only carry it with one hand for about 100 yards before I had to put it down. Boy is that meat white as snow. I figured how bad can it be?.. Would smoking and canning be worth the work. Or should I just do a good quick brine and smoke it up?


As far as where I got it let's just say it was in Youngs Bay. True story.

[NEUTRON]

Let it go, oops too late.

[happybrew]

Do you have a garden?

happybrew

[Drachir]

I had to kill one a couple years ago, I smoked it, and it came out suprisingly good.
For what that's worth, give it a shot.
[img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Phish_on]

Take a picture.

Now EAT IT. ALL OF IT.

[FISHFINDER]

BM-

If you are going to do anything with it, make sure you take the skin off and trim off all fat and anything else that may be hanging on. If you do that you should have a pretty tasty piece of smoked fish. Note that it is easiest to do this when the meat is cold. Good luck.

FF

[BUGLEMAN]

We all make mistakes. I made one today. No, I do not have a garden. They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. But, is it worth 1,000 bites of Tule?

Is it that bad? I realized as I slit open the belly and saw white meat that I just made a very big mistake. I will barbaque a portion just to see how palitable it is. To have a better knowledge of what I am dealing with here. At least, most likely it is from the net pen fishery. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[ 09-12-2001: Message edited by: BUGLEMAN ]

[WheresMyBobber]

Tule meat isn't "bad", it just isn't GOOD! It doesn't have much flavor, and what flavor it has isn't very rich. I don't think you'll like it no matter how you cook it, but that's just my opinion.

As for smoking it or any other fish, your end product is only as good as the product you put in. (garbage in, garbage out)

[fishbait]

shame..........

[SlabQuest]

Are tule kings that way just because they have spent so much time in fresh water, or is it a seperate "run" of fish? I have heard both explanations [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

[WildHawg]

Sorry to be so hard on you Bugleman...but why in the world would you have killed it?? I have caught and released MANY large dark fish, even when I was just starting out. Your post states: "Sorry folks I had to bonk it! It is one large buck." That seems to indicate to me that you only kept it because it was big, and you knew it wouldn't really be worth eating. Jim Teeny (a famous flyfisherman) was roasted, and lost the respect of thousands of fishermen on a similar stunt he pulled with a huge buck he kept that he had caught off the spawning beds on, I believe, the Wilson or Trask. Just be glad you are not famous. We all make mistakes--including me, but I hope you learn your lesson, and let anything that is not edible (ie. almost chrome bright for a fall fish) go in the future. This goes for hens too. In my opinion it is ethically wrong to keep a fish that is "spent" just for the eggs.
You are now absolved my son. Dominus dominus fishinus.

[BCFISHON1]

Bugleman make the most of your kill. I dont care if you eat it or feed it to the cat or put it in the garden or even use it for crab bait. the most important thing is that you do find some use for it in respect to that animal that you killed. ENOUGH SAID !

FISHON

[Robert]

Just smoke it. I cut all extra fat and if there are white spots of meat, cut it off to. I have smoked several of them and they were great. Knowone could tell the tule from the fall chinook. My experince is if you are good at smoking it will taste good. The fall chinooks tasted like the tules, very good. Now the springer I smoked was way better, but that is a lot different. The otule is great smoked if you know how to do it. I think you should catch and smoke tules just to get rid of them all to save food and spawning ground so we will have more fish to bbq.

[DanS]

Robert, Robert [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

No way are you going to convince anybody that Tuleys taste anything like a quality fish. The Tules ARE fall fish, they are just lower river fish that enter fresh water in a more sexually advanced (READ: poorer meat quality) stage. With a good brine recipe, you can smoke a Tule and have it taste pretty fair.........but no way would I make a habit of keeping these pale-meated fish.

Don't feel too bad, BUGLEMAN, I think everyone has kept a fish that they weren't proud of later on. I wouldn't feel too bad. Just file it under "lesson learned" and remember the next time you land a big Tule that you're probably better off just letting it go. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[ 09-12-2001: Message edited by: DanS ]

[Robert]

I do not care if you belive me or not. I also do not take it as a insult. I think I am really good at smoking fish. Maybe I am crazy, I do not know. DanS what do you mean by "lower river fish"? Are you refering to the Bonneville pool? I did some resource and am pritty sure that they originate in the white river, hence the white meat.
I think the big tules have a bigger humped back then a upriver bright. Tules look a lot the big pink salmon like the the poster in the living room. The tules are green like the picture of a pink about ready to spawn. Maybe the chinooks and the pinks have cross bread. I read in a STS magazine a couple of years ago that they pinks and chinooks have crossbread in one of the great lakes. Maybe it was a problem caused by poor hatchery management. I beleive that one of the first hatcheries on the Columbia was on the White salmon river.
I know these ideas sound crazy so do not give me to hard of a time. What does everyone else think about why tules are the way they are?

[Ramstrong]

Robert,

Dan is correct in that Tules are lower river fish. There are also Up river brights (Hanford reach and Snake river) and lower river brights (Lewis River) fish. Dans description is also pretty acurate, they are more sexually mature thus poorer quality. They don't need to store up the energy to reach the spawning beds as the brights. Stored energy=quality fish, that's why springers reign supreme.

[Robert]

If the distance travel matters then why do fall salmon on the trask taste so much better then the tules? On the springer one. Why do lower river springers going to palces like the wind taste so much better then a tule going to the same place? I am not looking for an arguement I am asking an honest question.

[Gobbaworms]

SlabQuest
Tules are indigenous to the White Salmon River (hence the name). The hatchery there releases them to support the commercial and tribal fisheries. Supposedly, when the commercials get them out of the ocean, the meat is pink.

[Gobbaworms]

If anyone is interested here's a link:http://www.r1.fws.gov/gorgefish/spring/SPRING.HTM

[DanS]

Robert,

Generally, the more sexually mature a salmon becomes, the lower the quality of the meat. If a chum is all calico, it won't be good. If a silver is red, it won't be good. If a king has a brown belly, it won't be good. And if a pink has a big hump, it won't be good. It might be edible, even decent, but it won't be good. If you have a brine recipe that makes a Tule taste decent, then you must be making some top-shelf stuff when using bright fish. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[ 09-12-2001: Message edited by: DanS ]

[BUGLEMAN]

Correction: according to the neibors bathroom scale it is 42lbs. I guess I am not used to catching big salmon. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

The fish was OK off the barbie. I used extra seasonings. As stated above bland and not very exceptional flavor with a marginal texture. It reminded me of the first steelhead I caught and ate. It was pretty dark. Very bland and mushy

BTW. There was also some of those lower river brights caught too.

We post and read here to learn right. Big was in reference to the size on the fish and how much there is to deal with. Mistake was the fact that the meat was white and not the pink as I had expected. It was still a white color on the outside and I haven't caught many fall fish either. Just alot of springers. There is a big difference for those who don't know. Now I know and will help to educate those who don't so they can save room on thier tags for one with better table fair.

I think people go wrong on this board by making too many assumptions. I would apreciate a question over an assumption.

How can bonking a hatchery fish be a waste? Just wait and see the state/Fed. hatchery workers are going to be whining and crying about all the fish they have to handle and wanting to plant less. Don't take this the wrong way but planting a hatchery tule in your garden is better than having ODFW plant it in a landfill or out in the woods. It is not like I ripped a precious hen off her redd in the middle of the Wilson.

The head and carcass will make excellent crab bait. I know those will taste good. I will smoke the rest. Thank you to those with positive critisizm.

Tules do have a very humped back that pokes up above the head and extrodinarily large adipose fins. I do know that tules spawn in the lower river and the WDFW website has an excellent explanation of the different salmon in the NW.

URB vrs Tules? My guess is that the Tules and URB evolved separately and were geographicly separate from each other. I don't think the two types of fall fish can breed. Otherwise, they would mingle and one would get bred out of existence. I don't think a chinook and pink could successfully spawn.

Happy fishing [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[ 09-12-2001: Message edited by: BUGLEMAN ]

[NEUTRON]

Bugleman, I appreciate your initial question as we are all here to learn. I almost made the same mistake last weekend because columbia fishing has been slower for me this year than years past despite record runs, I'm assuming due to water conditions and not adpating to them. Anyhow, my 7 year old boy has appointed himself as the dedicated fish wacker; it's a difficult task convincing him not to "whack" a big fish. You have re-enforced what I already knew. Stories like BOE's, Pilars and yours help us all. Good fishing to you and keep sharing!

[Ramstrong]

Robert,

Don't worry no arguments here.

It's not just distance traveled it also has to do with difficulty reaching the beds and how long a fish needs to stay in fresh water. Coastal river fall fish can't come in sexually mature because in low water years very few fish would spawn. Now without rain for extended periods of time above tidewater you'll find very few good quality fish, the good ones stack in tidewater waiting for rain. Brights have to have enough energy stored to make it to the beds hundreds of miles upstream. Springers (even lower river fish) enter in spring and don't spawn until fall the whole time in fresh water they aren't eating. Tules Spawn in the mainstem and larger downstream tribs. They can enter the river already sexually mature because spawning beds can be reached easily on almost every year. The fact that they're already or very close to being sexually mature when they hit B-10 makes them of inferior table quality. Dans' statements on what the fish look like equating quality is pretty good. Look at the fish's belly if it's white still you're fine, if it's lite grey it's a judgement call and if it's dark grey or black let the fish go. This big nook was released because it's belly was grey even though some people would consider it not bad. Hens especially will have more shine to them even though their meat is not that good. look at the belly and you'll know. I've been guilty of killing a fish that shouldn't have been. Most people need to make mistakes in order to learn. Some can learn from others mistakes. I'm a youngun so this board has been valuable for me to learn from the older sages here. The key is to learn.

[Robert]

I still do not get how spring salmon going to the same area are so different. The springers from the wind were excellent. But the tule going further up river to the white salmon are nasty? The springers going to Drano are also great. They ado not have to go all the way to the white river. Why are there a variety in tules? Some are realy nasty meat and some have just spots of white meat instead of it all being white?

[finclipped]

Those Wind river and Drano springers are a hatchery strain from Idaho, thus genetically they are capable of traveling a thousand miles before spawning. They don't even get started and their trip is over. Also Springers migrate in April and May and spawn in August, thus they need a healthy fat reserve to survive that long.

[smilesforu]

Here is what I do with all my tules. Place in black garbage bag in backyard. Keep moist with a occasional spray of water, so it doesn't dehydrate. Don't touch the bag until it moves on its own. At this point it is ready!! For those of you that want to enjoy the the backyard process place in a clear bag for better viewing.
This is the hardest part and may require a clothes pin (clothes pin optional if your a mouth breather). TIP: Make sure the wife isn't home to see you do this or you will be sleeping in the truck. Scoop up a about a quart of the movin Tule and place in a vacuum seal bag...seal that sucker closed. (Reel men use bare hands for scooper) Open all windows in the house to ventilate. If questioned about the stench claim you had gas and a dr's appointment is scheduled.
Now what do you do with this bag of joy?
You now have christmas gifts for your closest fishing buddies or presents for the Floatilla III participants. This delicacy is best served with crow wings.
To stay creative your co-workers will love this game. Place a few small holes and hide bag in bosses desk...makes for a fun game of hide and seek.
Another great use is to bag it and send it to RT to keep his garden lush. [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

Settle down nobody would actually do this stuff [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Brings a whole new meaning to you have mail.

[Beek]

Robert,
The white flesched Chinooks you guys are talking about are similar to the fish that "pollute" Chilliwacks Vedder River each fall. The meat is white, and suspect at best, but seeing that we get so many excess fish I bonk a White or two each year, just for the 3#'s off eggs. The meat is edible...a buddy of mine makes fish and chips. I usually find some sucker to give the fish away to.

I would only kill a White is it was bullet chrome with sea lice. They tend to turn faster...bonk one that is semi-clean and fifteen minutes later it's a grey boot.