How dark is to dark?

[Cosmic Lazy Susan]

Got this one last November. It's the darkest salmon I've caught. It cut a pale orange. Kids wanted me to grill but I didn't think it would be very good that way.

I smoked it and it was delicious. Would you keep anything darker than this for smoking or would you toss it back.



Dale

[Crazy Fisherman]

Well I look at it this way, if it wont go on the grill it wont go in my smoker. This fish looks fine. I have gotten chrome hens that were alittle pale. I personaly like the bucks in salmon or steelhead. I don`t think I`d of turned that fish loose. Was it a buck or hen?
Crazy fisherman

[B-run]

A common misconception is that dark fish will smoke.
Not true.
The end result begins with the quality of the fish in the first place. I tried this in my younger years with a darker fall fish,and well lets say my moms garden loved the mushy stuff,as I prayed the fish gods would forgive me.
Let the dark ones go to produce. Your pallet and the fish gods will thank you.

Best quality fish into the smoker.

[Cosmic Lazy Susan]

Crazy Fisherman - It was a hen.

I've heard that bucks hold up better.

Fact?

Dale

[Ty]

I agree with all the above posts........

Buck generally to conserve meat quality better....

The physilogical color of the fish on the outside does not nessisarily reflect teh quality of the meat. This is especially true iwht spring and summer fish.

If u carefully inspect the clear piece of skin just under the Operculum (gill plate) will show u the meat color if u have questioning the meat quality.

I ahve talked to many barbarians on the river who actually cut the tail to see a cross section of the meat to decide weather to keep the fish or not.
[img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

I would never recomend a fish to the smoker that I would not bake...

However a guide friend showed me that fresh salmon regardless of the color on the outside and with white meat do taste good fresh cooked over a fire on the river. My second year as a fishing guide we caught the biggest uglyest chum salmon we could fine that was not spawned out and had no fungus and cooked it for a three guide shore lunch challenge. I was skeptical ....very skeptical... but, it was delicuos and is was very good... [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]

[img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

Ty,
Even humpy is good fresh and cooked over coals.

[Grantspastor]

I agree with Ty. The color on the outside doesn't necessarily indicate what the flesh will look like on the inside. On the Rogue for example, Springers enter the system in March and don't spawn until September. They have more of the "tastes good" body oil and can be that dark on the outside and still prime food value. Fall chinook on the other hand enter the system in August and spawn in October. They can be reasonably bright on the outside and marginal on the table.

[Crazy Fisherman]

I think almost anything is good cooked on the river bank. :grin: Dark fish, trout, baccon and eggs, God I`m going to have to eat supper again. [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

[Quasimodo the fish killer]

ok I am gonna et some flack for this but I don't like fish much and unless its chrome bright and covered with sea lice I wont eat it. I have seen fish that color cut good and bad I have also seen fish a lot cleaner then that cut pale. its a personal choice if you catch plenty of fish then you have no need to kill something that dark if you only catch a few and wouldnt feel bad if it cut white then whack away :grin:


Quasi

.

[Crazy Fisherman]

If it`s black turn it back. You can do better, even if you don`t catch many fish. It`s better to let a dark fish go and spawn then kill it and not have a good table fare fish and let it go to waste. just my 2 cents. :smile:

[FishFearMe]

Hey Ty I have also seen people cut the tail to check the meat and I think that is not the right thing to do. It might be illegal if not it should be. It whould be like starting to fillet your fish. I would not reccomend cutting the tail to check the meat. If it is that questoinable just turn it back. Hey Ty I am not saying that you do this I just wanted to make my statement.

[B-run]

OK, anyone, (not stating that it is done here)
that I EVER see cutting a tail or any other part of a fish, to see if it is good enough quality fish to keep will get some tail cut from me.
Know your fish/season/run. I have kept red racers on the upper stretches, but that is due to knoweledge of the fish, that they hold their body fat due to their distance,etc.
No tail cutting please. Good lord.

[ampersat]

Here's a little tale from last fall:

I scored my first limit last fall fishing silvers on the upper Sandy. Two of the fish were a mating pair, a hen and a buck. The hen was chromy but the buck had some color to it. When I got home, I started in on filleting the fish. I started with the buck and cut it into pieces that were appropriate for the smoker (not table cuts). Once that fish was done I started in on the hen. She was much paler than the buck even though she was brighter outside. I ended up swapping out the hen for the smoker and keeping the buck for the table. I've had some oddly shaped dinners but I learned a valuable lesson: filet all the fish before deciding what goes to the smoker.

[steelhead22]

A couple years ago I was fishing for summer steelies at Rivermill Dam on the Clack. A guy lands this hatchery springer and proceeds to pull out his knife and cut it in the tail, then the middle, then near the head. They weren't big cuts, just little stabs. Then he turns to his neanderthal buddy and says, "Well, this one's no good" and pitches it back in. I couldn't believe it!