Northwest Fishing Reports

wow i have never had luck this good. i have bout 35 trout in my freezer. anyone else been doin good this year?????

I have had a an "ok" season. Some lingcod and cabezon, few steelhead here and there, handfull of kokanee. My freezer is looking a bit on the slim side though, but the good news is the rivers just opened and King fishing in the salt is just around the corner so things should be a changin.

If you 'got a freezer full of trout it sounds like you need a bucket full of brine followed up shortly by a smoker full of fish. :chef:

Matt wrote:I have had a an "ok" season. Some lingcod and cabezon, few steelhead here and there, handfull of kokanee. My freezer is looking a bit on the slim side though, but the good news is the rivers just opened and King fishing in the salt is just around the corner so things should be a changin.

If you 'got a freezer full of trout it sounds like you need a bucket full of brine followed up shortly by a smoker full of fish. :chef:

hahahaha! They always end back in the freezer after they're smoked though. If you do 'em in big batches like that. I've got a freezer full of trout fillets, caught a bunch of trips out of green lake, mmy wife loves 'em. I've got steel and springer in there too, I'm averaging 3/4 of a limit per river trip so far this year, so *fingers crossed* if this keeps up I'll be able to convince my wife to let us get the upright freezer I've been wanting. And besides the ice cream, steaks and butter, all I've got in the freezer is fish. Hehehe.

sounds like he needs a bucket full of perch

I too am having a banner year on the trout, and nate is right... when smoked they just end up back in the freezer, lol.

Despite the weather, it has been a great year!

I don't fish much as I want to with two kids but I did better last season. pass 1 month, no steelheads and no lingcod. so I am 0/4. I was told salmon season opens up again in Westport and hopefully Lewis river will have more steelheads soon.

Maybe I'm just a bit too picky but I don't keep fish in the freezer more than 90 days. The taste and texture changes really turn me off. After far too many years of stuffing my freezers (yes plural) and letting most of the prime fish freezer burn into crab bait, I finally got it through my thick head that something had to change. The first thing I tried was vacuum packing so I was still stuffing the freezers. Vacuum packed fish still looked good after 6 months but the texture and taste still weren't what I wanted. Then I tried smoking the fish. Was a good change of pace from fresh but if I then stuffed it back into the freezer I ended up with the same problems except the problems were slightly masked by salt and smoke. Next move was to can the surpluses, both fresh can and smoked then canned. Definitely improved the shelf life but eventually I got tired of buying more cans and building shelves to store them. The final solution (for me) was to stop killing everything I caught. Just bonk enough to eat fresh, freeze and consume within 90 days (preferably less), or give away to friends who can no longer fish but appreciate a gift of fresh fish.

Everything that goes into my freezer is vaccume sealed and dated (oldest out 1st). When I 1st started out, I was keeping pretty much all I caught. But now I am able to catch enough that I release anything that is not bright. Even then, if it is not dime-bright, it gets smoked. Then whatever is left over at the beginning of the next season gets smoked up also. The smoked fish then goes to every party, potluck, & dinner I go to (just pick up a box of crackers & tub of cream cheese to go with and you are a hero!) as well as holiday gifts for neighbors, coworkers, etc. I also take a bunch down to my wife's family in MX whenever we go.

Haha, I am a fish snob too Gringo. If it ain't bright, it doesn't come home (typically... extraneous circumstances do exist). I keep most all salmon and steelhead hatchery fish I catch as long as they are bright, I have no problem blowing through my supplies in less than 90 days, but since I fish year round there is always SOMETHING in the freezer to eat!

My preferred storage method is a gallon ziplock bag, filets lumped in and then filled with slightly salted water. Eliminates the air contact and keeps everything plenty moist. It does take up a lot of room in the freezer but with 6 hungry mouths to feed, we rarely have too much on hand anyway.

i find white fish freezes/keeps better than red flesh fish