So called trash fish.

[NIMROD]

Which have you eaten and did you like?
Here is a list of those I have sampled , how cooked , and results.


Jackfish (Chain Pickeral) white meat but boney. Fried not bad.

Sauger(some call them Jack Salmon) wonderful fried kin to walleye and good as Crappie.

Grinnel (Bowfin) Yuk! tastes like mushy fried awful

Gaspergoo (Drum) white meat , little rubbery cut in finger strips boiled in shrimp boil dipped in cocktail sauce .(poor boy shrimp)

Gar filleted and chunked fried . Little meaty texture but white meat good flavor.

Eel (Fish Eel, American Eel) fried and tasted strong , was not impressed.

Buffalo Most are fine eating , boney fish. Perfer ribs over fighting bones. There are several species . Black and Bigmouth (Gourdheads) have darker meat. The Smallmouth (Razorbacks ) white flesh and are the best.

Mudcat (Yellow Bullheads) fried , greasy red meat, nasty little crap.

Grass Carp (White Amur) fried good solid white flesh not real flavorful. Boney but not bad eating .

Spoonbill(Paddle fish) Filleted and fried was not impressed, but baked with lemon, butter, and seasonings made good fish sandwich. One good point is they have no bones peroid.

[whiskerwhipper]

Green Carp (Largemouth Bass): Depends on how big they are. Small ones are gourmet delicious fried whole, baked whole, and fillets dusted in flour, pan fried in butter, and you got heaven. Big ones taste like salad bar from a Ryan's Steakhouse on a slow night. My folks during the 80's recession eaten more big bass than big turkeys and hams.
American Eels: Underrated. Fried and served with mac n cheese.
White Perch: Raccoon will fight someone to the death for the last whole fried one. Give him some fried whole WP and he'll never leave you alone.
Bullheads: I've been at that level before (more than my fingers can count)
Creek Chubs: Fried crispy whole......drooling right now
Pinfish: if you don't want to perish on a marooned boat or deserted island
Suckers: Choking on a bone is worth it in order to taste that awesome flesh (fried)

[Hillbilly910]

never heard of a sauger as a trash fish...thats interesting.
I'll disagree on the bullheads, im rather fond of them when i can find them.
White sucker is also tops.

[Legato]

I wouldnt call bass or sauger trash. The rest....never ate any and dont really have any big plans to.

[PBUG2009]

sauger are great.
Bullheads ate them and loved them
As for the suckers, My grandma grinds them up and makes them like salmon patties. AND MAN ARE THEY GOOD!!!!

[CatFan]

Sauger is good.

I used to know a lot of people who snagged for suckers and they raved about them.

Smoked carp is good too, and they are a blast to catch.

[Drum_Master]

Sauger is NOT a trash fish. Taste better than crappie in my opinion.

[deathb4disco]

If it's on the end of my line, it's not a trash fish.

[CrappiePappy]

The thread title says it all .... "so called" (trash fish) !!

I've caught & eaten Bass (LM, SM, KY Spotted), Freshwater Drum, Channel/Blue/ & Bullhead Catfish, Walleye, Sauger, Rainbow Trout, White Bass, Hybrid Stripers, Yellow Bass, Muskellunge, several different Sunfish species, and of course Crappie ... and all of them were "good" (at the time). Prefer them dusted with yellow corn meal & fried in a iron skillet (it's the way my Grandma cooked our fish, when I was growing up Thumbs Up ).
I've even eaten Gizzard Shad, cooked over a campfire (on a dare, when I was young & stoopid :p ) ... but, I don't advise anyone else to try it. It was terrible nasty. Rofl

... cp

[feelay]

My grandmother would can drum in Mason jars then use it to make drum salad, much like tuna salad. From what I can remember it was pretty good, but tuna is better. I only eat crappie and bluegill now, sauger and waleye are fine but we don't have those here. I like many salt water species of fish also.