Thread: Soft fish?

Originally Posted by South Paw

I have noticed that what crappie feed on determines what they taste like. Crappie feeding on primarily baitfish taste better than crappie feeding heavily on insects and crustaceans. I've never paid attention to texture that much. Now thinking about it, larger fish +13" do seem to be softer. I eat a lot of fish, salt and freshwater. I try to avoid eating older fish. They've been around too long to absorb bad stuff. Plus the quality of the meat isn't that good.


Good Fishin

I never thought about that applying to crappie but I'm sure it does. I like catfish but I sure don't like the farm bred ones like they serve you in restaurants. YUK!

You are what you eat. Stripers are good example. Freshwater stripers feed primarily on shad, bluegill and whatever baitfish they can catch. A saltwater striper has a more diverse diet to choose from. A rockfish (saltwater striper) feeds on fiddler crabs, blue crabs, mantis shrimp, clams, menhaden, juvenile flounder, silversides, eels, speckled trout, spot, croaker, bluefish and things I can't remember. They are one of the most adaptable fish out there. To me saltwater stripers taste better than the freshwater variety. As long as everything is fresh of course. I helped raised hybrids in a private lake once. They tasted mediocre to me. I fed them pellet food and they probably ate some things in the lake but they were conditioned to eat pellet food. I harvested a couple of them and gave them to a Chinese Restaurant LOL.

Good Fishin

i smack the fish in the head with a knife handle or similar before i throw it in the cooler. keeps them from flopping around

Im guessing that the smaller body of water gives less room to roam. Also what feeds it and whats around it. Livestock, trees could be a factor? 11-13" fish are my target size and fry up nicely.

Have a feeling most everything mentioned here is playing a role. Like said these fish are larger fish, from a small body of water. Talking w my fishing partner we both seem to think it was last March when we experienced the soft fish last yr. I’m thinking the water was actually still rather cool? With that said we’re going again in a few weeks and plan on trying a few smaller fish. Kinda thinking that may help? Years ago we ate them all the time from other bodies of water but I must admit they were typically smaller fish. Once we try the smaller fish I will post and let everyone know if there was a change. Thanks

Originally Posted by Unklslam41

i smack the fish in the head with a knife handle or similar before i throw it in the cooler. keeps them from flopping around

When I visited/fished in Germany 18 years ago, I was enlightened that all harvested fish were to be euthanized immediately! I now do some that way or bleed out some saltwater species.

u2s