If it hits my mouth, I like it. Fish that is. Although the "fresh" Pacific salmon I had in Atlanta was, well, not too fresh, way over done, and not too good, and that was at a 5 star resturant. If you're gonna eat salmon, don't eat it once it hits the east coast.

Same thing with beer too, although that is for another thread.

Any super fresh fish takes the cake...two I'll never forget were a white king from about 15 years ago and a duwamish pink (yes, a duwamish pink) from about 10 years ago that was cooked within about an hour of being caught. Take super fresh out of the equation, and CR springers live up to their billing.

im not picky as long as its a king...i love big flakey filets

i really dont like sockeye because the grain of the meat is too small, it just seems to crumble more than kings do

Ocean Coho, a few hours out of the water, the meat looks electic.

Yep... all about mouth appeal for me. Thick oily belly hunks with big chunky flakes when you run a fork thru the meat. Typically that means KING. Exception is a nice high teens hook-nose coho right out of the salt.

Quinault Sockeye. Best hands down....................

The best salmon is the kind that come with baby back ribs.....smothered with Rudy's rub and barbecue sauce then slow cooked/smoked for about 5 hours.

oh that sounds so tasty, Beezer!
Hard to beat that.

My favorite is CR springer.

Best fish out there was this one right here - I know it for a fact because I had to let it go yesterday. Man, this one was just perfect for the BBQ. Too many dang fins.



Oh well, his older and bigger brother decided to stay and play. I'll eat it tomorrow night and report back on how good or bad it was.



I'm gonna bet it's gonna be really damn good.

April Fools again?

Sure. Or Easter. I didn't *have* to Photoshop out the adipose on this fish either!

Either way, my BBQ is gonna be on fire (literally) on Saturday!



Sealion tried to eat this one before I did. Nice claw gash on the side of the fish facing me.

Kirkland signature canned wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon, in the 4 pack at Costco...very tasty.

Mf

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

Worked on a Bristol Bay Sockeye gill-netter last summer as cook and deck hand. One of the big buck sockeyes I filleted out had a wonderful firm deep red meat. I cut out a hunk, sliced it shashimi style, dipped it in soy and couldn't believe how awesome it was. Other than that I could care less for Sockeye. Give me a big fat King anytime! The worst fish I ever had was from my first time out on the Pacific as a deck hand long lining for Black Cod (Sable Fish). We were getting sdome of these crazy looking fish I had never seen before. Look like a cross between a flounder and a halibut but with huge narley teeth like a ling cod. We would just throw them back for lack of market. I couldn't imagine them not being excellent due to how excellent sole, flounder and halibut are. So, I filleted some out. vac. pack'd and froze. Took the best of care with them. Low and behold, the beautiful fillets when cooked turn to tasteless mush that none of our seven cats would even touch. Never have I worked so hard on fertilizer for the garden. Surprized it didn't kill the plants. These fish are called Arrowtooth flounder or Turbot. I guess the Long Liners in Alaska have a way of testing each individual fish of this species as it comes aboard for quality. You see it in the markets for about two to four dollars a pond labeled as Turbot. I'll never buy it after my experience. Bent rods to you all. A fellow sportfisherman at heart.

Before I was half through this post I thought Arrowtooth Sole! Never ate one but have caught a few. I was pre-warned about the edibility.

It may be that the fish in the market is Atlantic Turbot, which could be of a different quality, but I don't know since I haven't tried it.

I'll post a photo of one of these toothy flatfish as soon as I can find it on my computer.

It is funny that I sit here now and read through this thread. I just finished tasting my first BBQ CR springer filets. I am not a salmon/steelhead eater unless it is smoked and the look I got from Swanny today when I said I was going to smoke this springer was priceless. With that being said, I decided to give some a try. I have to say it is the first salmon that I actually enjoyed eating, that wasn't smoked. I am now debating if I should vacuum seal the rest of the filets or brine them up......

depends how hungry you are and if you have a buzz or not...