why do they taste MUDDY?

a rainbow in potholes reservoir recently glommed onto a crawler that was concealing my hook. i ate him (the fish, not the worm) last night. he tasted "muddy" and the flesh was sorta "soft."

anybody have any ideas as to what causes the muddy flavor??

thanks.

john

I had the same experience with Sprague lake rainbow. I think it's the water being so warm in the summer. The rainbows I ate out of lake Roosevelt were excellent - and that water stays cold year round. Just one theory...

Yup, the warm summer water will make the fish taste like mud. The best tasting fish will be caught in the spring after a good cold winter.

Hey Big John... Looks like your new to the board... WELCOME!

Some people say it's the way you handle the fish, BUT I've bled them, cleaned them, and put them on ice before I ever let the line out again, and still had them taste like the Tacoma tideflats. Gotta be water temp, what they're eating, or an algae bloom in the water.

My understanding is the muddy taste is caused by the diatoms in the water. Of course they are more abundant in warm water as well as the alkaline water of eastern Washington. It is found most common in trout but have bass, crappie, perch and catfish (bullheads) all with muddy taste. Seems after several months of cool water the taste is "flushed" from the fish. Some folks seem more "sensitive" to the taste than others.

The chemcials form the diatoms that is the cause of the muddy tastes seems to be stored in the fish's fat. The fat begins to break down as soon as the fish dies. That is why it is sometimes recommended to clean and ice the fish right away.

If that taste is particularly offensive to you the best beat is to CnR. If it is somewhat tolerable then you need to ice the fish immediately and clean and skin as soon as possilbe being sure to remove the "dark meat" along the sides of the fish under the skin. That dark flesh is the fat and as it breaks down following the death of the fish it taints the rest of the flesh.

Tight lines
Smalma

to all who have responded so far, i thank you very much. and thanks, too, to any others who may respond. i appreciate your input.

john

Allow me to welcome you to the board Big John.

and, thanks for the welcomes!

john

I think it also has to do when the trout go on a snail eating binge... and it's also from what the snails were eating too.

I've always found this to be true for lakes where snails are a big part of the food base for trout. About April 1st they start tasting muddy.

The Sage lakes over in the seeps are ones where I gave up keeping trout past April 1st. Lots of snails in the lower lake.

I went over to Jameson once with a old fishing buddy. He told me what he did when he got home. He soaked the fish in water in the Refer for a few days to get the bad taste out of them. Well I did it and they still tasted bad. I think that was the last time I kept trout. I think that the best tasting fish is the one caught and eaten right away,like for breakfast when your out camping.

I think the question has been answered, but just wanted to add that I've caught Walleye at Potholes during early spring that tasted great. Just a little later in the year (July) they started getting that muddy flavor to them.

Try scaleing or skinning them. It works around Omak in the summer.

It's actually all a conspiracy... Some crazy catch and release fanatics (You've heard of the Raelians, right?) developed a new strain of rainbow trout in a labratory, created millions of fry, and let them all go in public waters.

It worked so well, they did it for all the popular sportfish, such as bass, crappie, perch, and catfish.

I'd say my name... But now that I'm on to them I'd appreciate it if as little information as possible is said about me on this board... Gotta be safe ya know.

BBVD - have you been getting in to your dad's ?

hahaha nahh just gettin bored at midnight. This week is the dreaded semester finals week, so I've been an insomniac. four hours sleep tops, normally getting two. Curtis

Wow lots of responses to the Q of why trout taste muddy and NONE right.
It's not from hanging around the bottom, not from diatoms or snails, not from
warm water, not from anything that has been mentioned.
One observation was correct though, usually the problem clears up over winter
and early spring trout taste better.
That's because their main diet changes. Chironomids (midge larva) hatch out of
the mud in the spring. When digested in large numbers the fat in the trout stores
the muddy taste of the little wigglers that hatch outa the mud on the lake bottom.

Now I know ya all want to know the CURE, so here goes:

Bleed and clean the trout immedictely upon catching and store on ice.

When ya get home skin the buggers using one of those crappie skinners,
remove mosta the fat layer.

Placed the skinned fillets in a glass baking dish with your favrite marinade sauce
to which has been added 1/2 cup of white vinergar. Marinate for 1 hr in fridge.

Take the trout out and rinse thoroughly for 10 minutes.

Then take the whole glass trey to the garbage can and DUMP contents
because there is no way to get the muddy taste out.

My personal method is to not kill the trout at all and to head for Safeway
after my trips and buy some nice Salmon or Halibut.

Get's the muddy taste out every time.

Sorry FishingfellaS, it's not chironomids. If it was then the fish would be fine in late summer after feeding on scuds, damels, callibaetis, caddis, and whatever else they can find. Chironomids are usually all the fish feed on during winter.

I don't know what actually causes the muddy taste, but it does seem related to warm water. Every trout I've caught in cold alpine lakes tasted good, even in late summer, as long as the water was cold. Whether it is a direct cause or an indicrect cause could be tested, but I'd just a soon let them all go. I'd rather fish C&R water and catch big fish than fish open reg water and catch the gimmie planters.

Many years ago when I was young and living on the other side, we started practicing C-N-R because after the first two weeks of the season the fish started tasting muddy. Was told at that time it had to do with the increase in algae as the water warmed up. Just a thought.

Have to agree with Loco -
There lots of fish that get "muddy" tastes that are not chronomids eaters. For example in late summer I have had kokanee get muddy and all they were eating all summer were zooplankton (they may eat some chronomids in early spring but they were fine taste long after they switched to zooplankton). Trout from small spring streams eat lots of mud burrowing insects (mayflies etc.) w/o getting muddy. Largemouth bass over 3 ro 4 pounds also get muddy tasting in some waters and their diet rarely contains anything as small a chronomid.

Tight lines
Smalma

WOW! lots and lots of ideas, thoughts. last spring, trout i caught in upper goose lake and banks lake did not taste muddy, or at least i don't recall any "off" taste. maybe this year i'll pay close attention to which water source they come from, and see if there is any correlation with taste.

thanks a million, fishers, for all your input.

john

My Granddad 50 years ago said he wouldn't fish Medical Lake when I was a kid and he lived in Cheney because the fish there had the Muddy taste even back then. So this was even a problem a half century ago.

Smalma, I half way agree with you, but thats only that kokes begin to get muddy late summer/early fall. They also start changing shape and color... And spillin out eggs... And dyin.

So far, FF's post looks the best... mostly cause all the big words

why dont you guys just email the biologists with the WDFW? Be a little easier then arguing about everything.

BBVD,

Check Smalma's occupation and one might gather he's making an educated guess. Rest of us are making fishing related guesses and we may be right.... and we may be only partially right.

I like the chronie theory.... but don't subscribe to it. I'm a "snail man"... but think the diatom version may carry some weight.

You still a rat lover?

Old Man,
I have a small variation of your idea.We used to catch bass ina n old pond that always looked muddy.The bass tasted that way so we quit eating them.
Met a guy there one time that asked us why we were throwing them back.Explained that they tasted like mud.He said to soak them in milk over night and it will take the mud taste out.
We tried it and it seemed to work.

I have fished the potholes for 20 years and tried all types of tricks to get that dreaded muddy taste out. I've yet to find one that works. One thing that I have found that is consistent is, if you filet your trout and find that the meat is tight and firm, no muddy taste and is great in the skillet. If the meat is soft and loose, it is great for the smoker only.

I have found this to be true no matter what time of year, although in the heat of the summer most of the filets are soft rather than firm. Just my 2 cents

Thank's for the milk idea,but I don't keep fish any more. I just keep throwing them back to see if they will get any bigger.

i have had steelhead out of the grand ronde that also taste muddy so not too sure it is the food the fish eats,it has not been many of the fish just a few

If they're hatchery raised trout, isn't the pelletized food making them taste sort of muddy as well?

Every lake stocked rainbow I've caught tastes kind of like mud, even if it's early in the season. Silvers on the other hand don't taste at all like they've been fed pellet food for obvious reasons.

SFJ

I tend to share the same theory: hatchery fish does not taste good, since they did not grow on natural resources and have freedom of movement around big hopefully clear waters.