February 27, 2007
Three steelheads ready for journey back to sea
My dad and his crew -- the crew being my brother, Greg, and family friend Will Hope -- have been pretty much crushing the winter steelhead out in Oregon.
A recent float on a coastal river produced three nice hens in the 8- to 10-pound range for Dad and Will. All were hatchery fish, which the fisheries experts out there urge anglers to keep to limit their spawning efforts. (They want native fish be the primary spawners.) So all three ended up in Dad's smoker. Check out that color! No need to add the "color added" disclaimer on this fish.
My folks live on a small creek in the Umpqua River watershed. When Dad's done cleaning fish he chucks the carcasses in the creek. That may sound kind of gross but it makes sense. The rotting carcasses, along with the carcasses of fish that die after spawning, add important nutrients to the creek, a nursery for steelhead and salmon fry.
Comments
[February 28, 2007 11:05 AM]
Wylee : →http://wyleesworld.blogspot.com/Fresh smoked salmon, yumm. It just doesn't get any better than that. It's good protein too, for those that are training.
[February 28, 2007 12:47 PM]
Mark TaylorI know I'm biased, Wylee, but Dad's smoked salmon and steelhead is the best I've ever had. Blows even that high-dollar Copper River (AK) stuff out of the water. He really has it down. And it doesn't hurt that he has the benefit of starting with a pretty great product in those fresh-from-the-sea chromers.
He's promised to Fed Ex me some packages out of this batch. I'm going to hold him to it.
As for training food, it's not bad. Unfortunately it's pretty high in sodium so that's not great for my blood pressure. Then again, not much is.