Muddy Tasting Walleye?

[Tronster]

Had a good week for Walleye last week at the cottage -- good quantity and good size. Cat and I were excited and looking forward to our first 2008 feast of fresh Walleye. Cooked them up our usual way and took the first bite...what disappointment! The fish tasted muddy. The best way I can describe it is that the Walleye tasted like the lake water smells -- kinda vegetative, if you know what I mean. We found about half the fish we ate last week had the same taste to some degree or another. Some were almost inedible.

I've been fishing Lower Buckhorn Lake for almost 25 years and have never encountered this before. Have any Hawkers had similar experience with Walleye, and can anyone suggest a way of treating the fish before cooking to get rid of the taste?

[slop]

I've heard that soaking the filets in milk for an hour before cooking does the trick....although I'm greatful that I've never had to try this technique.

Give it a try and let us know if it makes a difference.

[ratsotail]

Tronster,

A few questions first since I've never experienced this:

1.) Was this a large fish and did it have a fairly large strip of dark or red meat down the lateral line?

2.) Did you cut off the belly fat?

3.) Were these fresh or frozen fillets cooked with the skin off?

4.) Did you fry, bake, broil, or poach the fish?

I've caught some Sauger before in some midwestern States that had a slight "muddy" taste, but never a Walleye that tasted like a catfish.

Could be something local to your region, but I hope not!

ratsotail

[Fishing 24/7]

iv had that same thing happen to me

but this was mid summer in a bay so ...

what im thinking is that : when the water is to hot the fish meat tends to taste muddy ! even with pike!

take this for example: youl never have that same taste when ice fishing!

[Tronster]

For Ratsotail

1) Was this a large fish and did it have a fairly large strip of dark or red meat down the lateral line?
The muddy tasting ones were about 20" long. The red meat along the lateral line didn't strike me as any wider than I'm used to seeing.

2.) Did you cut off the belly fat?
No.

3.) Were these fresh or frozen fillets cooked with the skin off?
Fresh flilets within a few hours of being caught, skin off

4.) Did you fry, bake, broil, or poach the fish?
Dusted with flour and fried in Canola oil.

[troutnmuskiehunter]

Tronster,

I used to catch Brown Trout in a tea stained lake and they were very muddy tasting...

Try soaking the fillets in very cold water with sea salt and a teaspoon of vinegar for a few hours in the fridge...this helped for me...

Let me know how they taste next time you fry some up!!

[ratsotail]

For Ratsotail

1) Was this a large fish and did it have a fairly large strip of dark or red meat down the lateral line?
The muddy tasting ones were about 20" long. The red meat along the lateral line didn't strike me as any wider than I'm used to seeing.

2.) Did you cut off the belly fat?
No.

3.) Were these fresh or frozen fillets cooked with the skin off?
Fresh flilets within a few hours of being caught, skin off

4.) Did you fry, bake, broil, or poach the fish?
Dusted with flour and fried in Canola oil.

Tronster,

20" fresh-filleted Walleye (no red lateral line) should have been a pretty good meal. I know the belly meat can add a strong taste (I always cut it off), but don't believe it's the sole source of the earthy taste you had. My next recommendation would be to try one of the better fish batters on the market like Fish Crisp or Cronzy's special mix. Italian bread crumbs and parmesan cheese makes a good mix too. I'd concentrate on a better batter and hope it solves your dilemma. If it doesn't take pics of the 20" Walleye for memories sake and maybe find a different lake that doesn't taint the taste of the fish. No silver bullets here, but worth a try.

Let's see some pics next time!

Tight Lines,

ratsotail

[lydg131]

I usually soak all my fish in milk for half an hour or so.

[TrollingThunder]

The bigger the fish the greater the odds it has toxins in it...basically bigger fish eat more fish, therefore the likleyhood of it consuming other fish with toxins in them increases. Once a fish has toxins in it, the toxins remain in them and compound over time resulting in a "gamey" taste as the toxins remain the the host. Good ol' biology...learned something good from it haha. I might be waaayyyy off, maybe something else causes it, but i know toxins work that way and might be the cause of that weird taste.

[troutnmuskiehunter]

Contaminants like PCBs and dioxin accumulate in the fatty tissue of fish..that's why you should always try to cut as much of the belly meat off as possible...Mercury on the other hand accumulates in the flesh of fish and there's really not much you can do about that!!

I can't see how toxins can make a fish taste "muddy" though..

Tronster, if you're really concerned about that "muddy" taste, try calling the MNR office that is in the lake district from where you caught the fish. Each office has a resident biologist and they may be able to shed some light for you!....I know I've talked to some in the past when I found wierd looking parasites attached to the intestines of some Speckle Trout that I caught years ago...

[Erie-Eyes]

While I have never ran into this problem, my best friend back home always soaks his walleye filets in milk with a couple of drops of vanilla extract for a couple of hours - claims it removes all unwanted taste.