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.