First fish of 2017 and it's a PB 'Bow!

[logs22]

I worked from home today and snuck over to Echo Lake park for a half hour or so of fishing during my lunch break. I have been gunning for a Fall Stockie at Echo since Nov. with zero luck but I guess today was my lucky day. I decided to avoid the dam area where everyone fishes and instead started casting a small husky jerk in one of the few open water spots at the head of the lake. My second cast snagged the nice stockie pictured below. This was by far my biggest trout and my first caught in the winter months.

Seeing as this was the only trout I have ever caught that was actually large enough to make a meal, I decided to keep and cook it (my first non C&R ever). If anyone has any good trout recipes let me know, otherwise I am at the mercy of google!

[fishingbuddies]

Wow. Nice Bow.
Could be late winter or.... Early early spring!! :)

[Mark B.]

I worked from home today and snuck over to Echo Lake park for a half hour or so of fishing during my lunch break. I have been gunning for a Fall Stockie at Echo since Nov. with zero luck but I guess today was my lucky day. I decided to avoid the dam area where everyone fishes and instead started casting a small husky jerk in one of the few open water spots at the head of the lake. My second cast snagged the nice stockie pictured below. This was by far my biggest trout and my first caught in the winter months.

Seeing as this was the only trout I have ever caught that was actually large enough to make a meal, I decided to keep and cook it (my first non C&R ever). If anyone has any good trout recipes let me know, otherwise I am at the mercy of google!



Grilled Trout Recipe
James Hartobey works at the division's Hakettstown Hatchery. He has provided this easy recipe for cooking freshly caught trout on the grill.

Items Needed:
Heavy duty aluminum foil
Butter
Onions (optional)
Mushrooms (optional)
Salt and pepper
Trout of any size

Procedure:
Cut out a sheet of foil twice the size of the fish, and lay the foil flat.
Put several small trout or one big trout (cleaned with skin on) in the center of the foil, and fold the sides up into a rectangular shape.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter for every 4 inches of trout. Add half a sliced medium onion, half a cup of sliced mushrooms.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Fire up the grill to high temperature, and place the foil enclosed trout on the grill. Cook for approximately 20 minutes.
Fish is ready to be taken off when the flesh is whitish in color.
Take the fish out of the foil using a spatula, place it on a plate and use the fork to peel away the skin. After this is done, use the fork to slowly separate the meat from the bones. Use the onion and mushrooms while eating the fish.
Enjoy!

[logs22]

Grilled Trout Recipe
James Hartobey works at the division's Hakettstown Hatchery. He has provided this easy recipe for cooking freshly caught trout on the grill.

Items Needed:
Heavy duty aluminum foil
Butter
Onions (optional)
Mushrooms (optional)

Salt and pepper
Trout of any size

Procedure:
Cut out a sheet of foil twice the size of the fish, and lay the foil flat.
Put several small trout or one big trout (cleaned with skin on) in the center of the foil, and fold the sides up into a rectangular shape.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter for every 4 inches of trout. Add half a sliced medium onion, half a cup of sliced mushrooms.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Fire up the grill to high temperature, and place the foil enclosed trout on the grill. Cook for approximately 20 minutes.
Fish is ready to be taken off when the flesh is whitish in color.
Take the fish out of the foil using a spatula, place it on a plate and use the fork to peel away the skin. After this is done, use the fork to slowly separate the meat from the bones. Use the onion and mushrooms while eating the fish.
Enjoy!

Thanks for the tip, that sounds easy enough even for me. My neighbors will think i am crazy when i fire up the grill tonight but i am excited to eat something i caught and prepared myself.

[Andrushkin33]

Congratulations on PB. Nice fish.

As for trout my opinion would be smoke dem when you got dem.

Andre

[NJSquatch]

Congrats on getting 2017 started...this weekend should be good trouting too...

I am not a big fan of steaming stocked trout on the grill and usually throw them on the smoker. I experimented with filleting some stockies last year and prepared them using the following recipe which the wife and I enjoyed.

HERBED TROUT FILLETS
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse’s Herbed Trout Fillets
Ingredients
4 6-8 oz trout fillets
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp Creole seasoning (like Tony Chachere’s)
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 Tbsp finely chopped green onions (or chives)
2 tsp oregano
1/4 olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
lemon wedges as accompaniment

Directions
Preheat broiler to 500F
In a medium bowl, combine lemon juice, Creole seasoning, garlic, parsley, green onions and oregano. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Line a cookie sheet with foil and then place a wire rack on top. Spray the wire rack with PAM. Arrange the fillets on top and then brush with vinaigrette.
Broil 5-6 inches from heat until just cooked through, about 5 minutes or until temperature reaches 135F.
Serve with lemon wedges.

[Chrisper4694]

stocked trout taste like river mud if not cooked properly, be careful! nice fish!

[Mikey topaz]

Nice bow man, big ones like that i like fillet em and bread em in cast iron.....;)

[BT67]

nice fish but man that is one ugly bow right there:D

As far as cooking goes I love trout on the grill cooked in a fish basket, I just add a little olive oil and salt/pepper, 5 mins each side

[FASTEDDIE29]

Some good action to be had at that lake over there. Should get better as the water gets warmer too! Congrats on the PB Bow dude! Enjoy your meal!
:D

[AndyS]

NICE trout !! Lemon pepper ! You can have loads of fun with a smoker also !

[Lard Almighty]

stocked trout taste like river mud if not cooked properly, be careful! nice fish! Stockies from ponds with muck bottoms will have that flavor. If they've been in a nice, clean freestone stream for a few months feasting on insects and crustaceans, they taste almost as good as wild fish. I usually bake mine whole wrapped in foil with butter, lemon, white wine, salt, pepper, and parsley.

[Billfish715]

It's comforting to know that the large fall-stocked trout in that lake are still around. That particular spot has been good to me for many years from mid Feb. to March when the season closes. I've fished that lake since I was a kid many years ago and have taken some surprisingly nice fish from it.

One thing that has changed over the years is the amount of silt that is deposited in it despite a few dredging projects. There was an attempt to establish a channel catfish population there, many years ago but, I think the silting problem may have caused that program to fail.

Another change is the disappearance of any abundant forage base. There used to be a flourishing shiner population throughout the lake. Which brings me to my question. When you cleaned that trout, what kind of food source was in its stomach....snails, nymphs, nothing? The fishing, there, is put and take so I don't expect to find an established trout population since I don't think there is much in the way of forage for fish that size. They, on the other hand, are forage for the herons that are all over that place.

[JDTuna]

Nice job, dude!

[dakota560]

Echo Lake who would have thought! That fish has one banged up rudder! Nice catch and hope the meal is as nice as the catch.

[phil]

It's comforting to know that the large fall-stocked trout in that lake are still around. That particular spot has been good to me for many years from mid Feb. to March when the season closes. I've fished that lake since I was a kid many years ago and have taken some surprisingly nice fish from it.

One thing that has changed over the years is the amount of silt that is deposited in it despite a few dredging projects. There was an attempt to establish a channel catfish population there, many years ago but, I think the silting problem may have caused that program to fail.

Another change is the disappearance of any abundant forage base. There used to be a flourishing shiner population throughout the lake. Which brings me to my question. When you cleaned that trout, what kind of food source was in its stomach....snails, nymphs, nothing? The fishing, there, is put and take so I don't expect to find an established trout population since I don't think there is much in the way of forage for fish that size. They, on the other hand, are forage for the herons that are all over that place.

+1 for the stomach contents photo that's the one we all want to see!(probably all hot dogs and powerbait lol)

[lure10nj]

Took a ride by Echo lake this morning. There was probobly 5-8 people fishing looking for another monster trout :eek:

[Jigman13]

Took a ride by Echo lake this morning. There was probobly 5-8 people fishing looking for another monster trout :eek:

Happens when you post the exact locations of your catches. Info trolls abound with buckets in hand.

[Adrenalinerush]

That's a real nice fish. Congrats on your PB!

Jim