Do you eat fish out of the Mississippi River? Yes or No …..why or why not?

I eat a few meals of walleye caught in the spring.

I smoked some carp I speared this spring. It was good but if I hadn’t grown up eating it I prolly wouldn’t be eating it now. It’s kind of like spam. Sounds good til I actually eat it and then I wonder why the heck I’d eat such a thing, until next time.

I eat some white bass, sunfish,crappie and perch if I have the luck to get them in the spring or fall.

I used to eat catfish, that I would smoke but I’ve got a better taste for salmon and lake trout now, my catfish appetite just isn’t there anymore. Too strong a flavor for me batter fried or pan fried. I still love to fish for them but they go back anymore.

I don’t keep anything in the summer because I’ve got it in my head that the warmer water somehow makes the muddy water fish less appealing?

Geez, lived here all my life and you can eat fish out of the river? I’ll give them a try. Sounds good.

Get the question all time. Yes I do, but north of st.anthony falls. Everything else south tastes muddy imo.

If you like pickled Pike ,
try channel cat pretty tasty

Ill eat them from the Mississippi up north. From the cities south they taste like mud.

Yes, but not all that often.

I’d also wager my life savings that those who say the fish further South (P3 & P4) taste like mud would fail a blind taste test between those and any from the upper Mississippi.

Regarding Lake vs Mississippi River fish, the only discernible difference is that the P4 fish are considerably thicker than those scrawny lake fish from most other areas.

Yes, I have, but like once in every 5 year type of deal. I would not eat them regularly.

buckybadger wrote:

I’d also wager my life savings that those who say the fish further South (P3 & P4) taste like mud would fail a blind taste test between those and any from the upper Mississippi.

I cooked a trout once that tasted just like mud. Came from a muddy river, dragged it around on a stringer all day, was dead for several hours. No amount of salt could have fixed that taste. Awful.

I’ve eaten my fair share of Pool 4 walleyes and never once tasted anything even close to a resemblance of mud. That said, they do taste a little off after they’ve been in the freezer awhile. If you eat them fresh they are great, like all other walleyes.

buckybadger wrote:

I’d also wager my life savings that those who say the fish further South (P3 & P4) taste like mud would fail a blind taste test between those and any from the upper Mississippi.

Why would you say that? You know better than us or what

Eat walleye, crappie and perch regularly. Or at least when I can catch them – which isn’t too regular sometimes.

Also eat fish from up North and from North Dakota. Can’t tell the difference. Bleed em out, fillet them properly. Taste great.

I never thought they tasted like mud until I read a post here saying that about 10 years ago. Now that is all I taste.

How about St Croix fish? Many times, aren’t those the exact same walleye?

Nope. Not from around the cities. North of Aitkin on the river no problem. Taste great up there. Like mud down here.

Yes I do.
I pull out lateral lines on everything I eat.

Yummy.

I don’t eat em out of water over 70° and I only eat then same day, flopping to pan in a few minutes. I don’t bleed them either. Keep them cool and alive from moment caught to killed.

Will eat cats, white bass, walleye, sauger, perch, Pike, crappies… All from p3, p4, Croix.

I eat walleye, perch, crappies, bluegills and small channel cats from pools 4 & 5. On the walleye I take the lateral line out and that seems to make a difference, however, I do that on walleye caught up north too.

Being about an hour from the river, its difficult to keep fish alive legally in MN. I bring a cooler with ice blocks and put the fish in the cooler for the trip home. If its really hot, I’ll grab a bag of ice to put on them. May not be alive, but they are cold when they meet the knife.

I don’t eat much fish, but I have absolutely no issue eating any fish from the Ole Miss. Shoot, pretty sure the only fish I’ve kept and eaten in the last 3-4 years came from the river…

I don’t have a problem eating fish from P-3 or P4.
Lateral lines are always removed. On cats the red meat between the skin and flesh is removed.

I’m lucky if I get 4 meals per year, but that’s because I’m the only one in our family that eats fish.

As far as contamination goes, it really doesn’t matter for walleyes as the grow fast and die young. Other species that live longer, I prefer the smaller, younger fish.

I will try to limit my white bass intake and won’t let my daughter eat them, not that a meal would hurt her if she would eat fish. For some reason they are much higher in PCB’s then other fish at least in P-4. I haven’t heard if they ever figured out why.

River Rat Randy and River Runs have been eating river fish all of there life and…well maybe that explains it.

catmando wrote:

If you like pickled Pike ,
try channel cat pretty tasty

I will try it next year. Pretty much done catfishing for this year. I’ll try just about anything and I especially like pickled or smoked fish. I’ve heard that flathead cats are tastier overall but I’ve never caught one to try it.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

I don’t have a problem eating fish from P-3 or P4.
Lateral lines are always removed. On cats the red meat between the skin and flesh is removed.

I’m lucky if I get 4 meals per year, but that’s because I’m the only one in our family that eats fish.

As far as contamination goes, it really doesn’t matter for <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleyes as the grow fast and die young. Other species that live longer, I prefer the smaller, younger fish.

I will try to limit my white bass intake and won’t let my daughter eat them, not that a meal would hurt her if she would eat fish. For some reason they are much higher in PCB’s then other fish at least in P-4. I haven’t heard if they ever figured out why.

River Rat Randy and River Runs have been eating river fish all of there life and…well maybe that explains it.

I remove the lateral lines, belly meat and any red meat too. I’ve recently heard about bleeding fish out right away. That concept makes sense to me so I’m gonna try it and see if it makes a difference. Supposed to be less stress on the fish and meat. Putting on ice right away after cutting too. We’ll see.

Channel cat mixed in with my pickled pike is great. The only way you know it’s different is the color- perfect texture and a great way to use them for a fish that I don’t care for other ways.

In regards to Miss fish. I think the walleyes down river of the cities in P3/P4 taste like muddy b hole. I thought maybe it was all in my head since it’s down river of the cities and all the pollution. When fishing a lot in Grand Rapids for a few years I also thought the Miss river eyes taste like muddy b hole there too! Bog water white tipped river carp. Maybe it’s in my head maybe not. I also think gills, crappies, perch, small bass, pike (all taken care of not baked in 90 degree live well water) ALL taste better than any walleye out there. The most over rated fish in terms of taste and fight there is.

I love shovel nosed sturgeon (sand sturgeon)too, my favorite smoked miss River fish.

Coho Salmon is my overall fav smoked fish. Gonna smoke a batch of them soon.

Making me hungry for fish again now. Better make some tartar sauce up.

I’ve not duck hunted since the 90’s on account of every time I tried to prepare them, they always taste like the muddy miss backwaters I got them from. I can’t hunt something I don’t care to eat. Loved the sport but couldn’t do it.

I eat them a few times a year and don’t notice any difference. I usually only keep cold water fish so maybe that matters. I’ve had a mixed livewell of St. Croix and p3 fish and couldn’t taste any difference.

My wife loves grilled walleye and she’s never complained about Mississipi fish tasting different. She’s a recovering vegetarian so can be pretty sensitive to funky tasting meat.

Muddy taste???? I’ve eaten my share of walleye from pool 4 to UPRL and other lakes in the state. I only keep here and there fall and spring and not once thought it tasted muddy? Can’t speak for summer fish pulled out of that bathwater as my season starts in the fall and ends in spring. You guys keep throwing those muddy fish back so I can keep a few meals this fall!

nhamm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
I’d also wager my life savings that those who say the fish further South (P3 & P4) taste like mud would fail a blind taste test between those and any from the upper Mississippi.

Why would you say that? You know better than us or what

Was that some trick question you’re posing? …you lost me?

I have eaten fish from both and there’s no difference if fish are taken in the right scenario and preserved correctly, nor for any of my friends/family that have eaten fish from both. I spent quite a few years eating fish from the Mississippi near St. Cloud and couldn’t ever discern a difference when I’d eat fresh fish from P4. I think P4 fish may be confused as being “muddy” when in reality it’s a product of people on a mid-summer trolling run in 75+ degree water throwing fish in a livewell that only will recirculate pi$$ warm surface water. In that scenario, any fish would taste funky by the end of the day.

To those who say Walleye taste like mud from certain areas of the Mississippi river….

Why have you eaten mud in the first place ?

Eaten it all my life ,no complaints from me

trumar wrote:

To those who say Walleye taste like mud from certain areas of the Mississippi river….

Why have you eaten mud in the first place ?

Same question popped into my mind about the guy who says they taste like muddy b-hole…..

Some of us apparently have more refined taste buds

Last time I kept P4 fish I bled them and it made a huge difference in taste.

I eat walleyes from the Minnesota river and thats a lot muddier than the Mississippi. If you wanna tell everyone they are nasty there is a lot of people including myself that appreciate the bad rap you give them. More for us. Stick to the yummy mercury filled algae covered walleyes from the lakes. They have to be way better.

shockers wrote:

Eat walleye, crappie and <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>perch regularly. Or at least when I can catch them – which isn’t too regular sometimes.

Also eat fish from up North and from North Dakota. Can’t tell the difference. Bleed em out, fillet them properly. Taste great.

Very true shockers! I have been eating all kinds fish from pools 3 4 an 5. Since I was Old enough to hold a fork. . I have yet to taste MUD in any of them. Now for the health side of it. I started eating these fish in the Late 1940s. Now for what they have said about how harm full it is to eat these fish, Well I should have been Dead 25yrs ago or at least Glowing in the dark.! LOL. . . rrr