I'd like to take along an ultralight fishing pole on some of my trips here in Colorado, for freshwater trout. Though, with our drought and associated campfire bans, I'm not sure how to cook 'em up. Any suggestions/recipes for cooking fish with a backpacking stove? Any help and/or insights on this would be much appreciated.

Thanks again!

Bring a little peanut oil and corn meal for pan frying assuming you have a lightweight pan. I have a pan from MSR that is real light weight and non stick.

Jordie

I take a 60ml nalgene jar with olive oil (60g). Enough to fry a couple of fish. If I'm lucky enough to catch more than that, well, its their lucky day, back to the creek they go.
Dehead and gut your fish and dispose of it in the creek. I assume I don't need to tell you why to do it this way.
I do not fillet the fish, but butterfly them in the pan. Cook on low heat, covered. Dispose of the bones and skin in the same place, well away from your campsite.
Another method of cooking, although I have not tried this, is to place some stones in the bottom of your pan, with the fish on top, cover and cook on low heat - almost like baking it. Put a little water in the pan so you don't scorch the bottom of the pan. A little bit of foil between the fish and the stones is ideal.
If your stove won't simmer, well that's another issue.

In light of the following post by billk the method I've suggested of disposing of entrails may not be an accepted or appropriate in some areas. You should first check with local govenment agencies for restriction that may apply to the disposal of entrails in the area you are fishing.

And in bear country, which seems to be everywhere these days....DO NOT WEAR THE SAME CLOTHES TO COOK IN THAT YOU WILL BE SLEEPING IN....unless you want to awaken to a bear licking you!

Earthling <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

The BakePacker (www.bakepacker.com) claims you can poach game fish in it, and if you remove the outer metal rim (I emailed them and they said it was okay to do so), it only adds 3 oz. to your setup. I have never cooked fish in it (I just bought it a few weeks ago), but I can tell you I've made great pancakes and biscuits, so I imagine the same principal would apply to the fish (i.e. you're not just steaming the fish). Best of all the cooking is done in a plastic bag, so the aroma issue is minimized. It fits in my Evernew Titanium 1.3L pot, so my total cooking setup, with the ability to bake and poach, still weighs 4 oz. less than the Jetboil! If you don't normally bring a frying pan (I'm a one-pot backpacker), this migt be your best and most versatile solution.

Thanks for all the tips! I know it seems like a stupid question, but I've never used a backpacking stove to cook fish before, while at the same time reducing as much weight as possible as far as supplies go...

One more quick question: I use an MSR stove and burn white gas. Will I have enough control over the heat at 12000+ feet elevation, or should I try switching fuels?

What model of MSR white gas stove?

Dargonfly and Simmerlite simmer - Whisperlite does not.

I was under the impression that disposing of fish entrails in a body of water was a no-no, especially due to whirling disease. Do you have new information on this?

No I do not. In fact, I've have never heard of this disease. Fortunately, our fishery here in Ontario has not been subjected to this infestation (that's not say we don't have our share of problems - Zebra mussels, gobbies, carp, etc.)
In light of you bringing this to my attention, I would not suggest to do anything that is going to harm the environment or a local fishery.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I have edited my original post to reflect the possibility of the restrictions that may be imposed in different areas.
Do you have any suggestions for the safe disposal of entrails?

I usually bury the stuff about 8 inches down, unseen future fertilizer. As for the cooking without a campfire, can't help you there. But bakeing or steaming sounds worth trying out...

whirling disease is a problem in my area. You can google information on it, I'm sure.

penny

Re: fish guts, is there any chance that you can save the stuff and use it for bait for the next round of fishing? I suppose depending on what you are after, it may work.

I would also think that disposing of them using the same guidelines as a latrine/cathole would be ok.

Yeah I've thought about using the guts as bait. When I was a kid growing up in New Mexico, we used to save the fish guts until night-time, when we used them for crawfish bait. Best crawfish bait there is, in my opinion <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Ever heard of seviche? (pronounced seh-vee-chay)

It's a method of using the acidity of fruits to cook soft meats. Sounds like it's right up your alley. Besides, lemon goes SOO well with trout.

Look up some recipes on seviche, try it at home, and if it agrees with you... well, use outside too.

you might have more luck spelling it with a C
ceviche - but both are used.

I recently found a webpage while searching for good lures and flies to use in the high sierras. The author recommended wrapping the fish in foil and cooking it directly on the simmering flame of a canister stove, no pot or pan. I don't know how well that would work for a larger trout, but I am hoping it will do the trick for small, high altitude trout. Thats what I plan on trying next week. I'll be at 11k or higher for several days so I won't be having any fires. I have forgone fishing in recent years after getting tired of poaching trout. Frying them makes too much of a stinky mess and is difficult to clean the pan without soap. Also, as far as getting rid of the guts, I have to vote for a proper burial. There are too many places in the sierras where the remains would remain in the water for a long time...yummy. I suppose a motivated type might pack out the remains. That should make for a special package after a week. I'll be using a handline. Total weight for all my fishing gear is about 5 oz.

I've had a hard time getting the trout smell off of my hands. Could be that my nose is too sensitive, but a bear would certainly smell the fish odor. Thankfully, our bears are normally well fed. What do you use to clean your hands?

No osprey, or other birds of prey around there?

Here, we put the guts and other stuff on a rock, and walk away: around here, an osprey will sit at the top of a tree, and wait.

this weekend... if we waited to long we would have lost the whole fish to a bird! luckily i kept a good eye out.... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

i used a pan this weekend for 14-16' wild alpine rainbows, no camp fires allowed where we went here in the PNW. used a lot of butter spray and just cooked away. I keep a biodegradeable soap for washing my pan, although i also boil more water to clean it. it's not a good use of fuel or filtered water, but we had a short hike in (2 miles) so i was willing to pack a few extra pounds on this trip.

Like this.



Seriously, just season it with what you like(inside and out) add a little oil in the pan and cook on low to med flame. If the fish is too big for your small pan, cut it up. As for disposal of the uncooked entrails, head and tail? I put them in the water the fish came from. Fish don't crawl out of the water to die of natural causes so why deprive the food chain of the nutrients. It would be awful naive to think that there isn't dead fish or other life in any body of water. In nature when a fish dies it breaks down and feeds the micro organisms that feed the bugs that feed the fish. It would be selfish and wastefull to consume the nutrients stored in the fish and bury the rest instead of giving it back.

lv2fish
You better not get caught putting fish entrails back into the lake - very illegal. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

note
whisperlite international burns (almost) anything, check it out

http://www.msrgear.com/stoves/whisperint.asp

Maybe in Oregon, not in the fish and game regs in Ca. I know it's discouraged but makes no sense not to return the nutrients. If you bury them, you run the risk of attracting animals and it's just plain unsanitary to pack them around not mention the smell. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

If you're like me and don't like cleaning a fry pan, try using the baking method. I have strips of aluminum flashing (from Home Depot) cut in 1" widths and bent. These strips are placed sideways in the pot. On top of the strips I put an aluminum disc that has a bunch of holes punched in it. Put about 1" of water in the pot. Season the fish (I use Cajun seasoning) and place it in a freezer bag. I use a mylar turkey bag (cut down a bit); it works better for me, but it's more expensive. Get the water to boil, then place the bag into the pot. Simmer for 10 minutes or so.
Done.

Hope this helps!

-NS

BTW, I use rubber gloves while cleaning the fish (keeps the smell off my hands).

You might also want to try an oil with a higher smoke point. Grapeseed oil is great for frying, good for you, and won't burn as quickly as olive oil.

In the past I've chopped up fish and added it to a soup mix, it just cooked in the hot liquid. Perhaps I'll need to put my culinary skills to work and come up with a dehydrated 'just add fish' seafood chowder.

I've seen so many different instructions about what to do with fish guts that I have no idea. Supposedly the latest PC practice is to puncture the air bladder and toss the guts well out into the lake, but the best thing to do is to check the authorities for the jurisdiction you're in. That's what I'm going to do before I visit WY and CO this summer. If you can't put them back into the lake/stream, they should be packed out--buried fish guts are a magnet for bears and raccoons and other animals.

In many places it's illegal to use fish guts as bait. Often you can't use natural bait of any kind above certain elevations. Check the game laws carefully for where you're going; they differ widely. Certainly CO and WY have many differences!

If you're using a non-stick frying pan, be very careful not to overheat it, or you'll ruin it!

Poached trout recipes are available via google {that's poached as in boiled, not illegally caught). Truite au bleu is perhaps most famous. No personal experience.

From German Embassy Web site: (Ingredients seem impractical)

Forelle Blau
Blue Trout

This recipe gets its name from the blue color the trout takes on when cooked in vinegar.

Ingredients:
4 trout, gutted and cleaned
2 quarts water
1 cup dry white wine
1/3 cup best quality vinegar
1 carrot
1 onion
1 leek
1 bay leaf
black peppercorns
clove
coriander
salt

Directions:
Salt and pepper trout inside and out. Prepare a stock from the rest of the ingredients by placing in a large pot and simmering for 20 minutes. Strain the liquid and return to the pot.

Place the trout into the simmering liquid. When the stock comes to a gentle boil, allow the fish to cook for 10 to 12 minutes. If very fresh, the fish will crack -- a sign of quality.

Serve with whipped butter flavored with lemon juice and boiled potatoes.

Not so in Arkansas. I asked a fish and game ranger about that very question. He said it's common practice and it does feed the stream life. But it seems that it's a fishing rule that fish must be whole after caught and your leaving the stream incase a ranger stops you to check your license, limit etc.??????????? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

That reminds me of the funny little toon Fish Heads. " Fish heads Fish heads, eat them up ymmmmm." <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

That's the one. It takes a creative, slightly sic mind to create art like that. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Speaking of fish heads, I once and only once got the bright idea to feed the fish heads and tails(cooked) to my lab. I figured that the protein and extra calories would supplement her trail food. Well the combination of dog digestive system and fish heads creates a deadly form of gas. Not aware of this, I fed it. A construction site outhouse on a hot day would be a fresh mountain breeze compared to the inside of my tent that night.

Or bong hits.

When I saw this thread all I could think of was Gollum eating the raw fish....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dgfA58vqZw

Very disturbing video in some ways. The good part is at :50.

If we are going to worry about fish entrails being put back into the streams and rivers I think we may also give some thought to the fish that "die" in the streams and rivers. We may have to start making trips to these bodies of water just to get them out too.. and I can assure you that there are many more that die in the streams and rivers than we will ever throw back into the streams and rivers. Just a little tid-bit to keep every one from worrying about putting fish entrails back into the system...Hope that helps...Happy Trekking...sabre11004...

The first step that you take will be one of those that get you there !!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

All the more reason to eat dehydrated foods instead of a Bear's favorite food... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Yes. Fish die in those bodies of water and guess what !!! They have entrails too.... What should we do????? <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

A bear can smell those entrails a mile away and I am sure that he could smell them eight inches deep too. I would leave the area soon after I did that... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

But most fish don't die right next to the popular shorelines, where a concentration of their rotting carcasses could create unpleasant conditions for the next human. Now if you could wrap those heads and entrails around a stone and throw them way out away from the shore, you'd have an excellent point.

I google a bit and found this guy smoking his trout in a to large of a pot, along with making a side dish of nettles with spinach. I might just try to downsize it a bit, possibly smoking a couple trout in a large beer can on my cannister stove???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gxocblSJxw

Here's another, now I'm getting hungry...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTMKVeLc1Gg&feature=related
As for the entrial's, check the codes in the area your visiting and sleep somewhere else....

I don't know when poaching fish went out of style; but I tend to cook fish this way about once a month. It leaves the fish nice and moist and can be done this way over even an alchohol stove setup....think Trangia <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

here is my style , in my area you do not cook anything in camp except breakfast so if tou catch fish early then poached is great ,small stones in bottom of pan water, tin foil bed for fish. guts go back to deep or fast moving water . never buried and not illegal to put in water in fact recommended by our fish and wildlife branch. if fish is caught late ,then cooked at supper spot about 1 hours hike from sleep spot. the fish smell is very problematic what an attractor.. its usually catch and releae for me unless i am in a group, to dangerous to do solo.

They make hospitals for people more normal than that...