Trout Catch and Cook
We had quite the adventure last weekend in Canton, TX. They stocked the first rainbow trout of the year and we had to go see what it was all about. Typically, I’m a bass fisherman, so I’ve never caught a trout before. This was a whole new experience. A lot of people have told me that rainbow trout are some of the best fish you can eat, so I was pretty excited to hopefully catch some and be able to cook them up myself.
I started off the morning using some Berkley PowerBait® Power Eggs® Floating Magnum in pink, and they seemed to work pretty well. I also used the Berkley PowerBait® Trout Nibbles in chartreuse, and those also seemed to be a big hit. I was able to catch a limit of 5 fish in no time and make the hour drive back home. The drive was well worth it though. We actually didn’t end up cooking them that night because we had other plans. But I cleaned them up right away and threw them on ice to keep them until the next afternoon when we could properly prepare them and have a rainbow trout feast!
Even if you’ve never cleaned a trout before, I think you’ll find that it’s pretty easy to do. To clean trout, you want to hold the fish so you can see its belly with its head away from you, and slice into the belly with a sharp fillet knife. I like using the KastKing Fillet Knife which works really well. Take and insert the knife into the trout’s anus and make a shallow slice upwards to the gills. Then make a cut through the thin skin under the lower jaw where you will insert your finger into the trout’s throat and pull downwards towards the tail. This step should strip out the gills, guts, and pec fins in one clean shot. If you want some detailed trout cleaning instructions with a step-by-step video, visit this link from Field & Stream.
Once we got the trout cleaned, we rinsed them off really well and placed them into a gallon freezer bag with ice in the refrigerator. There, they would stay fresh until we could cook them the next day.
Baked Trout Recipe
We actually borrowed this recipe from a video on the Lake Life Family channel. Steph, aka OSG, had us convinced after we saw their video of baking trout, that this was the way to go. We also made her Lemon Risotto and it was fantastic. We’ll put it down below, but feel free to go check out their channel and give a fellow Texas bass angler a follow!
Baked Trout Recipe:
- Olive oil
- 3 trout (cleaned, sliced down the middle, not fillet style)
- 5 Tbsp butter (sliced in 6 pats)
- 1 Tbsp herb blend (rosemary, oregano, thyme, basil)
- 1 tsp each salt & pepper
- 1 lemon (cut in 6 slices)
- In a large baking dish, sprinkle some olive oil on the bottom so the fish doesn’t stick.
- Stuff each trout with 2 pats of butter, 2 slices of lemon, and season with herb blend.
- Sprinkle the skin with salt and pepper
- Bake at 350 degree F for about 20 minutes or until the fish flakes off using a fork
Lemon Risotto Recipe:
- 1Tbsp butter
- 1tsp minced garlic
- 1tsp herb blend (oregano, rosemary, thyme, basil)
- 1/3 cup Arborio rice (or risotto rice)
- 3-4 cups of vegetable broth
- 10-15 asparagus tips
- zest of 1 lemon
- juice of 1 lemon
- pinch of salt & pepper
- In a skillet, melt the butter and roast the garlic. Add the arborio rice and continue to mix until rice is saturated with oil.
- Add the herb blend, continue to stir.
- Add 1 cup of the vegetable broth and let simmer for about 5 mins.
- Mix in the asparagus tips and another cup of vegetable broth, continue to stir and let simmer.
- Add the remaining cup of broth and continue to stir. Risotto should become soft, if not continue to cook down and add another cup of broth.
- Finish with the lemon zest, juice, salt and pepper. Do not overcook, do not let the rice stick.
I guess you could say that our first rainbow trout catch and cook was a success! If you have any comments or recipe suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comments below. We love to hear what others have done and any tips that y’all may have tried out that work for trout fishing.
Until next time, Keep on Rippin’!
Texas Bass Angler