That "lake taste" in freshwater fish

[Night goat]

I've had a few days of downtime, and been thinking about heading up to a nice hike in lake I know of that's got crappie, catfish, bluegill/sunfish things, perch, bass, and wild cuts....

Been watching a lot of redneck outdoorsy stuff lately and my curiosity is getting the better of me.

However I absolutely hate that freshwater lake fish taste, but 20 million rednecks can't be wrong and I hear those panfish can actually be made to taste good. I've had some days on that lake you can litterally just coon em dawn to dusk and I know there's some biguns in there.

I'm so picky on that lake taste, except salmon from the river, I avoid freshwater fish like the plague, however I'm also starting to believe it might just be me
And how I'm preparing things

Any advice?

A Cajun poboy has really been sounding good and I'm willing to give it a try

[acrocker]

Have you pulled the lateral line and pin bones that go down the verbs of the filets? That makes a huge difference....

[Jonathan_S]

Bluegill, crappie and perch. You'd have to take an actual dump on them to keep me from eating them. And even then it might matter if it was before or after the breading/frying.

[brokentrail]

I eat a ton of freshwater fish and I do not know what "lake taste" you are speaking of tbh.  Bluegills, perch and crappies are my go to fish anytime I want to eat fish.

Can you try and explain the "lake taste"?  Are you filleting them or eating them whole?  How do you usually prepare them?

Funny, I don't care for salmon due to the "fishy taste". 

[Mfowl]

I'm not sure what the "lake" taste the OP is referring to actually is but I do find that both rainbow trout and largemouth bass take on a muddy taste from warm water lakes in the summer time. I don't eat LM bass anyway but also don't really try for trout in the warmest months because of that. I do often try for perch/crappie and they seem to eat well anytime of the year. Walleye are also a standard good eater.

[Parasite]

Lake taste is probably the muddy taste. Walleye, channel catfish, smallmouth and largemouth bass come to mind for fish that I wont eat because of it. If I recall correctly, soaking walleye fillets in milk for awhile helps to remove that nastiness.

[MADMAX]

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