Wiper Palatability

[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Yessir. Can't believe I left that out of my list of fish treatments. The slightly acidic content of buttermilk acts just like mild vinegar...or mustard. It has a mellowing effect on the strong taste.
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[Sutfolut]

I think you should not eat the Wipers but call me and I will remove those nasty things for you[]. That being said. I use Cabelas blackened seasoning and sprinkle both sides. I let it sit for about 15 minutes then grill them outside. I have always really enjoyed it cooked this way. But you could always just not eat them and do the other option too...
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[doggonefishin]

[quote packfish]As with all fish like Wipers or Stripers if you have a problem with the taste- soak in buttermilk in the fridge over night = then do your batter etc and fry.[/quote]

Agreed. Soaking/marinating catfish fillets in milk overnight does amazing things for the flavor. I would imagine the same would be found for wipers.

I guess I've never thought of wipers, stripers, and white bass as strong tasting, as long as you trim the red sensory tissue off the fillet.
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[LockedandLoaded]

Thank you for all of the replies. I caught 2 wipers yesterday and brought one home to eat and it is currently in the refrigerator soaking in buttermilk.
Also, with my 2 previous wiper eating experiments, I did not remove the red tissue that several of you have mentioned. I made certain to do it this time. I'll report back after experiment #3 is in the books.
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[WiperMac]

I believe I’ve posted this picture two other times but here it is again. Some may disagree but I WILL NOT eat a wiper that hasn’t had a gill plucked. You do that and trim the red mud meat out and it just like any other white fish. Mild and perfectly suitable for the pan, grill, oil etc.!
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[not-a-purist]

Tubedude. Funny what you say about vinegar being used to take out some of the stronger tastes in fish. Never really thought about it, but it is in a lot of fish marinades.

The ironic thing is that my family has given all of our deer/elk/antelope a vinegar water bath when we are processing them. Does an amazing job! A stark difference between meat that has vs has not been cleaned with vinegar water.
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[not-a-purist]

My wife and I decided to cook up some of my wiper last night.

Tempura Fried Wiper. Amazing. Just a little pepper, dill and creole seasoning in the batter. Made a little soy, ginger, garlic and honey sauce drizzled on top.

My wife also did some kind of shrimp stack of rice, cucumber, avocado, shrimp with a little oyster sauce, and sriracha mayo and sesame seed on top (mine has additional sriricha

I made sure that all of the dark meat was trimmed off. Makes a huge difference!
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[karl_l]

Got to chime in here with agreement on it likely being the water/diet of the fish. I eat wiper any chance I have over here in northern Nevada. I think the big difference is they live off of chub/smaller trout.

The reservoirs they reside in also have deeper water (+40') for them to hide out in during the warmer summer months. They are delicious straight out of the water, never even bothered removing the red lateral line.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Very noticeable...the difference in taste between fish of the same species from different waters...with different conditions. I notice a difference in taste between wipers from the same lake...Willard...during different seasons...with different water temps, food sources, etc. I'm sure that the wipers from some of our other Utah Ponds will taste different than those from Willard...where they feed mostly on those stinky gizzard shad.

Not many people have had the opportunity to fish for wipers...much less compare their taste differences from different waters. But many anglers have been able to sample trout, bass or other more commonly caught species from different areas...or even from the same lake at different times of the year. And they are always surprised when they find such a big difference even among the same species from the same waters.

A good example would be cutthroat trout. When caught from the high mountain lakes and streams, where they feed mainly on insects and other invertebrates, they usually have firm, orange flesh that is absolutely delightful. But catch the same species of cutt from a lower altitude shallow alkaline lake where they feed mostly on minnows and those fish will have soft white flesh that tastes anywhere from plain muddy to downright gross.

The same is true for largemouth bass and even bluegills. Catch them under the ice or early in the spring and they are firm, white and tasty. At the end of a long hot summer...with high water temps and poor water quality...in shallow weedy and/or muddy isolated coves...and you will likely gag at the smell while cleaning them and will not even cook them.

There is an old saying...applying to humans..."You are what you eat." That is true of all critters...including fish. The basic digestive process breaks down the items eaten and converts them into nutrients. But there are some elements, such as smelly sulfur compounds, that are absorbed into the tissues of the consumer without being deodorized or otherwise altered.

One of our best examples in Utah is the walleye. Most of us regard it as the most delectable of all local fish species. But in years past...on Utah Lake...there was a big steel mill (Geneva) that poured large quantities of untreated waste water into the lake. That warm water outflow attracted large numbers of walleyes, white bass, catfish and other Utah Lake denizens. Fishing was great but anglers who took their catch home were often sickened by the smell of the fish...or the taste if they got past the smell before cooking. It was something between used 30 weight oil and the creosote used to soak power poles.

Thankfully (for the walleyes and other species) that polluting steel mill closed around the year 2000. The residual pollutants have largely flushed out of the lake and the walleyes we catch and eat today are excellent.
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