Chub Fish Tacos!!!!

[UThunter]

Here is my second recipe for the Utah Chubs I caught at Scofield Reservoir. Check it out and try the recipe it will surprise even the harshest critics of eating chubs!

http://wildforage.wordpress.com/2014/10/...continues/
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[RockyRaab]

Chub tacos? When there are abundant (and far more delicious) walleye, and perch, and bluegill, and crappie, and bass, and catfish? Wny?
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[UThunter]

A while back there were questions on whether chubs were good to eat and there was no good answer. It also seems like a waste to just kill these fish and let them rot on the shoreline. I decided to catch a few and try them in some different recipes. Yes, walleye, perch, bluegill, catfish, bass and crappie taste good and are plentiful. The chub is plentiful in several reservoirs where they are not wanted.

Both recipes I have tried have surprised me. The much maligned chub actually tastes good. On par with bass, perch, trout, whitefish, etc. A lot of people complain about how many bones chubs have. I had no problem filleting these fish and I ended up with a boneless filet at the end. It was not a lot of work.

As for taste, the chub in my fish taco recipe tasted similar to perch, bluegill and catfish. In fact, my wife who hates fishy tasting fish actually liked the chub fish tacos and wanted me to cook other fish with the same recipe.

Why eat chub you ask, well it tastes good and I just don't like wasting fish to rot on the bank of a lake or stream. People use to think redfish were trash fish until they tried them and almost ate the species to extinction. Chub may not be a sexy fish and may have a bad name but it is worth while table fare if you give it a chance.

Good fishing.
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[downed_Phly]

Glad to see you experimenting. I won't shed any tears seeing chubs left on the shoreline, but I'm always happy to see people who are trying to find ways that will encourage targeting of "trash" fish. Your tacos look pretty dang good, too!

There are several top chefs back east that are trying to do the same thing with the Asian carp - the fish that go crazy jumping out of the water when a boat cruises through. People think of them as trash fish, but a few high-end restaurants are actually preparing them to some critical acclaim.

Keep it up! Look forward to your next recipe.
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[RockyRaab]

Well, you certainly answered my "Why?" For that, and for the recipes, I doff my hat to you, sir.
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[wagdog]

I just took a look at your blog post to see how you were cleaning these. Does the chub have those "flesh bones" similar to what is found in salmonids or do they have the Y bones like a pike?
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[The_Red_Leaker]

I made it fishing twice this summer. Once to Scofield the other to Huntington. Due to scheduling conflicts I don't hit soft water very often and most of my posts on BFT are providing fishing info pertaining to the ice. Your chub post has prompted me to post on the two brief softwater trips of this summer.

Huntington - no chub caught and only one fish caught on the trip. My wife caught her second fish of the year, see pic for [] and tiger trout.

Scofield trip - many planter rainbows caught in the mid morning and my wife caught her first fish of the year and the first in many years, see pic once again for and cutthroat.

Now to the meat of this post [:p],the chubs I caught in the evening throwing a lure from the bank of Scofield. I had my 5 year old daughter and wife with me and as I caught multiple 12" chubs and threw them "on the bank to rot" I said to my daughter that these were "trash fish". My wife ended up reprimanding my daughter (Keslin) at one point for poking a few of these fish with a stick and Keslin exclaimed that "dad says these are trash fish so it's O.K."

The lesson I taught her that day upsets my guts when I think about it, especially when I think about the lifestyle I try to live and teach to my kids in gardening, hunting, raising, catching, harvesting, preserving, eating, etc as much as possible for our food.

Since you have posted your two chub recipes I think about that day when I taught my daughter to throw away "trash" that is really anything but.

I now hope to get to Scofield when it freezes and reverse that lesson.

Thanks for your posts and enlightening a few of us. Who knows it may be that years down the road the DNR is planting chubs in Pineview and Fishlake to keep up with public demand[].
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[UThunter]

I have never caught a Pike or filleted one. However, when I searched the web to see how to filet a chub all I could gather was that the Utah Chub is a member of the minnow family and that they have Y bones. So, I searched fish with Y bones and saw an illustration of a pike being filleted. I followed those instructions. That is why you see that after I cut the ribs away from the meat I sliced down along the back bone and then removed the spine. I hope that helps.
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[UThunter]

Thank you for your great response and report. I hope you get a chance to eat a few chubs this year during ice season.
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[Duckbutter]

I hit it today and caught 23 chubs, released about 14 skinny cutts. Ticked off every time i caught a trout.

These chubs are going to be an important ingredient in my burbot recipes. Felt good stocking up on ice fishing bait. [cool]

The chubs were all very fat and very healthy. []
Hopefully the tigers and cutts will be able to get scofield under control.

Met wasatch801, very nice to meet him and his better half.

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[Wasatch801]

It was nice to meet you as well. We ended up with 18-20 trout, only one tiger about 16 inches. One cutt was pushing the upper end of the slot. I never measured. We went over to the other ramp by the dam after saying goodbye to you. The chubs were piled up next to the bank there, some even flipping up on the shore. I tried a tiny grub but the chubs wouldn't hang on.
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[Duckbutter]

I would have kept fishing but i ran out of night crawlers. That seems to never happen.....
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[MasterDaad]

If I were going to eat a chub I'd just fillet the tail section off behind the anal fin and discard the rest. I don't think there are bones in that area.

The other meat would go to bait.
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[wagdog]

You and I must have found the same info. Good to know that they can be made into something other than bait if need be. Thanks.
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[dubob]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]You can eliminate any bone consideration in ANY fish by pressure canning them before consumption. It works on trout, salmon, pike, carp, chubs, suckers, etc. And the canned fish can be used in tacos, soups, chowder, sandwiches, etc. Try it, you'll like it.[/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][cool][/#800000][/font]
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[The_Red_Leaker]

Yep, bones are a non issue after pressure canning. You can also smoke before canning.

Sour cream, capers, diced red onions, a little salt/pepper, and a pint of canned smoked trout make a killer dip on your favorite cracker. A quick easy dish to show off at the holiday parties coming up ........
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[dubob]

[quote The_Red_Leaker]Sour cream, capers, diced red onions, a little salt/pepper, and a pint of canned smoked trout make a killer dip on your favorite cracker. A quick easy dish to show off at the holiday parties coming up ........[/quote]Amen! [cool]
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