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#457550 10/13/16 12:22 PM
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How does feeding BG commercial feed affect the taste/texture? My only comparison is farmed vs. wild caught catfish. In my opinion wild caught is superior. Farmed is generally softer in texture and more bland. Don't how much that has to do with the processing.

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Based on my experience with Salmon and Catfish both, I have to go with a flavor and texture advantage to wild every time. I've never eaten BG that were 100% feed raised so I can't speak specifically to that.


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Blind taste tests with folks being told two samples of the same food are organic and conventional finds folks like the taste of food that sounds organic. Just saying...

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They taste fine to me.


"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"

If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1)
And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1)
Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT?
PB answer: It depends.
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There is a reason for commercially raised fish tasting bland. A restaurant owner/chef explained it here a couple of years ago. People like the idea of eating fish over red meat but not the taste. So, the commercial farms feed a pellet that will give the flesh a bland taste that allows the use of sauces to give it flavor. Catfish, trout and tilapia covered by tartar sauce are good examples.

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That explanation sounds pretty fishy to me:)

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I'm kind of like Dave's resturant goers. I like bland fish and add the flavor I prefer.

I don't really care much for fishy tasting fish and I rarely eat seafood (only if there is nothing else to eat).

I know, I know. But I like what I like. What can I say?

So I like the pellet fed CC and BG.


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I live close to a small river here in NW AR and have occasionally caught CC there in mid spring. They taste more "fishy" than the pond raised, and the meat is redder and not as flaky. I imagine the 18" ones in the river are maybe three or four years old, and mine the same size are about 16 months. Would that be about right?

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bg look very oily while fileting them if they are raised on feed. my experience with this is based on aquamax feed.i haven't used optimal long enough solo to see if it is the same. i would bet the cheaper feed doesn't make them oily. as far as taste, i haven't had a wild caught bream since i was a kid so i don't know. i would think the feed would surely make a difference in taste though.


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Like anything else, a lot depends on how much of a particular item they consume. Fed to satiation might taste different from supplemental.


"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"

If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1)
And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1)
Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT?
PB answer: It depends.
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Couldn't a lot depend on the quality of water they're coming out of? I've not eaten a wild-caught BG for years but I (and family and friends) have eaten a ton of BG out of my pond over the past several months and they are outstanding! And I wouldn't put my water quality at optimal, certainly not clear!

For me, I've even put them above the Crappie that I've been catching out of my pond for the past 3 years (culled over 3,000).

We eat a lot of fish grin

PS - no side by side taste test with wild-caught but certainly no complaints with the BG out of my pond, and I always have some breaded and ready for the fryer (but I also bake plenty, not breaded)


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I think it makes a big difference in CC. I prefer pellet fed. But I can't tell a difference in BG.

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Originally Posted By: Lovnlivin
Couldn't a lot depend on the quality of water they're coming out of? I've not eaten a wild-caught BG for years but I (and family and friends) have eaten a ton of BG out of my pond over the past several months and they are outstanding! And I wouldn't put my water quality at optimal, certainly not clear!

For me, I've even put them above the Crappie that I've been catching out of my pond for the past 3 years (culled over 3,000).

We eat a lot of fish grin

PS - no side by side taste test with wild-caught but certainly no complaints with the BG out of my pond, and I always have some breaded and ready for the fryer (but I also bake plenty, not breaded)



Everything looks so good in that picture! How does the HSB taste say compared to the LMB? Looks like you do the HSB in 'chunks' rather than long filets?

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Lovinlivin, It does make a difference in the water!! I have lived here in East Texas right between Lake Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend Lake for almost 40 years. I have had a retail fish dealers license for several of those years and bought and sold catfish from fishermen on both lakes. It never failed that when I sold fish from Toledo Bend I had complaints of the fish being way too muddy tasting. I NEVER had that complaint from fish from Lake Sam Rayburn and personally I agree with my customers. I won't eat the catfish from Toledo Bend. On another note I started buying live farmraised catfish for awhile and actually had a customer brought me a plate of cooked catfish they prepared and wanted me to taste it!! They complained it did not have any flavor and did not taste like catfish and wanted their money back!!! Wow!!


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Canyoncreek, to me the HSB is better tasting, you just need to be sure and cut out the red. And the reason I cut them in chunks is for the sake of fish fry's. If I bake them I'll leave the filet whole. With the pre-breading, I'll bread them and freeze them for about 30-60 minutes before packaging them. Keeps them from sticking together. If I decide tonight I want fish, I grab about 6 filets and let 'em hit the grease! Almost too convenient grin .

Flame, interesting story, thanks for sharing! I've had the same experience with catfish, depending on the waters they came from. Here in Nebraska our lakes are nearly all mud pits. The smaller cat's (2 lb or less) are always much better IMO than the larger ones.

I personally prefer the taste and texture of WE, BG, BCP, White Bass and HSB. And I've never kept LMB, until now as I'm clearing out the pond frown.

I've also discovered a lot of people tend to overcook their catch which has an impact as well.


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The catfish caught from the deep, clear, rocky end of our COE lake (Beaver Reservoir) are always better tasting than ones caught from the river end. I think they mostly eat mud burrowing crawfish, insects, and dead shad in the river end and cleaner crawfish and lots of TF Shad and sunfish in the deep, clear, rocky end. In the deep end, sometimes the larger catfish hang underneath schools of striped bass or white bass that are following enormous shad schools and clean up on crippled shad.

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You can also soak the HSB fillets in milk for a few hours after cutting out the red if you want a milder taste. We'd do that with Stripers that we'd catch out of Cecil Hardin Lake.


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Keith,
Those fillets look great. I'd like to do that with my YP fillets.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to catch a HSB yet, so I'll have to wait until I do, to sample one.
Also, how do you get such nice fillets from BG? I think I need to let mine get a bit bigger.
The only YP I've ever eaten have all come from my pond, and have all been feed raised. They are fantastic tasting.
Jeff


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
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Setter, Keith has LOTS of practice filleting fish. Lol.


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Setter, thanks and CMM's right with having lots of practice. And I haven't tried YP but anxious to do so as I've heard they're outstanding.

I won't go into how many BG I've filleted so far but the number's pretty high, so I would think I would have to start getting better at it. With bringing in 30-50 at a time to clean,,,,



I can whip through them pretty quick with an electric fillet knife and not miss too much.



And end up with these to soak in salt water before packaging.


I'm pretty stocked up grin


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I tried using my Elec fillet knife. I'm embarrassed to show the results I got!
My gosh, you do a heck of a job! If you ever make a YouTube video on your technique, please share the link here..


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
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the purpose of soaking in salt water? I've heard of putting on ice quickly to 'firm up meat'. Is that what salt water does too? Does it have to be icy cold salt water?

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I don't have the finesse skills to filet well enough to avoid wasting a lot of the meat, so I clean them the old fashioned way, then chunk them up as necessary, and we pick out the bones as we eat them. Sometimes my wife fillets when she feels like it. She does a good job, but would rather not do it.

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Originally Posted By: canyoncreek
the purpose of soaking in salt water? I've heard of putting on ice quickly to 'firm up meat'. Is that what salt water does too? Does it have to be icy cold salt water?

I don't know of any benefit of the salt water soaking except it keeps my fillets from curling, and that may just be due to my well water being so hard. They'll get a bit slimy but they're very pliable compared to the stiffness of being in my hard water. And after the soak I blot them dry on paper towels before breading or vacuum sealing. As far as icy cold, I just rinse them off good in cold tap water then put them in the bowl of salt water and frig. For no specific time, just until I have the time to bread or seal them.

It's worked so I keep doing it,,,, until a better/smarter idea comes along smile.


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