I went out to Boerne City Lake this morning to see if any perch were biting.
I have not fished this lake for over 10 years.
I caught about a half dozen nice ones and kept them for dinner tonight.
I cooked them my usual way. Pan fried whole in corn meal. Overall they tasted
quite strong for bluegill, which is usually a very clean and sweet taste. These
had a muddy funky taste.

Anyone ever seen this with bluegill at this lake ? Or bluegill from any lake ?

thanks !

.

I never had sunfish taste bad.I have had some taste fishy at times but for most of the time they have turned out great.I also dip all my fish in yellow mustard before dipping them in my fry mix. I have always kept fish to eat that came form large water bodies with good year around currents. Boerne Lake usually is a clear water lake that has a lot of limestone around it. There are also a couple of springs that feed the lake as well. With all the rainfall we have been having the water quality should be good. Could be a number of things that could have affected the taste of your fish. To what they were eating to the cooking grease or oil used. Just my two cents.

Thanks for these comments Chuck. It was really a surprise to me as well, especially with this
lake's clear water, as you mentioned. Maybe it's a seasonal thing that will fade, due
to diet. Hope so as I plan to go back before long !

I'm going to try your yellow mustard dip on my next cook.

Here's a few pics of ones I caught today. Such beautiful and feisty fish !

Nice catch, doc. I've had that funky bluegill taste before. I don't know what it is, but you'll get a catch every now and again like that.

Slabs I've had em taste a little fishy usually cause there a little moist still around the back bone now i just fry them completely out like fried blugill jerky i enjoy it never had one taste muddy tho

I like that float you got i picked up some african greater porcupine quills at the zoo a month or so back they look like they'd super sensitive and unique... do you use them just like a slipfloat with a bobber stop?

I've experienced this on ponds, even ponds in a reasonable close proximity.

Out of 5 ponds on my place, I have one that produces fish consistently that taste very strong and in the other 4 ponds, the fish taste outstanding.

My theory has been a unique algae type may be present in that one pond...but nothing is visible to explain the difference. It isn't just in the 'gills taste, but also effects the bass and tilapia in that one pond. It has been this way for decades.

I think you may have solved this mystery for me. I did notice that the funky taste was much more pronounced on the bigger fish that were quite thick. And the meat was very much on the soft side on those. I should have filleted them instead of cooking them whole, or cooked them quite a bit longer. Thanks for pointing this out. Perch Jerky. I like that.

Yes, I make these floats out of African greater porcupine quills. I got them on Ebay. I use a slide on bobber stop with it, also sourced Ebay.
I use a hook shank for the upper line guide and a loop of soft wire for the bottom. I wrap the guides with thread, epoxy
the wraps, paint the top, and then put 4 or 5 coats of spray polyurethane on it. I've found no other float that compares
to a quill for perch or crappie fishing. They cast well too. Very durable. It's a joyful thing to fish your own quills.

That is too much time, effort, and money for something I'm going to get lost in a tree branch on my third cast. It does look nice thought.

Nice fish. Try the mustard dip on your next bunch. You will be hooked on it!

Every now and then I will get a strong tasting fish! Usually when not cooked to it's fullest. Fortunately few and very far between! Can't hardly go wrong "Deep Fried"!

Decades ago, there was an article in the WSJ about a "catfish taster" whose job it was to go out and sample (eat) catfish caught in commercial breeding ponds. The gist of the article was that they taste much different depending on conditions, the main one as I recall being the soil the ponds sat in. Like red dirt versus black dirt . . . but with more subtle distinctions. Heck, it makes a difference for peaches (Parker County is famous for its peaches) and onions (Vidalia onions from Vidalia, Georgia are among the sweetest and tastiest, world famous) and more. There are so many examples of this.

So, this taster had one heck of a great job and it was on this taster's recommendation that several big suppliers bid on and bought catfish to serve in restaurants. Cool job. "What do you do for a living?" "I eat catfish."

Brad

Makes a lot of since !

Make sure your fish are well done and dip them in mustard before cooking!