Kick off trout season with no mess or fuss

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It’s spring, and you know what that means: the start of trout fishing season in Western Pennsylvania.

Thousands of anglers will be angling for the best fishing spots in local streams and lakes on Saturday's statewide opening of trout season. And the ones who get lucky and land a trout that’s at least seven inches? They’re probably already dreaming of how to cook it.

My husband, who fishes in the Clarion River near Cook Forest State Park, goes for the simplest of preparations. After gutting his prized catch with a penknife (head and tail stay attached), he douses it in bottled Italian dressing, wraps it in foil and throws the fishy package into the coals at the edge of a campfire. Five minutes later, it’s ripe for the picking, and he doesn’t even wait for me to hand him a plate — he eats the roasted flesh right out of the foil, usually with his fingers.

That’s the thing about fresh trout. Its soft and flaky flesh is so wonderfully delicate and fresh tasting, that you don’t have to get fancy with other ingredients. In fact, simpler is often better when it comes to this member of the salmon family.

That’s right, salmon. While the word “trout” conjures up a particular fish, it’s actually the common name given to a number of species of freshwater fish belonging to the salmon family. The brook trout, which is native to eastern North America, is Pennsylvania’s official state fish, but anglers also can catch brown trout, which made its way to colonial America in the 19th century, along with oilier lake trout and the colorful rainbow trout; if they’re ocean-going, the fish

• Be careful not to over cook! It will toughen the fish. You’ll know it’s done when the flesh flakes easily with a fork and is still moist and tender.

• Store fresh trout in the coldest part of your refrigerator and use within three days.

• Well-wrapped trout can be frozen for up to two months in a refrigerator freezer and three to four months in a deep-freeze. To thaw, unwrap, place fish in pan, cover and leave for 24 hours in the refrigerator. are called steelhead.

Fish lovers in Philadelphia have one up on us when it comes to the state’s well-stocked trout lakes and streams: Because spring starts earlier in the eastern part of the state, the first day of trout fishing in 18 counties in southeastern and southcentral Pennsylvania was April 1.

And if you don’t fish? No problem. You can easily find fresh trout year-round in fish markets such as Wholey’s in the Strip District, where hundreds of rainbow trout measuring between 12 to 15 inches swim around in a 300-gallon fish tank at the back of the store. Just point to the fish you want, and the fishmonger will net your personal catch, dress it and hand it over. It’s $9.98 a pound.

All rainbow trout sold in the U.S., in fact, are farm raised, so there’s no shame in letting the professionals catch it for you.

Trout have a lot of tiny bones, so you will want to ask your fishmonger to remove the backbone or filet it boned, says Henry Dewey, co-owner of Penn Avenue Fish Co. But you may want to cook the trout whole, with its bones still in, because it’s tastier that way, he says.

“Most people just eat around the bones,” he says, after grilling it or pan frying it.

Fresh trout have a nice protective slime on their skin when it comes of out the water, so choose fish that look slippery on the outside, Mr. Dewey says. It should also have a nice color and firm flesh.

“Use your animal senses to see if it looks fresh,” he says.