As far as I know the color of their flesh depends on their food source.

Often times the farm raised fish are given a food source to make the flesh pink

ORIGINAL: beerman

As Stillhead noted, the reason the flesh is pink/orange is because of their diet, which consists of feeding on shrimp.  This is also true of flamingos and the color of their feathers.  I read this in a book somewhere.

Man, I wonder what flamingo taste like. Probably chicken.

Beerman your correct about that shrimp diet thing hence my screen name kokanee killer,they eat mostly plankton mysis shrimp where present the meat on a kokanee(landlocked sockeye) is the reddest of all pacific salmon.and in my opinion the best.

ORIGINAL: spoonchucker

He just told you/ They taste like Shrimp.

eh never said the taste only the color of the flesh.

I've found that elk and walnout streams are doing very well but the weather might cange that.

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ORIGINAL: flytyer1933


everytime i see a guy pulling a stringer,i am tempted to tell him that at Sam's Club he can buy delicious cleaned fish for about what he is paying for bait.

     Why????

ORIGINAL: flytyer1933

had a heck of a time to post a message here.anyway-i have fished all of the east end streams for a long time(including new york)Have noticed a lot of people killing steelhead.catch & release used to be common.not anymore and it is getting worse.is it greed,the economy,or what ?
everytime i see a guy pulling a stringer,i am tempted to tell him that at Sam's Club he can buy delicious cleaned fish for about what he is paying for bait. the big threat to our future stellhead runs is overkilling.maybe i am just getting old,but,this issue worries me.

 
Why would you be worried?  Its not like the steelhead reproduce naturally in the Erie tribs.  I believe Pa stocks nearly 1,000,000 steelhead annually.  It is a put and take fishery.  People have the right to keep a few fish if they prefer.  Wether it tastes like **** or walleye, it is the angler's perogotive and right to harvest 3 per day.  I'm sure those numbers have been accounted for by the Commission.  I always like to keep one or two myself to cook up fresh within a day or so after the catch and if you think they taste bad, you're preparing them wrong.  Unless, of course, you're simply not a fish eater period.  Yeah, I'm an advocate of catch and release, but never condemn someone for keeping fish to eat or keeping a fish of a lifetime, as long as they respect the fishery and do it legally.  I feel I've done my part on days I go up there and catch 40 fish, keep 2 and release the remaining 38!  This horse has been beaten so many times and who knows how this thread ever came to this, but oh well!

ORIGINAL: ShutUpNFish

ORIGINAL: flytyer1933

had a heck of a time to post a message here.anyway-i have fished all of the east end streams for a long time(including new york)Have noticed a lot of people killing steelhead.catch & release used to be common.not anymore and it is getting worse.is it greed,the economy,or what ?
everytime i see a guy pulling a stringer,i am tempted to tell him that at Sam's Club he can buy delicious cleaned fish for about what he is paying for bait. the big threat to our future stellhead runs is overkilling.maybe i am just getting old,but,this issue worries me.

Why would you be worried?  Its not like the steelhead reproduce naturally in the Erie tribs.  I believe Pa stocks nearly 1,000,000 steelhead annually.  It is a put and take fishery.  People have the right to keep a few fish if they prefer.  Wether it tastes like **** or walleye, it is the angler's perogotive and right to harvest 3 per day.  I'm sure those numbers have been accounted for by the Commission.  I always like to keep one or two myself to cook up fresh within a day or so after the catch and if you think they taste bad, you're preparing them wrong.  Unless, of course, you're simply not a fish eater period.  Yeah, I'm an advocate of catch and release, but never condemn someone for keeping fish to eat or keeping a fish of a lifetime, as long as they respect the fishery and do it legally.  I feel I've done my part on days I go up there and catch 40 fish, keep 2 and release the remaining 38!  This horse has been beaten so many times and who knows how this thread ever came to this, but oh well!

agree well said

Being new (3 yrs) to Steelhead fishing, I really enjoy keeping the fish to smoke at home.  My family loves it, I love it, and the mutt loves a bite periodically.  I pay my $40 to fish in PA, and I have the right to keep fish periodically.  I never have kept more than my limit, aways respect the property owners wishes, clean up around me (my mess or someone's else), and enjoy the experience of talking to fellow fisherman.  Once I reach 20 Steelhead, I resort to catch and release.
 
What people do need to be aware (and concerns me) of when keeping alot of fish, is the Mercury level in the water and fish.  It is only recommended to eat a limited number of fish in a monthly period ( I think it is 2 for Erie).  I hope I don't begin glowing orange.

I have a bad habit of biting my split shot on too....I wonder if you ingest any signifcent amount of lead over the years????

Was up on the 9th of February and did very well on egg sacs.  Pink and chartruese were the hot colors.

The average male 30 and older can eat as many of those fish as he wants.  That advisory safeguards younger children and women of childbearing age or pregnant.  Biomagnification will never affect the rest of us.

In my drive from North East to Meadville it looked like all the tribs were dropping and clearing. There were a half doz. guys at the Mckean hole and the water looked perfect. The flow looked a bit fast and green. They should all be good this weekend.