How they taste these Salmon river fish?

Can Salmon river salmon be pickled or are they best hickory smoked and sliced real thin and served like they do in those fancy restaurants?

The farther they get upstream and the closer to spawn the worse they taste.  The meat almost starts to change texture.  They start rotting after a while and then it is game off  for eating.  Thats why folks smoke them to hide the stronger taste.  

Yes, there still are a few places you can get them smoked.

As Clint says, the longer they are in the river, the worse they will be.  They stop feeding as the digestive tract shrinks ot create space in the cavity for the developing gonads,and they keep themselves going by using the "goodness" stored in the muscle.  Ones that have been in for a while start looking like they have shrunk slightly inside their skin.  I made the mistake of keeping an old one many years ago, and watched each section of the fillet seperate as I came down the skin with the knife.  That went into the trash!  If you want one for food, go quickly now, as the darker they get, the gamier and the softer the flesh gets.  Or, go up in the spring, take a charter, and get some bright ones.  Then you can smoke, bake, broil, pickle, etc.
I don't think salmon fries well, as it has so much oil.  And I won't get into the contaminant issue, as I can't type well enough!
 
L13 

     Might be a bit off here with modern knowledge- but I always believed most of the toxins  are stored in the fat. I never steak a salmon or leave the skin on. -always figured if those fatty areas were removed  a fillet was somewhat safer.
 Not that I keep them any more anyhoo.
  BTW- thats why I dont diet and loose weight-figure if all the bad thingies stored in my fat get released too quick I might kill myself.

watch out for the guys that are trying to buy your fish  it is against the law and i wouldnt doubt that dec would put some up to it.   If they want one all i ask from them is a thank you and nothing more.    One more thing I talked to a guy who fished under the bridge and said he got yelled at by Dawn for casting into her water  she said she owned the water and that he couldnt cast over there  so I guess the fish that swim through her water are hers so look out she will be calling the police on you

Knots-
Wait until October and fish for steel and browns.  It will still be crowded, but not the mayhem, you will encounter during salmon.
 
Ssg-  I gave the fish to people back home, no sales involved. 
 As to the water, you can cast where you want just can't be on her bottom (Bad Pun LOL!).  The water belongs to the people of the State of New York!
 
L13 

I love Pacific salmon,from the ocean not lake O.Buy fresh caught never frozen at Wegmans,Coho and Sockeye the Kings are $23/lb,and there is a world of difference between the fish from the salt and those from the lake.I don't keep anything up there anymore,not worth it to me,not even the trout.

Was LE for over 28 years - used to hear that 'quota' carp all the time. NADA
  Think it comes from people who get caught and gotta make an excuse why it really wasnt their fault- hadda be because of somebody else -right ??  Hey= its called personal RESPONSIBILITY and it left lotsa folks a generation or two ago.
  Now somebodys gonna chime in with the old 'well I knew a guy' =---dont bother- its older than you are..
  Just fish forem like they are fish and -no problemo
  That oughta lite some fires--lol
  Truf  hurts.

i can't cook a fish to save my life...don't know why, i do fine with everything else....but, i put a couple in the smoker every year after soaking them in teryaki over night, some hickory chips and they are awesome
i try not to eat too much of it because of the contaminants in the lakes
 
btw i've had erie steel straight from the stream to the grill with alittle oil and garlic salt and they were awesome too
 
but 99% of what i catch goes back
just fun :)

I think I was smelling something metallic but fishy at the same time.. DO NOT EVER want to smell that oven baked industrial toxin ever again. lol  TB,when you incinerate your fish, do you see any metals rolling around at the bottom of the pan ? this aluminum melts 1218 degrees F copper 1981 iron 2300! lead 620 mercury -37.81?... mercury boiling point 674.11?.. mercury is a liquid metal at room temperture. ..okay got to go to work, later people

twobob, you sound like a 5 star pro in my book when you said , "i;m just a newb and still trying to figure it out" you just enjoy it up there.. filled my 20 gallon tank today at 70.00.. just still trying to figure it out, lol