If you’re not into catch and release, here are the best local fish for dining

A lot of people tell me that they don’t like to eat fish.

That fits perfectly with the very popular concept known as “catch and release.” I release almost everything I catch.

Although I believe in releasing fish, I hold no animosity toward anybody who elects to keep the fish they catch, especially if they opt to cook them for meals.

Buying a valid fishing license gives you the right to catch and keep fish, as long as you follow the rules regarding size limits and bag limits. Although I appreciate it when people preach the gospel of “catch and release,” I never argue with the people who keep fish.

When people tell me that they don’t like eating fish, I feel it’s because they haven’t had them properly prepared or they haven’t tried the many kinds available. All the species of fish have different flavors and if you try more than one, you might find one that tastes delicious to your palate.

So what fish are the best to keep for dining? I love the Lake Michigan fish in the salmon and trout families. All of them are “put-and-take” except for the lake trout. Lakers are native to Lake Michigan, but coho salmon, king salmon, steelhead trout and brown trout have all been planted in the lake for your angling and eating pleasure.

Yellow perch are talked about in hushed tones by perch anglers hoping that nobody catches their fish. They are delicious but hard to find. There are experienced perchers who can find them by the hundreds, but those anglers are few.

Salmon and trout are, in my humble opinion, best prepared on the grill or broiled. I brush them with olive oil and lemon juice and sprinkle them with salt and dill. That’s it.

The Lake Michigan perch get prepared the same way that I do the other inland lake fish that I catch. Frying is best, in my opinion. People who eat freshwater fish joke that they practice “catch and release into the grease.”

The key to frying fish is to make sure that the grease or oil is hot enough. Unless your oil is scalding, it won’t fry your fish quick enough, and the fish batter will turn into a doughy mess. I swear that you can’t get oil in a pan on your kitchen stove hot enough to properly fry fish. You need to put your fry pan and oil on your grill with the fire jacked up high. It’s the only way to fry fish.

It’s fun to try different coatings for frying fish. Just about anything works. Graham cracker crumbs are a big miss in my book, but I like everything else. Crushed saltine crackers are my standby, and commercially prepared Original Recipe Shore Lunch batter is No. 2 in my book. Instant mashed potato buds are an interesting coating for fried fish.

So if I am going to eat some freshwater lake fish, what kinds am I going to select? I already said that lake perch are best and the colder the water they come from, the better. There is nothing better than golden fried walleye fillets. Bluegills are fantastic, but it’s hard work cleaning a mess of them, unless you can catch a bunch of jumbos. Northern pike are pretty tasty but have a stronger taste than walleyes. Crappies are not bad. I don’t like lake catfish when they are caught in shallow water; they taste muddy to me.

I’d never eat muskies or smallmouth bass. They take far too long to grow to a substantial size, so I consider these fish to be the ideal “catch and release” species.

Just remember one thing, please, don’t keep more than you can eat. It’s a shame to have to throw fish away because you have too many to eat.

• Daily Herald Outdoors columnist Steve Sarley can be reached at sarfishing@yahoo.com.