Subsistence fishing.....out of curiosity

[MaxxiD]

How many, if any of you, fish regularly enough and catch enough fish to have it as the staple of your diet? Doesn't have to be every meal, let's say at least once a week.

If so, what do you catch and private message me all your secret spots (jokes!)

[AK47]

I don't think I eat what I catch every week but I do keep fair amount I think. Whitefish goes into smoker and then wife vacuum seals it and it can stay frozen for few month without losing great taste. We do smoke some goldeyes too. Pike and walleye fillets ( we usually bring limits allowed from SK every summer) gets same vacuum seal and freezing and usually we eat it quite regularly - probably at least once every 2 weeks or so. And of course some fresh catch may be fried and eaten right away. Another species we catch and keep is burbot, one of the best tasting fish here.

[Stinky Buffalo]

When I was a kid - yes. We'd average 5-10 whitefish or pike per outing between all of us, process them and freeze them. We'd eat fish about once a week.

We'd try to get out fishing about once every month. We did it on the cheap; we didn't have a boat in the beginning, but then we got a $50 used rowboat and would use that. For ice fishing, we used thin wooden sticks with notches on the end. Still use 'em.

But yeah, we weren't broke, but we lived a simple lifestyle. Much simpler than many of my friends. Fish was a welcome meal.

No way we could do that nowadays. I can buy a lot of fish for what a tank of gas costs...

[MaxxiD]

Originally Posted by Stinky Buffalo

No way we could do that nowadays. I can buy a lot of fish for what a tank of gas costs...

Agreed, but every outdoor activity costs a tank of gas usually. So I kinda view the fish/meat as a bonus to the hobby, but I see where you're coming from.

Thanks for the input

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by MaxxiD

Agreed, but every outdoor activity costs a tank of gas usually. So I kinda view the fish/meat as a bonus to the hobby, but I see where you're coming from.

Thanks for the input

Oh, for sure. That's how I view hunting as well. I get to spend time in the woods, I get to go camping, and sometimes I can put something organic and nutritious in the freezer!

[MaxxiD]

Originally Posted by Stinky Buffalo

Oh, for sure. That's how I view hunting as well. I get to spend time in the woods, I get to go camping, and sometimes I can put something organic and nutritious in the freezer!

Exactly!

[Coiloil37]

We do and I suspect fish is probably 20-30% of our protein intake. I’m a bit of a fish snob so I won’t freeze many species or very often as I prefer it fresh. As such, because I fish more in the summer then the winter we eat a lot of fish for six months of the year and some fish for six months of the year. Main species by frequency on our table

Wahoo
Mahi
Tuna
Mackerel
Cobia
Emperors
Coral trout
Snapper


I don’t do it as a subsistence thing and I don’t try and justify the expense of fishing by the food I bring home. We are going to fish regardless and we will bring home enough to eat for a couple days. Not so much I need to freeze it but we may be chewing on a fish for a few days to get through it all. All that said, I’m also aware if I didn’t fish we wouldn’t eat fish. Those species I listed average $70-80/kg at the market and I wouldn’t buy it for that price.

[Ballertrawler II]

I never used to eat fish hardly as i got a bone stuck in my throat as a kid and would only eat fish and chips

Now I still dont like bones but anything I can filet and be boneless I enjoy including elk and deer

[58thecat]

When I first got married it was big game, rabbits, birds, fish as our meat. Store bought was a very special occasion but now it’s the opposite for the most part.


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[MaxxiD]

I guess a follow up question to those that used to and don't anymore (or anybody that wants to answer), to what extent is it possible currently, to have caught fish as a substantial part of your diet in Alberta?

[-JR-]

Originally Posted by MaxxiD

I guess a follow up question to those that used to and don't anymore (or anybody that wants to answer), to what extent is it possible currently, to have caught fish as a substantial part of your diet in Alberta?

Why are you asking ?

[Sooner]

Originally Posted by Stinky Buffalo

When I was a kid - yes. We'd average 5-10 whitefish or pike per outing between all of us, process them and freeze them. We'd eat fish about once a week.

We'd try to get out fishing about once every month. We did it on the cheap; we didn't have a boat in the beginning, but then we got a $50 used rowboat and would use that. For ice fishing, we used thin wooden sticks with notches on the end. Still use 'em.

But yeah, we weren't broke, but we lived a simple lifestyle. Much simpler than many of my friends. Fish was a welcome meal.

No way we could do that nowadays. I can buy a lot of fish for what a tank of gas costs...

Ha ha, reminded me of what my long passed away polish father in law used to say when I would pick up his son. Going fishing eh ? I can go to Save On right now and pick whatever trout I want, eat it tonite and it will cost me under 20 bucks. How much will your fish cost. It was a long running joke with him. Miss that old fart.

[MaxxiD]

Originally Posted by -JR-

Why are you asking ?

Well, I guess being a discussion board I would keep the conversation going. I don't want to ask a question then not give anymore input to all the folks kind enough to answer me.

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by Sooner

Ha ha, reminded me of what my long passed away polish father in law used to say when I would pick up his son. Going fishing eh ? I can go to Save On right now and pick whatever trout I want, eat it tonite and it will cost me under 20 bucks. How much will your fish cost. It was a long running joke with him. Miss that old fart.

Haha! My old hunting mentor would invite us over for dinner once in a while.

One time, while we were enjoying some moose Rouladen, my dad asked him if wild meat was any cheaper than store-bought.

"Well," my friend responded, "you can factor that meat to cost about $5 a pound." (Of course, this was back in the 80's...) "When you factor in the guns, machines, gas and ammunition, etc."

My dad was shocked, and then he shook his head. Fishing made sense to him, hunting, not so much.

[MaxxiD]

Originally Posted by Sooner

Ha ha, reminded me of what my long passed away polish father in law used to say when I would pick up his son. Going fishing eh ? I can go to Save On right now and pick whatever trout I want, eat it tonite and it will cost me under 20 bucks. How much will your fish cost. It was a long running joke with him. Miss that old fart.

My friend told me a while ago that they had seen Rainbow trout on sale for $2.90 per 100gr. I laughed and told her that all you need to do is spend thousands of dollars on gear and gas and you can catch your own!

[AK47]

Originally Posted by Stinky Buffalo

I can buy a lot of fish for what a tank of gas costs...

A tank? I can't make it with one tank if I dragging my boat 3-3.5 hrs one way and then back. Plus some gas used in boat, bait, etc. I probably could eat swordfish or king salmon every day if I would stop driving to fishing and boating

[TROLLER]

When I was a kid (long long ago) the limit on pike was 25. We would fish the canals coming out of and connecting the reservoirs.

Usually just an old dare devil or 5 of diamonds worked and if we did not come home with the limit my mother would wonder what we did wrong

Sitting at the kitchen table all those hours cleaning pike is a chore I no longer have to endure.

Been a catch and release guy for the last over 50 yrs..

[MDR]

I do a lot of fishing. Stocked lakes and wild. Trout, char, pike, whitefish, burbot all have a spot at my table. I find I usually eat a variety of fish during the winter, whereas summer is mostly lakers and pike. 2 or more meals a week in winter.

[Alberta Bigbore]

We eat alot of walleye and perch in the winter months. I generally only fish open water when visiting in Manitoba and Ontario each year.

[Lornce]

We usually do a lot of Trout and Perch and then a deer or 2. Family has always loved fish and game for the table. Only thing that has slowed me down taking more trips to gather is the price of gas. Wish there was a spacial rate for seniors to do food gathering trips.

[Wes_G]

When I first started fishing as a kid we would keep fish quite often, usually trout. Not sure why as they didn't taste very good coming from the stocked southern alberta sloughs. As I got older and I had a license I put a lot more travel time in going into the mountain of S. Alberta and S.E. B.C. I became pretty much entirely catch a release. Then I started guiding in Ontario for walleye and pike for 4 summers and we ate fish practically every day for lunch. It became a lot funner once I learned better ways to cook fish and I became way better at filleting them, But even when I was back home in S Alberta I still didn't keep much. Fast forward to 2 years ago.

After the drought that we had and seeing how all the irrigation reservoir levels were so low I just realized that as fishermen we are the lowest on the totem pole. We are expected to practice catch a release to conserve fisheries but irrigators can completely drain a lake which puts all the fish at risk. I decided that I buy a license every year and if fish can just be wasted like that then I am at least going to eat some of them. When I was out guiding in Ontario this year I brought home my limit of 5 walleyes and a couple of pike. I usually try to get my limit of whitefish every fall for the last 5 years and smoke them up for the freezer. I know buy tags here and keep fish at most other reservoirs that I am able. We eat fish probably 2-3 times a month. I still release any fish I catch in the mountain streams though. Wild trout need all the help they can get!

[MaxxiD]

A lot of people saying that they smoke Whitefish for the freezer. Can you give me a run down on what this looks like? I was planning on targeting more lake Whitefish this year

[Mountain Guy]

Never fished or hunted with the mindset to sustain on wild game. The way I see it, the resource would run dry if every hunter/fisherman did it.