The Great Minnesota Fish Book

Tom Dickson joined Scott on the Morning Show today to talk about his new book "The Great Minnesota Fish Book" published by University of Minnesota Press.

Illustrated beautifully by Joseph Tomelleri, Tom Dickson described Joseph as the preeminent fish illustrator because along with his artistic abilities he is a fisheries biologist and has the technical skills to create amazingly realistic reproductions.

Along with the fish we know about in Minnesota like walleye and smallmouth bass, "The Great American Fish Book" has information on those fish most of us have never heard of like the Freshwater Drum. Most people think they are a sucker fish....but they are actually related to the Saltwater Drum and as Tom said, "they taste great... in fact they taste almost exactly the same as walleye." They can be big fish, up to 30-40 lbs in warmer waters in Southern Minnesota like the Mississippi River... but you can find the Freshwater Drum all the way up into Northern Manitoba.

Tom Dickson's favorite fish is the Channel Catfish. "It's a beautiful fish - great food fish that is super strong with a deeply forked tail.... very fun to fish for..."

Many believe that smaller fish are the best eating. Tom agreed, "With smaller fish there is less time to bioaccumulate things like toxins and other bad tasting things in the water." There's a trade-off though he went on to say, with a smaller fish - say a Northern Pike Hammerhandle - you've got a lot of Y bones to fillet. Most people think the perfect fish for eating is a 18" walleye.

What do you think? What is your favorite fish to eat?