PITTSBURGH — To make the most of the moment, determine why you're there. For the fish or for the fishing?

Trout fishing can be a thrill whether you are a catch-and-release fly angler or expected to bring something home for the frying pan. And if you're a kid contributing to the family dinner for the first time, sharing the catch can be a memory that lasts a lifetime.

Your stained or spotted adversary put up a fight worthy of respect. When it's all about the harvest, treat the trout right. Once it's off the hook, keep it alive on a stringer in the water or slip it into a livewell. If it's going straight to the cooler, painlessly put it out of its misery before putting it on ice.

Temperature control

If your catch is a meal waiting to happen, there is nothing more important than keeping it clean and cool.

"When I see guys dragging trout around all day on stringers, it makes me cringe," said Alex Ielase of Port Vue, a longtime Fishing Report contributor. "I want them to throw those fish in the freezer."

Unlike walleye, trout have a soft texture and take on the flavor of whatever else is in the pan. The best way to wreck a trout dinner is to leave the carcass hanging all day in the sun. Of course you want to show off your catch, but if you plan to eat it, keep it in the shade and on ice.

Bacteria spoils fish flesh. Penn State Extension — a free source of science-based information about animals, agriculture, gardening and food safety — cautions that bacteria can double in number every 20 minutes in the "temperature danger zone" of 40-140 degrees.

"Temperatures below 40 degrees will slow the growth of bacteria but will not kill them," according the extension website. "Bacteria capable of causing foodborne illness either do not grow at these refrigerator temperatures or grow very slowly.

"Spoilage bacteria, yeasts and molds [can] cause fish to spoil ... after days of refrigerated storage. Properly handled and prepared ... fish stored in a freezer at 0 degrees [can] last up to a year or so."

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