I am not a head eater but I have not tried it either. I would eat the cheeks!
Here is a traditional smoke house on the Delta.

I thought the heads got buried or put in a bucket to rot, err "pickle'?

Hup I can only speak for my place and all heads eaten here are fresh or three day smoked none are fermented. Sounds to me like you have spent to much time listening to the Los Anchorage legends about fish in the bush.
I think one of the best things one can do to help the quality of there fish regardless of where you are and what you are doing with them is to get them bled as soon as they come off the hook or out of the net and then chill them down. Nothing worse than gaping in flesh and excess blood in the meat. Not to mention if bled on the water you can see the difference when you get home and roll the guts out of 30 or 40 at how much cleaner it is as you left the blood in the river.
And yes properly prepared bellies are the best part improperly done they will come out with a sour taste.

are the heads split for drying? do you take out the brains and gills?

I smoked a few "collars" and they were good. the best part of them and the bellies was the part around the fin bones...

Cheeks from kings are very good. I have also had soup made from smoked salmon heads. Also very good. I have tried stink heads (buried in grass basket for a period of time) and that is an aquired taste that I did not have. Ranked right up there with Lutfisk.

-TJ

Otterman, stinkheads are still frequently made and eaten in many of the villages along the kusko. My wife has tried them, but I have never been able to make a go of it.

We did split all our king heads this year and packed in a bucket with rocksalt for a friend, not sure what he is going to do with them.

TJ how dare you talk about Lutifisk in that way LOL

I figured there would be some Norwegian that would speak up over Lutfisk....

-TJ

Hup we split the heads the gills are taken out not much to a fish brain it is left in. We salt the king heads to be either eaten raw or boiled later. They are cut into small chunks before soaking the salt out. Others are dried for a few days then get 3 days of heavy smoke and are frozen. We also boil them fresh off the fish. I prefer the cheeks and nose. I have a son who loves salmon eyes out of the salted king heads We also salt 5 gallons of fillets every summer. I love salted meats with pancakes for breakfast.
Fish don't get me wrong it is the same here but not everyone that enjoys a head has it fermented first. Salting the heads is done much more often. Stinky heads is only done with fresh heads and I can say I tired it once about 30 yrs ago that was enough for me, my wife doesn't eat them either.

hey otterman

i'll be down there from the 4th of july to the 11th hunting beluga and visiting family.

did you catch them splake in skull lake dale t

The salted heads are good chunked up in one inch squares and pickled..good crunchy eating..
I also ate the stink heads and had some interesting smelling farts the next day.
the smoked king heads are awsome..my favorite.

lol! That happens to me when I eat venison and ice cream in the same day. I don't think I could handle a stink head, or anything else that has "buried" as the main preperation step.

Since our King run is all but gone I only process sockeye and have started using an electric knife and my first cut is taking the bellies off. What are the characteristics of the belly meat that makes a lot of people desire them and what are the various ways you process the belly strips? We just brine, dry and hot smoke them in strips.

360, I caught the splake near poplar lake on the Gunflint. I don't know if they stock those lakes anymore.

Food of the gods.

ROFLMAO !!

FT that picture of the fish hanging is really nice! What great color. I took some in Anvik at the very beginning of the king run so the poles were not nearly that full. That sure looks bountiful! Thanks for posting it.

dale I stayed in ely for five years guiding the bwca, skule lake was one of my best splake lakes, good eatens,you ever smoke them.

Thanks Barb. I took it a few years ago while cruising some of the fish camps. Otterman I agree with the bleeding. I am adamant about it as well. I like to bleed in water. I always pull them from the net and throw them on a stringer and over the side the go. I was with a guy one time and he was showing me the way he had bled them before. By cutting the tail. I aways poke the gills and heart area. We experimented with both ways and doing both on the same fish. It was noticeable cutting the tail and gills both.
I really love to fillet a fish that has been bled. The meat is so clean that there is no need to rinse. Nice when your using the old food saver that didn't like water on the fish to suck in.
Got some more info to pass on tonight. Talked to the sup out in St. Mary's. Just pulling his strips out this week. He convinced a local native to try scaling their dry fish and the report back was that the skins dried a lot faster. Something to think about. I am anxious to try the vinegar trick. Looks like I might be able to go out and get a few kings next week.

I kinda like lutefisk, if prepared correctly. it shouldn't be slimy and should be flaky. Fish should taste like fish. If you only like walleye, you don't really like fish.