The distributions of cyanobacterial bioactive and odorous metabolites were investigated in the fifth largest lake in China in the fishing season 2012. The highest microcystins (MCs) concentration in water reached 3.4 A mu g L-1. A high beta-ionone concentration reached 35.6 ng L-1 in water. Mean MCs concentration in muscle was highest in omnivorous Carassius auratus (20.9 ng g(-1) dry weight), followed by phytoplanktivorous Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (7.4 ng g(-1) DW) and carnivorous Coilia ectenes (3.0 ng g(-1) DW). The maximum off-flavor concentrations kept 9.5 A mu g kg(-1) wet weight for geosmin (C. auratus), 5.5 A mu g kg(-1) WW for beta-cyclocitral (C. ectenes) and 25.5 A mu g kg(-1) WW for beta-ionone (C. ectenes). Positive correlation was found between the off-flavor and fat contents in C. ectenes. To be different with MCs, beta-cyclocitral content was highest in fore-gut contents (87.6 A mu g kg(-1) WW) in H. molitrix. It should not be reliable to predict odorous compounds level in fish muscle by only measuring the off-flavor in lake water only.