The effect of hot smoking conditions was investigated on the chemical composition and quality criteria of six fish species collected from Lake Nasser, Egypt. The results revealed that fresh Oreochromis niloticus, Lates niloticus, Hydrocynus forskalii, Alestes dentex, Mormyrus spp. and Chrysichthys spp. contained 79.39, 78.46, 75.83, 74.95, 69.48 and 70.79% of moisture, 17.72, 19.16, 19.24, 18.57, 16.63 and 15.82% of crude protein, 1.33, 0.84, 3.62, 5.18, 9.52 and 8.90 of lipids, 1.04, 1.16, 1.02, 1.17, 3.85 and 3.76% of ash content, respectively. Additionally, the values of their quality criteria; total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), pH and microbial load were within the international recommended limits. After the hot smoking process, these values underwent marked changes according to the fish species investigated and the reduction rates of weight recorded of 40.63, 39.81, 36.65, 35.92, 39.56 and 37.84%, respectively. In addition, values of TVB-N and TBARS increased, while pH values and microbial load decreased in smoked samples. Both E. coli and salmonella spp. were not detected in raw and smoked samples. Sensory evaluation showed that smoked H. forskalii and A. dentex fish were better than others. In general, based on the results obtained, the values of moisture content and microbial load decreased, while crude protein, lipids, ash, TVN and TBARS increased in all smoked fish samples.