Bhaktivinoda Thakur ate fish and meat until the day he became initiated at 42 in 1880 and he is one of our acharyas. From his autobiography Sva-likhita-jīvanī

[Tamohara dasa ADMIN.]

Bhaktivinoda Thakur ate fish and meat until the day he became initiated at 42 in 1880 and he is one of our acharyas.
From his autobiography Sva-likhita-jīvanī,

While in Chapra in 1866, Bhaktivinoda Thakur became quite ill with an ulcer, which he blamed on his diet.

At that time I used to eat a lot of fish and meat. I had known that killing animals was bad for a long time, but I still had a strong desire to enjoy fish and meat. Chapra had very large fish, but I did not like them. So I ate more mutton. After prolonged eating of food of this kind combined with red chillies and mustard pickle, I developed a bleeding ulcer. (page 127 of the MS)

The illness took a long time to cure. The Thakur even goes so far as to write out the Ayurvedic recipe he followed that cured him of the illness.

Over the next few years, Bhaktivinoda became more familiar with Vaishnava philosophy and practice in Dinajpore (1867-1869), Puri (1870-1875) and Narail (1878-1880). In Puri he was associating with the renounced Vaishnava babajis and speaking on the Bhagavatam in Jagannath Vallabha gardens and in the Kurma Bedha near Mahaprabhu's lotus feet.He had even begun writing in Sanskrit, his first work in that language being Datta-kaustubha in1874.Desite this, he still had not given up meat and fish. His association with Bipin Bihari Goswami began while he was still in Puri, and continue on until he was in Narail. Then in a very brief comment, the Thakur says,
"While I was living in Narail I took diksha along with my wife. I had been searching for a suitable guru for a long time but without success. I was very unhappy on that account. It seemed that if I had faith in anyone, upon examining his philosophical ideas and character, I would lose that little bit of faith. I had done much anxious thinking, but the Lord erased my unhappiness by appearing to me in a dream. In the dream I got some indication of what was to happen and when morning came, I felt joyful. One or two days later Gurudeva wrote to me saying, "I will come soon and give you initiation." When Gurudeva came and performed the initiation rituals, it made me very cheerful. From that very day the sinful desire for eating meat was removed from my heart and I began to feel some compassion towards all living beings."

So, from 1874 till 1878 BVT was associating with Vaisnava Babas in Puri and corresponding with his future guru Bhipin Behari Goswami. He was chanting 64 rounds per day, writing Vaisnava literature and speaking on the Srimad Bhagavatam WHILE STILL EATING FISH AND MUTTON.
Does this invalidate his devotion because he contradicts the statement of Srila Prabhupada AC BV Swami? Of course not. But BVT says it is not good yet no one said to him he had to give up anything. But when he got initiated, he considered it miraculous that he no longer desired animal flesh and attributed this transformation to the removal of anarthas by his Gurudev

[Tamohara dasa ADMIN.]

George Jadubar Harley David Kerr the human side of our archaryas is often overlooked and neglected. The human tendency is ignored much to our detriment.
Our archaryas are spiritually perfect but they alao had a human side.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote his Autobiography and spent a lot time discussing his meat eating in order to point out 2 things.
One, he was attached to mutton simply because he liked it and it was his Anartha.
Two, the anartha was removed by the initiation process by a bonafide guru

BVT wanted to burst the hagiographical balloon that can arise in the minds of common people who have a tendency to deify celebrities, politicians and in some cases religious figures.

Now, this is why it is such a powerful account that BVT reveals this. He is saying, one does not become perfect by following 4 regs and chanting 16 rounds and then you are qualified to receive initiaion.
Its the other way around. Without the mercy of a powerful living guru it is impossible for the vast majority of us to be free of lust, angrr, greed etc.

Anarthas are so deep rooted in our hearts, it is not possible to maintain a high standard of brahminical living for long before our crocodile like anarthas rise again and attack us with a vengeance.

BVT is showing by his own example the method as outlined by Caitanya Mahaprabhu himself and handed to us by the six Goswamis.

Srila Prabhupada's books explain all this.