Keeping Bass

[Bluebasser86]

I've seen lots of ponds and small lakes with a large population of stunted bass. Usually there isn't much forage to go around so that combined with the crowded conditions just doesn't allow the fish to get larger and thinning them out is the best way for them grow larger. It will help the overall population of the pond/lake also when the bass population is kept in check. I don't personally keep them but I've filleted plenty of bass for land owners who granted me permission to fish their ponds as long as I'd give them a few fish to keep. The smaller ones taste way better than the big ones. I remember trying a piece of a larger bass my dad caught when I was little and any keeper sized fish we caught came home with us, it could have been a plate of moss and mud and I wouldn't have been able to taste the difference. 

[SirSnookalot]

Your legally caught fish is entirely your business what to do with it, throw it back, eat it or mount it.  For the ones that have an opposite view, let them do as they see fit.  I c&r as I don't like the taste of bass, wouldn't eat anything out of these Florida freshwater canals and as mentioned above mercury content, especially for pregnant women, and it just isn't bass, some saltwater species too like swordfish.

If I'm not going to keep them I certainly won't leave them on the bank, sure I'll toss one to a bird once in while, just for the sake of thinning them out.  I don't want the flies, the buzzards or any other critter coming to feast on them, that may be health issue.

[Loop_Dad]

I guess I'm in the minority that actually enjoys eating Bass :-) though recently I've only kept one for food; here in FL they tell us to eat 1 a month that's over 14 inches or 1 a week that's under 14 inches, due to heavy metal content. And they do taste good, especially in flour, egg, Italian seasoned gread crumbs and deep fried... oh yea baby!!!!

 

 

Red Earth, what you refer to is technically defined at "Smelly tree hugging hippie ******" LOL :-) though I still believe in treating the fish nice and do minimum harm if doing catch-and-release. If I'm catching to eat, fish get's pacified as soon as I have it off the hook (don't want it to suffocate, that just seams cruel) and then on ice it goes. I don't loose sleep if bass get's hooked by gills and bleeds like mad, or if it takes me 2 minutes to work that d**n hook out of it...

 

There is a Chinese marketer near my place. They have a huge fish tank in the fish meat section. They have probably 50-100 bass swimming in there. So I bet some Chinese dish consists of bass.

 

I don't keep bass, but I'm prepared to keep if the fish is injured. (This thread made me thinking though.)

 

mvorbodt, what's the humane way to kill a bass?

[WRB]

If bass are caught from clean cold clear water they are excellent table fare.

I will keep a bass that is bleeding to eat because they are good firm white meat from the lakes I fish. My wife is from MN and grew up eating walleye, they didn't eat bass there because they were mushy, not firm meat. Now she is happy when I bring home a bass for dinner and that doesn't very happen often.

Over crowding or over population of small lakes or ponds usually occurs when the larger predators are missing; big fish eat little fish. Some times the pond that didn't have a bass population gets planted with 1 year class bass and they over run the pond because there isn't any larger bass to start with. Good pond management requires several year classes of bass to balance the ecosystem.

Tom

[Tuckahoe Joe]

I mostly catch and release but every once in a while Ill keep a couple smaller ones.  I haven't had a chance yet to try walleye or crappie so I don't really have anything to compare it to but the couple of times my girlfriend fried up the bass I brought home they were amazing.  I think somebody else already mentioned flour, egg, and italian seasoned bread crumbs.  Like I said, mostly catch and release and if it's a big I always throw it back but theres nothing wrong with keeping a few legal fish every now and then as long as your not just stocking up your freezer.

[CountBassula]

There is a Chinese marketer near my place. They have a huge fish tank in the fish meat section. They have probably 50-100 bass swimming in there. So I bet some Chinese dish consists of bass.

 

I don't keep bass, but I'm prepared to keep if the fish is injured. (This thread made me thinking though.)

 

mvorbodt, what's the humane way to kill a bass?

 

LoopDad2, last time I killed bass to eat, I put it in a plastic bag (Ziploc) to have a better grip, and took few strong swings against a concrete bench. The top of it's head got pretty smashed up, so I figured it did the trick. I guess that would be humane as opposed to let fish suffocate :-/

[CayMar]

That sounds pretty horrible bro. I saw a guy fillet some catfish and then throw them in a hole and bury them. The fish were still alive filleted out when he was throwing dirt on them. I figure that is the absolute least humane way of going about it. That same guy tried to tell me fish don't feel pain. What do you guys think?

[WRB]

It's hard to imagine we have a generation of anglers that have never killed fish to eat. Fish are a renewable resource and good source of food. It's OK to buy fish fillets from a market and not think about how those fillets got there. I blame the the fathers of these anglers for not taking their kids out and teaching them how to humanly treat fish or animals they plan to harvest for food.

Simple method is put the live bass in a ice chest with crushed ice. This will keep the fish fresh and it will die in a few minutes. If that bothers you, knock on the top of head between the eyes with a solid hard object, then put the fish in the ice chest.

Tom

[Snakehead Whisperer]

I've always used the 'icky stick' to dispatch a fish. It is quick and to the point, and seems to be more humane than any other method I've found. They die almost instantly.

[tnriverluver]

Bass tastes just fine, especially when it's caught in colder water

This is the truth.  I have been catching and keeping smaller 11-13 inch bass since late in the fall.  Our local lake has a 14-18 slot and you seldom even catch the smaller fish until late fall or winter.  Small bass out of 50ish or colder water is my favorite eating fish.  Bigger fish never get kept by me even if from lakes where it is legal.

[gallowaypt]

Since someone brought up total bass lbs per acre of water, it made me think of my half acre pond. We put around 30 bass in it this last season after digging it deeper during a bad dry spell. There are probably about 70 lbs of bass, give or take, in the half acre pond. I have stocked the pond with around a total of 150-200 bluegill, ranging in size. There are also plenty of insects/frogs around the pond during the spring and summer. If the avg. size bass is around 2 lbs, do you think we should catch and keep a few of the smaller ones, or let them do their thing and see how it plays out over the next few seasons?

[gallowaypt]

Forgot to mention that the pond is shaped like a bowl and only gets deep (10 ft max) in the very middle. Sorry for thread jacking-not my intent!

[bass1980]

I think the real problem with some smaller lakes/ponds are the passionate fishermen. Many of them keep trophy bass and release anything not trophy in their minds. They think these little buggers will one day be a trophy while taking all the trophies. They are just stunting the bass population. When some people bring legal size bass home to eat they look down at them like the people that are keeping bass are lower class.

[CountBassula]

It's hard to imagine we have a generation of anglers that have never killed fish to eat. Fish are a renewable resource and good source of food. It's OK to buy fish fillets from a market and not think about how those fillets got there. I blame the the fathers of these anglers for not taking their kids out and teaching them how to humanly treat fish or animals they plan to harvest for food.

Simple method is put the live bass in a ice chest with crushed ice. This will keep the fish fresh and it will die in a few minutes. If that bothers you, knock on the top of head between the eyes with a solid hard object, then put the fish in the ice chest.

Tom

 

that's what i did last time more or less. except i used concrete bench against bass's head, than ice.

[Trailer]

It's hard to imagine we have a generation of anglers that have never killed fish to eat. Fish are a renewable resource and good source of food. It's OK to buy fish fillets from a market and not think about how those fillets got there. I blame the the fathers of these anglers for not taking their kids out and teaching them how to humanly treat fish or animals they plan to harvest for food.

Simple method is put the live bass in a ice chest with crushed ice. This will keep the fish fresh and it will die in a few minutes. If that bothers you, knock on the top of head between the eyes with a solid hard object, then put the fish in the ice chest.

Tom

Amen. Where do you think steaks come from? And chicken breasts? I don't think it's wrong to keep fish and if you don't want to keep them that's ok too. I do side with Ted Nugent: animals DO have rights...to garlic and butter on the grill.

[WRB]

Forgot to mention that the pond is shaped like a bowl and only gets deep (10 ft max) in the very middle. Sorry for thread jacking-not my intent!

A bowl shaped 1/2 acre pond without any cover or structure elements can not sustain a bass fishery very long without constant food source being replenished. The real problem is no nursery area for the young of the year to survive. The bluegill that are under 4" will be eaten by the bass 2 lbs and over at a rate of about 2 bluegills per week per bass. This upcoming spawning season, the bass will spawn, the bluegill will raid the nest because they are egg eaters and bass fry eaters. The bluegill will spawn shortly after the bass, the bass will target the smaller size bluegill and birds will target the both the bluegill and smaller male bass protecting nests. Some bass fry will survive only to be eaten by the other bass, big fish eat small fish. Crawdads, salamders also raid the spawning nest of both bass and bluegill, it's a jungle in your small pond, survival of the fittest, 24-7.

Tom

[gallowaypt]

Thank you for the insightful post Tom. We did put several cedar trees in the very center that I forgot to mention. Should we add any other structural elements (if this is even possible) to help add more nursery areas? I just don't want the fish that we already have in there to die because of my lack of pond management. Thanks

[TNBassin']

Every year we stock up our freezer with bass, as we have big family fish fries. We don't keep them when we have enough in the freezer though. You guys that don't like the taste of bass must not know how to cook it lol. It's amazing.

[aharris]

I don't think there's a thing wrong with a man (or woman) keeping a few fish for a meal but I would rather see them keep a few smaller males than a 6 lb female. Throw those big girls back please.

[Loop_Dad]

I've always used the 'icky stick' to dispatch a fish. It is quick and to the point, and seems to be more humane than any other method I've found. They die almost instantly.

SnakeheadWhisperere, what is 'icky stick'? Is that something to piece through the fish or something?

[Big Bassman]

When I was young I always brought home a legal limit and we had fish frys all summer for our family. Once the tournaments started growing popular and B.A.S.S. came along I started C&R. Nowadays me and my boys keep a few to eat but rarely. I may rethink this after reading this post? As far as bass tasting good, we all think they are great, but it makes a big difference how you clean them! I think I need to research this topic more thoroughly. Compliments to the poster and all posting.

[Snakehead Whisperer]

SnakeheadWhisperere, what is 'icky stick'? Is that something to piece through the fish or something?

If you meant to say 'pierce' through, then yes. The tool is called an iki spike or ikijime, but you can use an awl or a sharp knife. I have always called it the 'icky stick' because when I was a kid it seemed icky, so naturally I thought that's what it was named for You are basically piercing through the flesh and puncturing through the brain, causing immediate brain death. It's at the end of the spine between the lateral line bend and eyes. If done right the fish will have a spasm and arch it's back, then quickly lose it's color. It's probably best to have somebody show you first, or look up fish anatomy to locate the brain. It may take several tries the first time you do it.  

 

IMHO not only is it inhumane to keep a fish alive for consumption (e.g. tossing it on the shore, in a bucket, etc.) but it also ruins the flavor of freshly caught fish because the flesh will become contaminated with various acids, etc. This is possibly the reason that some claim that bass is mushy or flavorless. 

[ebob2435]

Thanks!  For all the replies. The lake I'm talking about is about a  60 or 70 acre lake. Built in the early 40's. It's not but a 10 min. drive from my house ,so I try to fish it often after work. Gets medium pressure from fishing, because of not being able to catch  very many fish.  But  we did C&R a 3 1/2 lber the other day. I know it has big'uns in it. Just hard to catch. Also during the summer it has about 30 foot of lily pads around a third of the lake. I fiquier thats where they stay. Thanks again. Dave

[MCS]

I think that is a good part of the problem in the retention ponds near me. Too many small stunted fish, but mian reason being I don't keep any is these ponds are filled with runoff from storm drains and I find that to be a little suspect when feeding to my kids, in addition to bass not being a prefered fish to eat.

[Christian M]

I saw this same thing happen at one of my favorite lakes. It's a golf course lake and didn't receive much pressure until about 4 years ago. We would go most days and catch 5-20 bass easily, but they were all in the 1-2lb range. Every once in a while we would hook a monster, 5-7lbs, and I even heard stories of guys catching state record fish and releasing them so the lake would stay off the radar. I had a friend catch a 9.14 there, about a pound shy of the state record, and both my PB's came out of this lake 6.5. Yet every one of the lunkers had huge heads, big eyes, with skinny bodies. My buddy called the DNR and suggested that there wasn't enough forage and too many bass. That season they came with a truck stacked with barrels of shiners, fathead minnows, and killies, and have continued to do so. I haven't really fished the lake too much. I've been traveling further to fish bigger bodies of water, but my fishing buddies tell me the fish are looking much more stout and fat. OMHO I've found that the lakes with more predators (musky, hybrid stripers, pickeril, cats, & trout) yield healthier bass populations.