Ever Eat A Bass?

[tdown1207]

I am a catch and release fisherman but I just went fishing with a guy who brought home two bass for "supper" I have heard of some people doing this but was curious as to how many fisherman have actually eaten a bass?  Is it even good?

 

 

[Toeshots]

I am strictly C&R as well, but as a kid, my grandpa would filet any keepers from the day. We'd get back and he'd make us a shore lunch of the bass we caught. Battered and fried. I remember loving it as a kid, but I can honestly say I haven't had bass in 15-20 years. I think the general consensus is that it's average at best? There's got to be a reason why bass can't be found on restaurant menus...

[Nice_Bass]

I do from time to time. Mild but delicious.

[Bob C]

It's very good. I keep a few.

[tholmes]

Put me in the "average at best" camp. I've eaten a few bass, but if I want a fish fry, I'll get a mess of crappie, bluegill or walleye. They are much better table fare, IMHO.

 

Tom

[Oregon Native]

LMB's tasted like mud to me when I was young so 40 years later I still don't eat em and release all. Smallmouths have never been on a plate for me and spot's out of Lake Shasta I've eaten once and thought they were very good.

Tight Lines

[B@ssCrzy]

Yes, both smallmouth and largemouth.  I am mostly catch and release, but once a year on vacation we have an annual fish fry with my extended family where we will keep as much as we can eat for that meal only.  No packing the freezer.  I really like it.  Is it as good as walleye and some of the panfish...No, but it is still really good.  You just can't beat fresh fish.  Better than anything you would buy in a supermarket.  In my experience sometimes the meat is different in different lakes both taste and texture.  Example...I ate a largemouth from one lake that was mushy and not very good, but then ate another one from a different lake and it was great.  So can depend on where you are taking them from. 

[Felix77]

The only fish I have kept have been those fish who have died during a tournament.  I was curious about the taste so I decided to bring them home and cook them.

 

They are tasteless to me.  Slather anything with butter, a little garlic, salt and pepper and you can make it taste good.  By itself it's nothing to write home about.

 

This goes for Largemouth and Smallmouth.

[fishingman88]

Not really a fan of eating LMB.  As stated above, I'd rather catch a mess of bluegill  

[TrapperJ]

They taste like fish to me, the 1-2 pounds are just right any bigger and the meat is not near as good. Its been many a years since i have had one though but when i was younger i always begged my dad to keep a few.

[Pleiades]

I fish with a guy that cleans pretty much everything caught.  After seeing how much meat he got off a bass compared to a catfish, I can't see myself harvesting bass.  I'm strickly C&R when fishing alone.

[WRB]

How fish taste depends on the type of water they came out of, the type of food they are eating, the water temperature and how well,they were handled, cleaned and prepared. LMB are a good food source, if they are handled properly, put on ice before they are dead.

Catch and releasing bass that will die as a result of being caught due poorly handled or circumstances beyond the anglers control and put back into the lake is a wasted food resource.

Tom

[Ratherbfishing]

This is kinda humorous because a generation before, the question would've been, "Do you ever throw back a bass?"

 

But to answer your question, Bass caught in cold, clear water are quite good if they are kept that way (cold) until they are cooked.  In Canada's Lake of the Woods we keep smallmouth all the time.  I rarely keep a largemouth because the aforementioned conditions are largely absent (around here).

[slonezp]

largemouth are good. Don't care for smallmouth

[SPEEDBEAD.]

It's OK but I'll take some good fried catfish before just about anything else.

[Crestliner2008]

I've been strictly a CPR fisherman for many, many years now. However, in my younger days we did bring home a fish or two occaisionally for the dinner table. When my son was 14, we were slipping the CT. River here in western MA. He nailed a real beaut of a smallie. Ended up being 20" and a solid 4.25 lbs.. We brought it in to a local tagging station and had it officially weighed, so that he could get his "smallie" pin for an award. Afterwhich, we took the fish home and had it for supper that evening. Great expierience for the both of us.

 

I've also eaten walley, perch (white & yellow), catfish, bluegill and pike in my younger years. Now a days, I prefer saltwater fish for the table. Walleye are great eating fish, but not for everyday table fare. By far and away, the Northern Pike is the best eating fresh water fish, in my opinion. Bass are OK.....nothing to write home about though. I'd much prefer yellow perch.

[Bassman1974]

Always have been catch and release, but ate my first bass 2 years ago. We were in northern newengland catching bass after bass, my buddies dad kept about a 4 pounder for the camp dinner that night. Was heart breaking watching the fish get cut up but It did taste very good. I have eaten many saltwater bass, the large mouth was close to the same, it did come from cold clear water, no mud.

[AK-Jax86]

My boy from Atlanta cooks up his bass occasionally. He posts his process on his Instagram, the whole process lol. He cuts em up into little steaks he calls them and he fries them up. I can't lie it looks good but I don't eat fish and wouldn't be able to eat a bass knowing some of the types of waters you can pull them out of.

[Darren.]

Don't eat 'em myself. Did a couplet times when I was a kid.

 

Though I love fishing, there are few fish I will eat. And seafood in general is avoided in my house. Especially after my wife had to use her EpiPen last fall in a major scare following dinner out with friends at a steak & seafood restaurant. 4.5 hours in the ER. Exceedingly grateful she's still with me and our sons.

 

Yeah bass isn't "sea" food, but still... Just gimme steak and I'll be good-to-go.

[Trailer]

I do eat LMB from time to time. They are tasty as are many other fish. I've got nothing wrong with a guy who can catch his dinner. And in the words of Ted Nugent, "you can't grill it 'til you kill it." Catch and release is great too. I think the fishing world has room for both types.

[RoLo]

Does anyone recall OuachitaBassAngler, he was a learned fellow from Arkansas who worked for the Game & Fish Comm.

He was a catch-&-release fisherman, but advocated keeping a stash of legal bass in the freezer at all times.

My wife & I are C&R anglers too, but also enjoy eating bass, so you'll always find bass around 2 lbs in our freezer.

 

About a month ago while retrieving my boat at the ramp, an angler strolled over and asked: "Well, did ya hammer'em today?".

I replied, 'No, but we got a couple bass'. On the word 'bass' his face seemed to drop, so I surmised he was a crappie fisherman.

Sure enough, he came back out of the blue with: "Crappies are the best eating fish in the world". 

As it happens, my wife has given me several taste tests at home comparing crappie to Florida bass.

I tested each sample with my eyes closed, and in every case I'd always point to bass as the most flavorful fish. 

But rather than share any of that with this fellow, I just nodded yes, while tightening my tie-down straps  

 

Roger

[WRB]

Yes, Jim C, retired a few years ago, good man.

Tom

[ww2farmer]

I have, battered and fried they taste like bluegills and perch to me. The only way I could tell it was bass was by the size of the fillet. I liked it better than crappie.

[lanzbass]

At times it has been our main source of meat down here...

 

On average 10 out of 100 caught we keep and eat...

 

Never got sick from eating Bass and the meat has always tasted great  

[SudburyBasser]

Eat them on occasion -- mostly smallmouth bass -- though I prefer stuff like sea bass or grouper when I eat fish.

 

I am on record believing that the C&R ethos has turned into a bit of a cult.