Who Eats Bass?

[rboat]

I personally don't eat bass. I feel they gave a good fight and deserve to live and fight another day. The state has warnings on fish eating due to high mercury content from runoff. If I truly want fresh fish, the crappies / specks here are big, overly abundant, and taste better and can be found only a few yards from the bass hangout. Normally though I release them all. I just feel it is more sporting and makes me feel better to see them swim off. If you eat them, that is up to you.

I just prefer Catch & Release.

[Chris S]

I help manage the population in a private lake twice a year by removing some dinks with my son we keep a few for the fryer, I have kept a few that where gut hooked pretty bad and rather I eat them vs. the catfish rather have Walleye

[bassguytom]

I don't eat bass but if others want to I'm okay with that. Most bass fisherman are catch and release. I wonder what the mortality rate of bass is after a Tournement in the summer is compared to the fish taken for eating on the same day?

[CK_32]

I thought bass was the food fish?? Reason everyone fished it?? 

 

 

I've always catch and released, whats the main eaters? I was just about to go and try and catch some bass for the table this season. What are the good fish I should look for to put on the table? 

 

 

Sorry, not trying to thread jack, but don't wanna make another thread about almost the same topic.

[Raul]

I help manage the population in a private lake twice a year by removing some dinks with my son we keep a few for the fryer, I have kept a few that where gut hooked pretty bad and rather I eat them vs. the catfish rather have Walleye

Mr dink bass please meet mr flour, mrs butter and mr frying pan -----> yummi !

[tcbass]

I have never eaten a bass, and I never will... Just the same I have never eaten a Muskie, and I never will... these are both sport fish and they are worth more to me alive than in my frying pan... it is interesting to see how many people do eat bass that claim to love the sport of catching them...

 

Mitch

 

 

 

So what isn't a sport fish?

[ABW]

I thought bass was the food fish?? Reason everyone fished it?? 

 

 

I've always catch and released, whats the main eaters? I was just about to go and try and catch some bass for the table this season. What are the good fish I should look for to put on the table? 

 

 

Sorry, not trying to thread jack, but don't wanna make another thread about almost the same topic.

 

Bass below 2 lbs are good eating. Big ones live to die another day

[tcbass]

I thought bass was the food fish?? Reason everyone fished it?? 

 

 

I've always catch and released, whats the main eaters? I was just about to go and try and catch some bass for the table this season. What are the good fish I should look for to put on the table? 

 

 

Sorry, not trying to thread jack, but don't wanna make another thread about almost the same topic.

 

 

 

I think over 1lbs to under 3lbs is good.

[mjseverson24]

So what isn't a sport fish?

Pike, catfish, perch, sheephead, bullhead, carp, whitefish and Panfish, I also consider walleye a sport fish ( only because I used to do walleye tournaments ) but trying to convince Minnesotans not to eat walleye would be like telling them not to drink beer( it just aint going to happen)...

 

Mitch

[RSM789]

So what isn't a sport fish?

 

Out here on the West Coast, there are a couple that I would classify as "non-sport fish":

• Common Carp (Not the grass carp I have seen others post about) - They are scavengers & fight like a manhole cover.  They can get big, but for their size they just don't do much.  Usually are only caught on artificial lures when they are snagged, although I understand the Brits fly fish for them;

   

• Bullhead Catfish - Little buggers that will clamp down on your finger like an alligator lizard.  Feisty for their size, but are too small to target.

   

• Threadfin Shad - You could include just about any other type of minnows with them.

 

I know some folks don't consider panfish or other types of catfish as sport fish, I would however.  They are good eating fish, but they also are a worthwhile adversary with the appropriate equipment.

[X-JaVeN-X]

LMB tastes great to me (typical white fish taste to me).

 

How I fix them...

 

1 1/2 cups flour

12oz beer (usually either use Sam Adams or Yuengling)

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp each of black pepper, paprika, & garlic powder

 

- Mix all those ingredients together to make a batter and cover it and let it sit at room temperature for several hours before using it.

- Salt and pepper your fillets

- Have batter in one bowl and put some all purpose flour in a second dish

- Dip them in batter then dip in the all purpose flour (yes this is backwards from normal...dip in the flour AFTER the wet batter)

- Fry at 375*F until golden brown

 

Eat it with some tartar sauce that's more on the lemony side than sweet side and you're good to go.  I use this recipe for frying pretty much any white fish.

[tcbass]

LMB tastes great to me (typical white fish taste to me).

How I fix them...

1 1/2 cups flour

12oz beer (usually either use Sam Adams or Yuengling)

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp each of black pepper, paprika, & garlic powder

- Mix all those ingredients together to make a batter and cover it and let it sit at room temperature for several hours before using it.

- Salt and pepper your fillets

- Have batter in one bowl and put some all purpose flour in a second dish

- Dip them in batter then dip in the all purpose flour (yes this is backwards from normal...dip in the flour AFTER the wet batter)

- Fry at 375*F until golden brown

Eat it with some tartar sauce that's more on the lemony side than sweet side and you're good to go. I use this recipe for frying pretty much any white fish.

You use the same type of flour for both?

Have you ever tried this recipe without the beer?

[Bluebasser86]

Pike, catfish, perch, sheephead, bullhead, carp, whitefish and Panfish, I also consider walleye a sport fish ( only because I used to do walleye tournaments ) but trying to convince Minnesotans not to eat walleye would be like telling them not to drink beer( it just aint going to happen)...

 

Mitch

I've had guys about lose their minds when I drop a keeper walleye back in the water. I don't have a problem giving a fish to someone I know is going to eat them right away and only wants what they can eat in 1 or 2 sittings, not much for contributing to someone "filling their freezer". 

[Lund Explorer]

Long before the advent of the current C&R craze, Michigan's DNR didn't bother to stock LM or SM Bass into our lakes or rivers.  There was a very simple explanation for this.  Despite former or current harvest levels, the population of both species are self sustaining renewable resources.  

 

That's right, the highly revered bass is exactly the same as the lower class bluegill, white tailed deer, or just about every kind of tree growing here.  It doesn't hurt one darn bit that a certain segment of the population is removed each year, as natural procreation will maintain itself.

 

Perhaps your state is different and requires an annual stocking program to maintain a fishable population.  In Michigan, this is the practice for species such as walleye and a number of the salmon and trout that so many fish for.  In this instance, the term used is "put and take" as the state stocks these fish knowing full well that anglers will harvest them for consumption.  One other strange thing about our state is the fact that we have a closed season for bass that only three other states maintain.  These closed seasons were established to protect spawning fish, something that many on here express as the best time of year to target the species. 

 

Other states may want to adopt this practice.  At the very least, anglers who feel that bass deserve protection should begin to practice it. 

[J Francho]

 

I've had guys about lose their minds when I drop a keeper walleye back in the water.

 

LOL, I'm one of "those guys."  I LOVE eating waldos.

[Chris S]

Mr dink bass please meet mr flour, mrs butter and mr frying pan -----> yummi !

Fry Daddy in the garage next to the beer fridge  

[X-JaVeN-X]

You use the same type of flour for both?

Have you ever tried this recipe without the beer?

Yep, I use all purpose flour in both the batter and in the second bowl that just has flour.

 

The best thing to use if you don't have beer is 12oz of 7-up soda.

[Raul]

Fry Daddy in the garage next to the beer fridge

 

I´m fine with that, specially the beer fridge. Penguin butt cold brews ----> NICE !

[everythingthatswims]

Anybody compare smallmouth to largemouth? Am considering getting a deep fryer as result of this thread. That sounds pretty good. I just feel bad about keeping largemouth because their populations are not great in our area.

Smallies are better than largemouth, but they grow so slowly that I don't keep them unless they swallow the hook and die.

[Catch and Grease]

Smallies are better than largemouth, but they grow so slowly that I don't keep them unless they swallow the hook and die.

 

Largemouth grow slowly too...

[Bob C]

Smallies are better than largemouth, but they grow so slowly that I don't keep them unless they swallow the hook and die.

I've deep fried them together and no one could tell the difference.

[tcbass]

Pike, catfish, perch, sheephead, bullhead, carp, whitefish and Panfish, I also consider walleye a sport fish ( only because I used to do walleye tournaments ) but trying to convince Minnesotans not to eat walleye would be like telling them not to drink beer( it just aint going to happen)...

 

Mitch

 

 

 

A lot of saltwater sportfish are eaten and served in restaurants such as Mahi Mahi, Sailfish, Wahoo, and others.

[mjseverson24]

A lot of saltwater sportfish are eaten and served in restaurants such as Mahi Mahi, Sailfish, Wahoo, and others.

 

lol that doesn't mean its a good thing to do... It just means that they do it. The Japanese eat whale, some of which are on the endangered species list, (  ie. humpback ) just because they do it and it is legal does not mean it is the right thing to do. I also do not eat any sea food, as I feel they are much more valuable to the earth alive maintaining a healthy ecosystem in the oceans, then being converted into sugars in my belly...   

 

Mitch

[tcbass]

lol that doesn't mean its a good thing to do... It just means that they do it. The Japanese eat whale, some of which are on the endangered species list, (  ie. humpback ) just because they do it and it is legal does not mean it is the right thing to do. I also do not eat any sea food, as I feel they are much more valuable to the earth alive maintaining a healthy ecosystem in the oceans, then being converted into sugars in my belly...   

 

Mitch

 

 

 

We are all meant to be food my friend. Some day you will die and if you're not cremated you will be worm food and the circle of life continues.

[Heron]

I have never eaten a bass, and I never will... Just the same I have never eaten a Muskie, and I never will... these are both sport fish and they are worth more to me alive than in my frying pan... it is interesting to see how many people do eat bass that claim to love the sport of catching them...

 

Mitch

Wait.....Muskie is a sport fish - But, Pike is not a sport fish?

 

Explain please.