Who Eats Bass?

[Jrob78]

I don't eat them very often but I won't hesitate when I get the urge.  Bass are good, never noticed them tasting like grass.

[tatertester]

Smallies are good, largemouth under 2lbs fine, bigger ones NOT!

[new2BC4bass]

I've eaten sunfish, crappie, perch and bass. The only one I don't like is largemouth. Every time Ive eaten it, it tastes like a seaweed salad more than fish. I've had it fried, baked, broiled and grilled all with identical results. Never noticed this with other fish that live in vegetation. Given the choice, I would go with crappie every time. Any suggestions to get rid of the grassy taste?

 

I don't keep the occasional fish I catch locally, but when I visit Florida relatives we keep all legal fish and have a fish fry before heading home.  Other relatives and friends are invited, and a good time is had by all.  All we fish for are largemouths.  We dip in egg, then flour, then egg, then cracker crumbs, then deep fry.  I don't remember (if I even knew) what kind of oil is used.  Very tasty. 

[Fish Murderer 71]

I eat almost any of the fish I catch.  Lately I've been bring home the Spotted bass I catch and fry em up on the George Foreman when I get home.  I generally catch and release the Florida and native strain LMB, but will keep the ones I think are going to die, 

[MemphisFF]

Murderer I do the same if I gut hook one and it's legal I keep it.. But what kills me when the one that's in the slot are hurt and you got to release it per state laws..

[tcbass]

I don't keep the occasional fish I catch locally, but when I visit Florida relatives we keep all legal fish and have a fish fry before heading home.  Other relatives and friends are invited, and a good time is had by all.  All we fish for are largemouths.  We dip in egg, then flour, then egg, then cracker crumbs, then deep fry.  I don't remember (if I even knew) what kind of oil is used.  Very tasty. 

I've had good luck with peanut oil.

What's nice about the Emeril deep fryer is it has a built in strainer so I can use the same oil about 11-15 times saving me a lot of money. Because oil isn't cheap.

[Bluebasser86]

Smaller bass are okay, but I'm not going out of my way to keep them. They taste very much like moss or dirty pond water to me, no matter how they're prepared. I wish I liked to eat them, there's some lakes around that are overpopulated with dinks that could stand to lose a few thousand or so. 

[Brian Brazier]

Here in WA none of the lakes get stocked with Bass, if I happen to have one die I will keep and eat it, otherwise I never keep Bass. I dont even keep Trout anymore unless I am going to eat it that day, there are enough people around here taking their lomit (an then some) everyday, then they wonder why there isnt any holdover Trout in the winter. If there wa a larger population of Bass in my area, I would consider taking one every now an then, but our state does nothing to preserve the Bass population, and has no limit on how many you can take, so I choose to release them if I can.

[Bankbeater]

Largemouth is about the only fish that I don't like to eat.

[Bob C]

For those that say LM taste bad, it's time to fire your cook. The only time its bad is when it's over cooked.

[Kevin22]

No, I've had times when it tasted bad.. Middle of the summer, pulling them out of the weeds. Think about it, when a bass eats a craw, gill, or hellgrammite he gets a mouth full of weeds too. They are what they eat. 

 

Keep them out of a weed free lake or in the spring and you will change your opinion. 

[Catch and Grease]

If bass taste like weeds I'm seriously considering frying weeds because they taste pretty darn good.

[Bob C]

No, I've had times when it tasted bad.. Middle of the summer, pulling them out of the weeds. Think about it, when a bass eats a craw, gill, or hellgrammite he gets a mouth full of weeds too. They are what they eat. 

 

Keep them out of a weed free lake or in the spring and you will change your opinion. 

I don't know where you get that weed taste thing from. LM eat the same things as any other fish in the lake. I've eaten them of all sizes and times of the year.

[Bob C]

If bass taste like weeds I'm seriously considering frying weeds because they taste pretty darn good.

[F14A-B]

I have had bluegills taste weedy in summer, so I don't doubt it on bass.... I eat my catch late winter/ early spring.. That's just me.

[Kevin22]

I've also had very weedy tasting bluegills in the summer. And very shad tasting bass in the fall. Spring and winter is the only time to keep them IMO. 

[frantzracing0]

I dont eat any fish. That said, I have zero issues with anyone keeping and eating bass within the legal limits. All fish need management. At times, it is good to take a few dinks out of the population

[Raul]

If bass taste like weeds I'm seriously considering frying weeds because they taste pretty darn good.

 

Veggie tempura ?

[porkleaker]

Bass, perch, rock bass, crappie, walleye, pike...I've had almost all of the lake fish and if cooked right they all taste great. Having fished cod on the East Coast, I think one of the most important things is dispatching them immediately instead of keeping them in a live well or worse yet, a stringer. I usually keep a cooler on board and fillet them and put them on ice immediately. Then you get a decent beer batter or lemon butter and some dill, some homemade fries, tartar and lemon....I seriously doubt most people could tell the difference between the fish they're eating if you mixed it all together.

[Fish Murderer 71]

In the 35+ years I've been fishing and eat what I catch... not once have I ever had a fish that tastes like weeds.  So I guess with this mentality, Walleye taste like leeches, why do I bother fishing for them.  Just fry me up some leeches and enjoy!  Oh, and my deer tastes like corn and acorns ?  I think not!

[porkleaker]

In the 35+ years I've been fishing and eat what I catch... not once have I ever had a fish that tastes like weeds.  So I guess with this mentality, Walleye taste like leeches, why do I bother fishing for them.  Just fry me up some leeches and enjoy!  Oh, and my deer tastes like corn and acorns ?  I think not!

 

I know a lot of people keep them on a stringer or take them back to shore, some even leave them over night in shallow water. At that point they get pretty stressed out and almost taste muddy and the meat isn't too good. But it's the same thing as hunting. A stressed out animal doesn't taste as good as one that gets dispatched quickly.

[doublest]

Been eatin em over 60 years, never tasted weeds, but I've never eaten weeds so I don't know what to look for in the way of taste.

[MemphisFF]

Also another thought on the subject a lot of times dad used to keep ice on the fish for a day or two then clean em.. Bass always tasted fine year round I'm like some if your bass is tasting like mud, weeds,etc it's time to fire your chef...

Some egg wash with milk add some Louisiana hot sauce to the egg wash dip the fish roll it in some corn meal zatarins and Martha white mix hot oil and it's on and poppin..

[Kevin22]

Also another thought on the subject a lot of times dad used to keep ice on the fish for a day or two then clean em.. Bass always tasted fine year round I'm like some if your bass is tasting like mud, weeds,etc it's time to fire your chef...

Some egg wash with milk add some Louisiana hot sauce to the egg wash dip the fish roll it in some corn meal zatarins and Martha white mix hot oil and it's on and poppin..

 

How exactly do you taste the fish to know it doesn't taste like weeds? 

 

Pull a bass out of a big hydrilla patch in 80deg water temp, put salt and pepper on it and pan fry it in a little olive oil or toss on the grill. Let me know how it tastes. 

[Raul]

Any of you guys ever tried "ceviche" ? .

 

Grind the fish fillets in a blender, then add a lot of lemon juice ( enough to cover the meat ) and a little bit of white vinegar ( do not add any other kind of vinegar or the meat will taste like the vinegar you used ) and leave it "cooking" for a couple of hours, remove the excess juice and vinegar combination you used to cook the meat, add chopped onions, chopped tomato, chopper serrano peppers ( be careful with how many, it depends on how "hot" you like ), a little finely chopped cilantro and salt.

 

Yummi ! of course you gotta have a few beers to make the dish some company.