How Good Do Bass, Bluegill, Etc Taste?

[FloridaBasser1]

I like bass, I'd keep the ones in the 2-3# range. Cook them in the oven or on the fire with a little bit of lemon pepper.

[halochef]

perch walleye and trout have little flavor..  we would take catfish fillets  and coat them with cajun seasonings and pan fry.  ive cooked trout a couple of ways,  coat them with corn meal and pan fry.  stuff with a crabmeat mixture and saute first then  bake in the oven.  finish with lemon and capers.  as with the other fish bass etc.  we would dip in 1/2 1/2 and then in flour and saute.  and some hot butter , parsley and lemon juice. pan needs to be hot.  we would take whole pickerels "in the round"  and just bread them and then deep fry.  the fillets come off easy with hardl also .y any bones  also a simple sauce of chopped tomatoes and capers w/ some thyme and basil  and bake the fish in the sauce. used walleye fillets and coat with herbs and then just grill the fillets.  got to b careful on that one  break up easy  

[EmersonFish]

I think we can all agree that personal preference is never stronger than when it comes to food, and fish are food. I like them all, assuming they are prepared well. The size of the fish and ecosystem they live in can impact their quality. Oh, and I'll skip a trout now and then. But a nice fish shore lunch beats a restaurant bill every time.

[slimshad]

I eat Bass all the time.  Big small whatever.  They fry up and taste great.  The guy that complained about being too fishy,,,, it's fish....  If it taste like something other than fish, why eat it.  Bluegill are sought after fish to eat and so are crappie here in southern Indiana.  I just had walleye, crappie and bass from Monroe Res last Sunday and i like them all.   Bluegill yesterday and it was awesome.  Love me some fresh fish.

[nicksmurf111]

I've eaten bluegill and catfish.  The bluegills you need to scale.  And they have tiny bones that are a pain.  For catfish, don't keep the large ones, only eat the medium-small ones due to pollution.  The older they get, the more concentrated the pollutants get.

[gardnerjigman]

I eat Bass all the time.  Big small whatever.  They fry up and taste great.  The guy that complained about being too fishy,,,, it's fish....  If it taste like something other than fish, why eat it.  Bluegill are sought after fish to eat and so are crappie here in southern Indiana.  I just had walleye, crappie and bass from Monroe Res last Sunday and i like them all.   Bluegill yesterday and it was awesome.  Love me some fresh fish.

 

Difference in fish taste and a fishy taste. Fish taste is delicious to me, fishy taste has a hint of skank water/moss/God only knows what else. 

[desmobob]

Only you know what tastes good to you.  A fun way to have a fish dinner is to keep several kinds of fish, fillet them, and have a taste test.  The tastes of different kinds of fish can be very subtle and comparing them at the same time is a sure way to find out what you prefer.

 

I haven't eaten a bass in years, but I think bluegill are fantastic.  I've tried white perch and didn't think they were that good, but it could have been the body of water, time of year, etc.   My favorites are walleye, yellow perch, crappie and bluegill.

 

Bon appetit,

Bob

[Nice_Bass]

I don't know how many times I have fried up crappie, walleye, bass, bluegill at the same time and there has not been a person that can tell bass from the others when fried (fillets are cut to the same size for consistent frying.)

A bluegill and bass from the same lake are going to taste the exact same, live in the same environment, consume much of the same species however bluegill will be spending more and eating more organisms that live in the weeds. 

Are you guys not taking the skin off your bass, because that is the only thing that would make them taste anything different from a slightly less mild flesh than that of a crappie.

Best way to eat bass species however:  Layer bacon bottom of cast iron pan and layer cut potatoes on top and cover with foil on grill.  Last 10 minutes of cooking layer fish and additional spices/herbs on potatoes and cover until done.  Yum.

[F14A-B]

Best way to eat bass species however: Layer bacon bottom of cast iron pan and layer cut potatoes on top and cover with foil on grill. Last 10 minutes of cooking layer fish and additional spices/herbs on potatoes and cover until done.

That does sound good, almost as good as JF's bacon cake!

[Steveo-1969]

If you are fishing in Maryland it's possible you may fish some water that has Northern Snakehead. I've never tried it, but people say it's absolutely delicious.

[smr_hga]

Only you know what tastes good to you.  A fun way to have a fish dinner is to keep several kinds of fish, fillet them, and have a taste test.  The tastes of different kinds of fish can be very subtle and comparing them at the same time is a sure way to find out what you prefer.

 

I haven't eaten a bass in years, but I think bluegill are fantastic.  I've tried white perch and didn't think they were that good, but it could have been the body of water, time of year, etc.   My favorites are walleye, yellow perch, crappie and bluegill.

 

Bon appetit,

Bob

Good idea. Neither of us have ever had these species fresh caught. So i think we will do this. Only question now is how should we cook them?

[scaleface]

Bass must taste different in other locales. The ones I catch have flaky white meat and are very mild. "Everybody" who has tried my bass fillets absolutely loved them . Even the people who said they dont like bass . Heck , even the ones who say they dont like fish . 

[Bob C]

I brought 2 home last week end. Flakey and delicious. If it's mushy you cooked it too long.

[tatertester]

Small ,1 to 2 lb bass are ok and all the panfish you can catch, crappie,bluegill,sunfish and perch.Walleye and catfish too.

[KayakBasser]

     Ok so smart guy, theres a reason bluegill are nick named pan fish.

[smr_hga]

I don't know how many times I have fried up crappie, walleye, bass, bluegill at the same time and there has not been a person that can tell bass from the others when fried (fillets are cut to the same size for consistent frying.)

A bluegill and bass from the same lake are going to taste the exact same, live in the same environment, consume much of the same species however bluegill will be spending more and eating more organisms that live in the weeds. 

Are you guys not taking the skin off your bass, because that is the only thing that would make them taste anything different from a slightly less mild flesh than that of a crappie.

Best way to eat bass species however:  Layer bacon bottom of cast iron pan and layer cut potatoes on top and cover with foil on grill.  Last 10 minutes of cooking layer fish and additional spices/herbs on potatoes and cover until done.  Yum.

Yes we are skinning all the fish. Also i'll make sure we have bacon because that sounds good!

[*Hank]

I only ever keep panfish.......I consider it a sin to keep bass unless there's to many of them.

[CRANKENSTIEN]

Blue gill crappie and perch are the best. Small bass are good as well. If they are abundant and I need to fill out a fish fry I will eat them.

[livemusic]

Bass, unless from clean, cold water and of smaller size, taste awful, period. I grew up eating fish out of necessity, bass of all sizes included. Bass was by far one of the nastiest things I've had to eat, and I've eaten some nasty stuff. The bass I've eaten are extremely fishy tasting with a strong flavor of what I imagine moss would taste like mixed in. Frying them is about the only way I've ever had them and I've had them that way by my dad, mom, and both grandmas so it isn't just my imagination. I have no problem with someone who likes to eat them, but to say that someone doesn't know how to fry fish because they think a fish taste bad is ridiculous. 

 

My post was in response to "Bass taste horrible, there is no way to cook one without it tastting horrible.  Anyone who thinks differently probably likes to eat squireel and opussum too."

 

So, my post was ridiculous? lol

 

As for you saying that bass are "by far one of the nastiest things I've had to eat"... have you fried them in axle grease or you are catching bass out of the sewer, lol. The fried bass fillets we had last night were delicious and always are. In the south, everyone I know who eats bass eats bass filets. Fillets are rolled in corn meal, salt and pepper or maybe other seasoning and the grease (oil) is brought to a hot 350 degrees. I would bet that you would have a lot of trouble telling the difference between my fried bass or crappie. I even prefer bass usuallay. Crappie can taste a little bland.

 

I've never had a bass taste bad and I've eaten them for over 50 years. No comprehende.

[Catch and Grease]

Bass tastes great, that's a question you gotta find out for yourself, catch one and find out if you like em!

[Bluebasser86]

My post was in response to "Bass taste horrible, there is no way to cook one without it tastting horrible.  Anyone who thinks differently probably likes to eat squireel and opussum too."

 

So, my post was ridiculous? lol

 

As for you saying that bass are "by far one of the nastiest things I've had to eat"... have fried them in axle grease or you are catching bass out of the sewer, lol. The fried bass fillets we had last night were delicious and always are. In the south, everyone I know who eats bass eats bass filets. Fillets are rolled in corn meal, salt and pepper or maybe other seasoning and the grease (oil) is brought to a hot 350 degrees. I would bet that you would have a lot of trouble telling the difference between my fried bass or crappie. I even prefer bass usuallay. Crappie can taste a little bland.

 

I've never had a bass taste bad and I've eaten them for over 50 years. No comprehende.

I do indeed like squirrel, as do lots of people, but I've never had possum and have no plans to. I fail to see where that has anything to do with ones credibility in discerning what taste good and what doesn't

 

Yes, saying that someone else doesn't know how to properly prepare something that you enjoy eating being the only way for them to not like it, is ridiculous. Everyone has different taste. To me, and lots of people I know, bass taste awful regardless of size, where it's caught, or how it's prepared. I know people who think it taste good too though. They also get very wormy once the water temperature gets up a little, which bothers me a bit.

 

You're correct that I would have trouble telling the difference between your crappie or bass because I wouldn't eat either. Walleye are the only fish that I would even consider keeping for myself to eat, but even those are typically given to whoever I'm fishing with or released. I ate a ton of fish growing up, like I said out of necessity, and basically just got burnt out of eating fish in general and never have regained a taste for it. The nights when bass was on the menu, I usually just ate some of the potatoes or whatever was on the side. I've heard the "You've just never had them cooked right/the way I make them", line so many times, but that's not the case. 

 

It's great that you enjoy eating bass. I wish I did because there's several slot limit lakes I could catch myself 5 12" bass from for dinner and help thin out the overpopulated bass. Unfortunately, the flavor that registers all the time I've eaten bass is not something worth eating.

[livemusic]

Bluebasser, do you like fried fish fillets of any type?

[Bluebasser86]

Bluebasser, do you like fried fish fillets of any type?

Yes, walleye, yellow perch, and several species of saltwater fish.

[Jolly Green]

I pulled a 12" crappie out of the river a couple of days ago, above average size for the area. I turned to my wife and said, "I'm still the only one interested in eating these, right?" She replied that she was not going to eat that fish; that it was a "townie fish" lol. She then informed me that if I catch her a fish out of some pristine gin-clear Canadian (why Canadian? I dunno...) waters that she would gladly eat it. So you all are my witnesses; my wife just told me to take a fly-in pike trip for the good of the dinner table.

[BigmouthForever23]

If we're talking taste in regards to fried fish, I'd honestly be hard pressed to notice much of a difference between crappie and a "young" bass. I say young bass because it makes a difference in taste between a 1-2 pound bass and a 5+ pound bass. The lake I fish is stunted with baby bass so I've just been taking them home and frying them up! They're delicious. For the posters who say they taste like crap, perhaps they're not preparing the fillets right. Or, they really don't like the taste of them. Fair enough. But I think they tastes good and I know a lot of others would agree with me.