Eating bass

[stepup]

 

On 2/24/2019 at 5:06 PM, CrankFate said:

I have never eaten, kept or killed a LMB or SMB.

Hate to bust your bubble but if you have fished any at all you have killed multiple fish you never knew about.

[redmeansdistortion]

I haven't eaten bass in close to 30 years.  I never found the flavor particularly bad, just not as good as perch, crappie, walleye, salmon, lake trout, or whitefish.  When I fish for sport, I fish seek out bass, pike, and steelhead.  When fishing for something to eat, it's almost always perch, walleye, or crappie.

[CrankFate]

5 hours ago, stepup said:

 

Hate to bust your bubble but if you have fished any at all you have killed multiple fish you never knew about.

Extremely unlikely. Otherwise, there’d be dead fish all over the place after every tournament.

[gim]

On 2/26/2019 at 9:00 PM, MN Fisher said:

Dunno - never caught a smallie.

 

Also found this info - The growth rate of bass in Mille Lacs is slow due to the water's cold temperatures. A 20 to 21 inch fish may be 11 to 15 years old - so 5#-6# are older than your 10#.

When I went to the weigh in at the bass master elite AOY at Mille lacs a few years ago, there was a biologist on site and he said that it took a bass (largemouth and smallmouth) about a decade to get to 5 pounds/20 inches this far north. That means a 4 pounder has to be almost that old too. That’s the reason they are not a renewable resource here. They aren’t stocked anywhere here and they take way too long to replace.

 

Minnetonka has smallmouth. Hard to find though. Not great habitat for them. But they are listed on the fisheries survey for that lake.

[MN Fisher]

Just now, gimruis said:

Minnetonka has smallmouth. Hard to find though. Not great habitat for them. But they are listed on the fisheries survey for that lake.

I'm aware of the fisheries reports - use them to determine what lake to fish for what.

 

As I said earlier - only part of 'tonka I fish now-days is Phelps Bay, never once caught a smallie there. I did own a powerboat for a number of years - 14' runabout with a 40hp - but stuck to the areas around Phelps Island - Phelps Bay, Spring Park Bay, Seton Lake, Black Lake, Emerald Lake and Cooks Bay as well as around Wawatosa Island. Not one smallie caught from '88 (when I bought the boat) to '03 (when I sold it).

[TnRiver46]

13 hours ago, CrankFate said:

Extremely unlikely. Otherwise, there’d be dead fish all over the place after every tournament.

You mean that doesn't happen where you live? 

[Harold Scoggins]

I ate this bass.

[CrankFate]

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

You mean that doesn't happen where you live? 

I’ve never seen the water littered with dead fish that died after being caught (over about 40 years of fishing). Most fish that are targeted by fisherman have no problem after being caught. 

[geo g]

Dont like it, much rather have a nice grouper, snapper, or haddock.

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, CrankFate said:

I’ve never seen the water littered with dead fish that died after being caught (over about 40 years of fishing). Most fish that are targeted by fisherman have no problem after being caught. 

I remember going to watch the weigh-in from the 1996 Bassmaster Top 100 tournament that was held on Lake Minnetonka. All the bass just swam away, seemingly in good health, after they were weighed and dumped back into the lake. Even back then, the pros appeared to have taken good care of the fish they'd caught.

[soflabasser]

It is true that not all bass survive after being released and that is something we need to accept as bass fishermen. 

On 2/24/2019 at 5:06 PM, CrankFate said:

I have never eaten, kept or killed a LMB or SMB.

You might have released all your bass but that is not a 100% guarantee some of those bass died within a couple days from the stress of being caught. Research delayed mortality in bass fishing to know more about this subject. Also do you fish with soft plastics? Bass are known to eat soft plastic lures and slowly starve from having their intestines clogged with soft plastics. Earlier this month I caught a bass that vomited a senko and a zoom ultra vibe speed worm from a careless fisherman that most likely threw these lures into the water or lost them. 

[contium]

Many of our lakes here in SoCal have advisories about eating LMB or striped bass due to high mercury levels. Supposedly because of all the coal power plants in China. Sounds crazy I know but look it up.

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, CrankFate said:

I’ve never seen the water littered with dead fish that died after being caught (over about 40 years of fishing). Most fish that are targeted by fisherman have no problem after being caught. 

There's floaters all around after big tournaments here . And not all fish that die float either 

[CrankFate]

I bet that the “studies” that find more than minimal mortality from fishing related injuries are biased studies funded by anti fishing wildlife preservation interests.

[rod snapper]

18 minutes ago, CrankFate said:

I bet that the “studies” that find more than minimal mortality from fishing related injuries are biased studies funded by anti fishing wildlife preservation interests.

To be honest, i think the opposite may be true. those studies that show not many fish die from tournaments are probably more biased, because fishing and tournaments are so big for local economies, but apart from that, bass populations and sizes are steady or growing well in most of the U.S., so i'm not concerned that its a significant threat at this point, and biologists tend to say the same for most areas of The U.S.

[TnRiver46]

3 hours ago, CrankFate said:

I bet that the “studies” that find more than minimal mortality from fishing related injuries are biased studies funded by anti fishing wildlife preservation interests.

I've seen some studies that show almost zero delayed mortality and some that showed close to 95 percent. Summertime heat is the main killer of tournament caught livewelled bass, it ain't a secret. They have been conducting legit studies on this for decades . Scientists, not fishermen 

[soflabasser]

On 2/28/2019 at 6:38 PM, TnRiver46 said:

I've seen some studies that show almost zero delayed mortality and some that showed close to 95 percent. Summertime heat is the main killer of tournament caught livewelled bass, it ain't a secret. They have been conducting legit studies on this for decades . Scientists, not fishermen 

It is a well known fact that some bass caught in tournaments die since the fishermen did a bad job keeping the bass alive. It also does not help that they keep 5 bass in a small livewell with little space to swim for several hours (often +6 hours). There is a YouTuber who recently discussed this in his Youtube video comment section since he has a job to keep the bass alive during weigh ins and he says it is common to see floaters after they ''release'' the bass.

On 2/28/2019 at 2:56 PM, TnRiver46 said:

There's floaters all around after big tournaments here . And not all fish that die float either 

Same thing happens all across the nation in bass fishing tournaments. Nothing new and it will continue as long as people stuff 5 bass in a little livewell for several hours. They should at least give the dead bass away to those who will eat them instead of them going to waste.

[Alex from GA]

I'll bring home a spotted bass 14-16" a couple of times a month for that evening's dinner.  We think they taste better than crappie or catfish.  If I catch a walleye I'll always keep it.  The LM in Lake Lanier don't taste nearly as good as the spots.  

[BassDude802]

I prefer crappie and perch, to each their own!

[BassThumb]

I never eat bass. I do a lot of ice fishing and eat plenty of fish. In fact, it'll be pan-fried parmesan crusted walleye tonight. Bluegill or crappie next week probably. Got some brown-sugar cured smoked pike in the crisper right now.

 

Fish caught through the ice after living for months in cold water taste so much better than warm water fish that it's hard to settle. I rarely keep fish in the summer, period. Furthermore, largemouth bass have hands-down the worst taste and texture of any freshwater fish I've tried. Mushy meat that tastes like lake-bottom silt, even in the winter. Yum!

 

On the other hand, if it's legal, have at it. Bass are a dime a dozen. Please throw back the breeders so it stays that way.

[soflabasser]

20 minutes ago, BassThumb said:

I never eat bass. I do a lot of ice fishing and eat plenty of fish. In fact, it'll be pan-fried parmesan crusted walleye tonight. Bluegill or crappie next week probably. Got some brown-sugar cured smoked pike in the crisper right now.

 

Fish caught through the ice after living for months in cold water taste so much better than warm water fish that it's hard to settle. I rarely keep fish in the summer, period. Furthermore, largemouth bass have hands-down the worst taste and texture of any freshwater fish I've tried. Mushy meat that tastes like lake-bottom silt, even in the winter. Yum!

 

On the other hand, if it's legal, have at it. Bass are a dime a dozen. Please throw back the breeders so it stays that way.

A couple months ago I caught my first walleye while on vacation and kept it for dinner. It tasted much better than any black bass I have eaten and I would eat walleye if I lived up north. Plenty of other freshwater fish taste better than bass that is for sure. I agree that bass are a dime a dozen, especially the sub 5 pounders and that it is best to let go big bass.

[uglyasheck]

We are encouraged to keep small bass in all the lake around here that I fish. I keep them if the bite is good and I am catching enough to keep but if not i normally throw them back.