Eating bass

[MN Fisher]

5 minutes ago, GReb said:

I grew up eating them and like the taste. But it’s not worth the trouble. I’m surrounded by fried catfish on every corner cheaper than my time cleaning fish. 

 

Instead I’ve started transporting slot limit fish to the 5 acre lake behind my house. 

Is that even legal there? It's illegal in MN to transport any fish from one body of water to another.

 

Can't even release minnows back into the water...even if you caught them there. Have to dispose of them in the trash.

[GReb]

20 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Is that even legal there? It's illegal in MN to transport any fish from one body of water to another.

 

Can't even release minnows back into the water...even if you caught them there. Have to dispose of them in the trash.

 

Yes it’s legal to my knowledge. I haven’t found anything saying it isn’t. The lake is private anyways. It went from 2.5 acres to 5 about a year ago and wasn’t stocked. So we’ve all been adding a here and there. It’s definitely not over populated. My only concern is the potential of spreading some type of disease. 

[TnRiver46]

31 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Is that even legal there? It's illegal in MN to transport any fish from one body of water to another.

 

Can't even release minnows back into the water...even if you caught them there. Have to dispose of them in the trash.

That sounds dangerously close to a California type regulation 

[WRB]

Gefilte fish is a dish usually made using carp. We were discussing eating bass and it's no different from eating several other fish, it must be fresh and properly cared for and prepared to taste good. All fresh water fish can have parasites including walleye and trout it's not isolated to bass.

Most anglers, including my inlaws, fry battered fish in hot oil using a frying pan and there are several good receipts for seasoning. Canadian shore lunch is using a cast iron skillet over a camp fire on a remote island is hard to beat.

I learned to cook fresh fish on a grill using Wishbone Italian dressing with light Cajon seasoning, works on every specie of fish I have grilled. 

I like to eat fish, it's a weekly meal at our home baked, fried or grilled.

Tom

 

[MN Fisher]

5 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

That sounds dangerously close to a California type regulation 

They're more worried about disease and invasive species spread. Trying to control milfoil, zebra mussels and such.

 

Example - if I caught minnows on Lake Minnetonka and filled the minnow bucket with Mtka water, then later did the same on Dutch Lake - there might be traces of Milfoil or even some Zebra Mussel larvae left over in the bucket from Mtka. That would be transplanting an invasive species - which is why dumping the bucket at the end of the day is illegal.

[J Francho]

16 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Must be a culture thing. I grew up on grilled/broiled fish. First time I had fried fish I actually asked 'Is this really fish? Because it doesn't taste like fish.'

Fish fries are a big deal up here.  Every restaurant has fried haddock on Fridays.  It's especially big during lent.  I like mine with American cheese and on a bun.

 

 

But, back to bass...there's way better tasting fish in my waters to bother with bass.  Steelhead, king salmon, walleye, northern pike, and yellow perch all make much better table fare.

[TnRiver46]

44 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

They're more worried about disease and invasive species spread. Trying to control milfoil, zebra mussels and such.

 

Example - if I caught minnows on Lake Minnetonka and filled the minnow bucket with Mtka water, then later did the same on Dutch Lake - there might be traces of Milfoil or even some Zebra Mussel larvae left over in the bucket from Mtka. That would be transplanting an invasive species - which is why dumping the bucket at the end of the day is illegal.

Zebra mussels= giant smallmouth! I see why they have the rules but when you said not being able to let minnows go in the same water you caught them in is where I smelled California

[slonezp]

1 hour ago, Paul Roberts said:

No. Only bc there are much tastier fish out there.

Take a fillet off a 14-16" bass, cut it into scallop sized chunks, wrap in bacon, put on skewers and throw them on the grill over indirect heat. Enjoy.

[MN Fisher]

8 minutes ago, J Francho said:

But, back to bass...there's way better tasting fish in my waters to bother with bass.  Steelhead, king salmon, walleye, northern pike, and yellow perch all make much better table fare.

I can agree that steelhead and salmon tastes better - but nothing close to me has those. I already said I prefer trout - specifically rainbows, but they're a rare catch for me.

I DO prefer the taste of bass over walleye and northern  - and yellow perch as they're a close cousin to walleye.

 

Different tastes I guess. Doesn't make either of us wrong, just different. Still can't stand breaded fish though.

[billmac]

In a few months, every fire station and rescue squad in the area will have bullhead feeds.  Sometimes perch feeds.

Maybe it's the area.  Practically every smallmouth I've ever cleaned has had parasites.  Rock bass also.  Never seen them in walleye, pike, any bluegill.   

 

How come rock bass never seem to be a targeted species, even for panfishermen?

[TnRiver46]

4 minutes ago, billmac said:

In a few months, every fire station and rescue squad in the area will have bullhead feeds.  Sometimes perch feeds.

Maybe it's the area.  Practically every smallmouth I've ever cleaned has had parasites.  Rock bass also.  Never seen them in walleye, pike, any bluegill.   

 

How come rock bass never seem to be a targeted species, even for panfishermen?

Because they are 90 percent ribcage is my reason 

[J Francho]

9 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I can agree that steelhead and salmon tastes better - but nothing close to me has those. I already said I prefer trout - specifically rainbows, but they're a rare catch for me.

These things are practically in my back yard.

[2tall79]

Nope, I release them all.......hopefully to be caught again. It's much like not eating the ball after a tennis match.

[J Francho]

9 minutes ago, billmac said:

How come rock bass never seem to be a targeted species, even for panfishermen?

Exactly what TnRiver46 said, not much meat fro their size.  They do taste pretty good, though.

[scaleface]

Another fish that I ate only once but were very good are green sunfish . I caught a bunch through the ice one year ,  good sized ones  for green sunfish . I heard they were no good but these sure were .

[Mobasser]

Actually , I like most fish I've ever eaten. Fresh and Saltwater, baked or fried. I have to draw the line on gar. They look like a fish that never evolved correctly. Too prehistoric for me

[TnRiver46]

18 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Actually , I like most fish I've ever eaten. Fresh and Saltwater, baked or fried. I have to draw the line on gar. They look like a fish that never evolved correctly. Too prehistoric for me

Gar is the best of them all, no kidding 

[Jleebesaw]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

Fish fries are a big deal up here.  Every restaurant has fried haddock on Fridays.  It's especially big during lent.  I like mine with American cheese and on a bun.

 

 

But, back to bass...there's way better tasting fish in my waters to bother with bass.  Steelhead, king salmon, walleye, northern pike, and yellow perch all make much better table fare.

I agree with walleye and perch, but I would take bass over the rest of those. I really don't like pike. Everybody eats it around here, but it tastes pretty strong to me. Bass is a nice mild flavor, just like its little sunfish cousins. Ie: bluegill and .pumpkin seed.

[Tennessee Boy]

Ya’ll are making me hungry.

[The Shipley]

I don't personalty like the taste of Bass enough to kill and eat my sport. But when it comes to Lake Catfish, Drum and Crappy. That is a difference question. I don't ever keep and kill pond fish. Most of our bass here in KS also have parasites that keeps me from eating them to. But to each man his own! 

 

I always tell myself the world record bass for many years was taken home and eaten by George Perry a 20 year old kid providing meat for his family. You just have to do what makes you happy. There are plenty of fish in the sea for everyone. 

 

 

[matbellon3]

I keep and eat bass sometimes on the private retention ponds I fish because the bass are on the top of the food chain(until I show up), If I and the others that fish the ponds don't keep a limited number and size of them (usually 2-4 that are under 16 inches) the bass growth gets stunted at around 14-16 inches. So at the ponds I fish keeping and eating bass is for the conservation of the ponds. On public access waters I don't keep any because there is enough people keeping their limits.

 

 I don't mind the flavor of the bass, it is mild, but i do prefer the taste of cutthroat trout from the high Unita lakes and streams.

[deadadrift89]

Nope. I love fish but I'd rather pay someone else to bring me a walleye, grouper, snapper etc. with slaw, fries and hush puppies ?

[Elkins45]

I’ve eaten them, but not in several years. They aren’t nearly as tasty as crappie, and I hate to take them out of the ecosystem except for maybe in the local small lake with a slot limit.

 

I would still keep and clean one if it was obvious it wasn’t going to survive, such as being gut hooked.

[gim]

On 2/24/2019 at 6:09 PM, Glaucus said:

There are two camps. One believes that harvesting bass is necessary to produce big bass, and the other believes in the "let 'em go, let 'em grow" philosophy. 

 

And then there are those who over the years have developed a true love for these fish and couldn't intentionally kill one anymore than they could kill a family pet. Logical, illogical, doesn't really matter. Human emotion is complex.

The two camps I see: the meat hunters and sport anglers. It’s usually an age thing because the older generation fished for food and the younger generation fishes because they enjoy it. Just for the record, I am in the younger generation and very rarely keep any fish. Most of the meat hunters I see are luckily not specifically targeting bass.

[billmac]

I mentioned catching redfin mullet earlier in the thread, because that's what we always called them, but it appears the proper name is silver redhorse.  They are one of the first fish people start catching after ice-out.  They are also a common target for spearfishermen.  I guess they are good eating if you can get around the bones.