Best way to preserve bass & perch meat freshness ? After docking with them alive on a stringer in the water

[gim]

3 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

My buddy goes up to the boundary waters, he says people think he’s crazy for targeting bass. He gets monsters with a fly rod and a mouse, apparently everyone else is targeting lake trout and walleye 

Yes.  Walleye and lake trout are easily the two most targeted species there.  I would even rank northern pike higher than smallmouth too.  The current state record northern pike is from the BWCA (Basswood Lake).  The forestry service cut the number of entry permits into the BWCA this year by a significant margin.  Some entry points permits have been reduced by 35%.  The "wilderness" is not as much of a wilderness anymore because there's too many people going in there.  And leaving trash behind, burning, and chopping down trees.  Every person that goes in is supposed to leave "no trace" of a human activity when they leave.

 

The bigger issue may be the drought up there.  There were a couple of forest fires in northern MN this past summer because of how dry it was.  Once the snow melts this spring, we are going to need a monsoon of rain to alleviate this issue otherwise more burning restrictions will be coming.

[N.Y. Yankee]

Just me, I'm not going to eat them. I'd much rather release them and go and get fish from a premium meat market. No funny tastes, no cleaning fish and no mess to clean up. I do eat a fresh trout from time to time though. Just trout. Anything else is coming from the market.

 

To answer the question though, It's my understanding that the very best way is to bleed them by cutting the gills then putting them on ice. Hitting them on the head releases hormones or something in the fish's body and can affect the meat.

[2tall79]

To me bass fishing is a lot like playing tennis.....if I want to play again tomorrow, I'm not going to eat the ball.  ?

[gim]

50 minutes ago, 2tall79 said:

To me bass fishing is a lot like playing tennis.....if I want to play again tomorrow, I'm not going to eat the ball.  ?

Tell that to my dog!

 

A strong catch and release ethic has been a major factor to help bass fishing thrive IMO.  The same can be said here for muskie fishing.

[Basser2021]

On 1/31/2022 at 7:52 AM, Captain Phil said:

Here in Florida, bass are not that good to eat.   Unless they come from very clear lakes out in the middle of nowhere, they have a muddy taste.  Everglades bass are the worst.  Some Florida lakes have warning signs advising you not to eat the fish.   Back in the day we used to soak them in milk or salt water to draw out that taste.  You can fry anything and make it edible.  I have eaten a lot of northern walleye in my day and find them better than any other fresh water fish. Pike are excellent too, but you have to know how to clean them so you avoid the bones.  Release bass, don't kill them.   

I second this..

Smallmouth are way better to eat.

[Sphynx]

On 1/31/2022 at 12:00 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Bass is delicious, if it tastes bad you did something wrong (usually it’s a pre conceived notion that it’s going to taste bad) 

Agree to disagree, I think they are awesome and will continue to kill them until I’m dead or physically unable 

Gotta say, I have eaten bass that are both delicious, and terrible, my theory is that a ~12in bass caught in clear, cold, running water is a treat for the gods, but a fish like the ones I used to catch in Louisiana in hot, chocolate milk colored stagnant lakes/ponds are flat no good, I also find that about 12in is the ideal size, the great big ones too mushy, too small isn't worth the trouble...now this could all be in my head, but it works for me, and I'll continue to use this theory until it no longer works for me.

[Captain Phil]

7 hours ago, Sphynx said:

Gotta say, I have eaten bass that are both delicious, and terrible, my theory is that a ~12in bass caught in clear, cold, running water is a treat for the gods, but a fish like the ones I used to catch in Louisiana in hot, chocolate milk colored stagnant lakes/ponds are flat no good, I also find that about 12in is the ideal size, the great big ones too mushy, too small isn't worth the trouble...now this could all be in my head, but it works for me, and I'll continue to use this theory until it no longer works for me.

 

I agree.  Back when we ate bass, our club always had a fish fry after the tournament.  We even owned a fish fryer.  I can remember cleaning 100 or more bass in an afternoon.   The best eating size bass are 12 inches or so.  If they come out of clean clear water, they aren't bad eating if you fry them.   We don't eat bass anymore because they are more valuable alive, especially large fish.  We don't kill Marlin, Sailfish or Tarpon either.  

[cyclops2]

Agree totally with water quality affecting FLAVOR taste.

 

My 1 mile long bay is a perfect place to prove the water quality affects odd tastes. We have a up river & a lower river ends.  The crystal clear constant flushing flow of main river water  makes every fish excellent. 

 

The huge Round Gobies have wiped out all the invasive mussels around our docks, that filter the water for food.  Now It makes sense why last year we had massive amounts of green floating micro stuff that changes density with amount of sunlight shinning.

 

Why the pollution experts are at a complete loss to even start screwing up the waters even more.

 

Can anyone even GUESS how many invasives are being pumped in & out of all those giant ships.  In all the worlds harbors as they wait, with BILLIONS of tons, of rotting meat & vegetables.

 

The Good old days are long gone. 

 

New fish contests. GASS   fish contests.     Gobie Association of .......    .......

 

[TnRiver46]

Try some fried goby appetizers 

[gim]

3 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

We don't kill Marlin, Sailfish or Tarpon either. 

Are they even legal to harvest?  When I was tarpon fishing in Florida, state law didn't even permit us to lift them out of the water for a photo unless you had a special permit.

[Captain Phil]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

Are they even legal to harvest?  When I was tarpon fishing in Florida, state law didn't even permit us to lift them out of the water for a photo unless you had a special permit.

 

Florida Tarpon are catch and release only.   Sailfish must be 63" minimum and a Blue Marlin 90".   Most offshore anglers stopped killing billfish years ago.  Snook and Redfish in Florida are highly regulated with slot limits and tight season closures.  This was not always the case.  When I was a kid in the fifties, it was legal to snag Snook and I remember baskets of them laying on the seawall.  The Cajun Redfish craze almost wiped them out too.  Florida voters approved a Statewide net ban law back in the nineties which did a lot for our inshore sport fishing. The most popular fresh water food fish in Florida is the Speckled Perch or Crappie.  Most of the catfish you find in restaurants are farm raised. Florida has a five fish per angler daily limit on bass.  Only one can be over 16 inches.  Some of our lakes have slot limits.  Eating a few bass is not going to hurt fishing. Most anglers in Florida don't eat bass, they prefer to catch them again.

 

If you enjoy eating fish, the best tasting fish in my opinion is Mahi Mahi (dolphin fish as they are called locally).  You can find it in many grocery store frozen food sections.  Dolphin are great sport fish too, but they are plentiful and they grow very fast.  A 20 pound Mahi can be less than a year old.