Harvesting Bass

[A-Jay]

Hard Pass on eating Bass ~

It's not too bad tasting IMO, there are just too many other species up here that a far better table fair.

While I Love the Trout, I only bump into them during early season C & R,

so back they go.

My go to is walleye, big fan.

Just over keeper size offers some sweet meat.

Coincidentally, Possession season opens - tomorrow. 

Think if I did a "Shore Lunch" in someone's lake front property they'd get upset ?

I'd be happy to share and clean up when I was done. 

A-Jay

 

[Ryan N]

Bass are 100% delicious eating fish, but their flavor depends on water clarity and age. I prefer average bass for that particular body of water, but not the biggest. Bigger bass relative to the lake are older and tend to have higher mercury levels and a less desirable flavor. It’s not worth bringing home loads of subpar meat while taking away the opportunity for another angler to catch. Personally as a rule of thumb, I catch a few before keeping one that's about average size for the lake.

[Bird]

The timing of this thread.

 

Just last night the wife fixed Salmon and fresh caught Snakehead and Alabama spotted bass.

We both said simultaneously....... give me spotted bass " a delicacy " .

We both prefer Largemouth over bluegill as well.

 

The wife and I do quite a bit of camping on lakes in VA and WV and the livewell gets a workout but only keep what the 2 of us can eat.

I vote keep a few.

[Woody B]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

Fortunately, there’s more than enough tournaments on lakes these days that kill enough bass to more than make up for anything I would ever keep if I did 😉

 

 

Yep,  and the bucket brigade fishes around the landings where all the tournament victims are released.   

 

I'm not much of a seafood eater.  On top of that the State has warnings about PCB and mercury contamination in most of the waters I fish.  They say limit yourself to 1 serving a month.  I say that means zero servings a month for me.  

[Fried Lemons]

Seems there are mixed opinions on the taste. Largemouth bass is considered a delicacy in Chinese cuisine. They are farmed for food and can be found live in some supermarkets here. I've eaten a lot in the past and find them generally good but with a lot of variance. I've eaten some muddy tasting ones from canals and some really good ones from clear mountain lakes. Smaller ones have better taste and texture and coincidentally are the ones that usually need culling.

 

I haven't kept any in years but plan to start again this summer when the season opens. 

[king fisher]

I hate to admit it, but if I am going to be totally honest, the biggest reason I don't keep any bass is I am to lazy.  It takes far less effort to simply let them go, than it does, to keep them in good condition, clean them, and cook them.

[TLHSS]

If you like listening to podcasts, here’s a pretty good one on this subject:  

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bass-after-dark/id1716082782?i=1000645600365

 

[PhishLI]

1 hour ago, Fried Lemons said:

Largemouth bass is considered a delicacy in Chinese cuisine.

This is quite true. One of my wading crew is Chinese born and speaks the language. Our county has a policy that no bass can be removed from our waters period due to the thin population, and he's totally on board with C&R. But because he speaks Chinese, and they tried to recruit him, he was able get the scoop from one of the poaching crews who come out from New York City to strip our waters. They sell bass to Chinese restaurants where they display them in large fish tanks for their customers to choose from. Finally, he set up a sting with the NY DEC to bust both the poachers and the restaurants they sell to, which happened. Even with that, it hasn't stopped them. They even come from New Jersey now. IMO, they are the #1 reason our bass population is so small. They're clever and relentless. Thank God the Russians are primarily focused on carp, or I'd have to switch hobbies to basket weaving.

[TnRiver46]

@PhishLI, unfortunately that isn’t going to slow them down at all. My buddy runs an auto shop and his tow truck driver was shot and killed the other day by somebody who had been arrested tons of times. I imagine the poaching penalties are far less severe than what folks like that get charged with on a regular basis 

[PhishLI]

3 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

unfortunately that isn’t going to slow them down at all.

You're right. It hasn't.

[LonnieP]

I don’t like the taste of any freshwater fish so no. 

[WRB]

Never eaten Smallmouth bass, my in-laws say it’s a soft meat and not edible compared to local Walleye.

I caught a few LMB from our local lakes and grilled the fillets for dinner when my in-laws visited years ago. They like the grilled fillets and wanted to know what kind of fish it was. So I told them LMB and were shocked it was firm white tasty fish.

How the fish is cared for and the water they live in affects taste. 
Our local reservoirs are deep clear cool temps year around.

Put the fish on ice when caught.

Tom

 

[Skunkmaster-k]

3 hours ago, Bird said:

We both prefer Largemouth over bluegill as well.

Blasphemy 

[N Florida Mike]

I’ve been eating bass for 50 years now. In the 70s and 80s I kept every one unless it was a dink. In the 90s I began selective catch and release. By this I mean that I keep some occasionally. 
When I bank fish ponds in my area I very rarely keep any. When I go to an out of town water body, I usually keep legal fish . If I fish my home lake, I will occasionally keep some to eat, only in the 12-16 inch range. Anything over 16 goes back, unless it dies on me. My lake is very productive for bass ,and always has been . Therefore, I must harvest some so there’s enough forage for the remaining fish.

As far as eating them, I love filleted bass under 16 inch. I fry them and they come out very tasty. I don’t like them quite as good” bone in”.  I think because of the skin.

I love catfish , bream, and bass. I’ll eat any of the 3 interchangeably. 
There are saltwater fish I love more than these 3 though . I just don’t get the chance to catch them now as much as I did in the past.

[Functional]

@Woody B I've heard that warning in nearly every state. Call my a conspiracy theorist but I almost feel like its over stated to scare people out of fishing. I've also known people who eat well more than the "allowable" limit in waters with those warnings and they live fine into their 80s and 90s. (worked at a boat yard when I was younger, made friends with a lot of 50/60/70 year olds at the time). Either way, you have to do what you believe is right for you, just my thoughts on those warnings.

 

As for keeping fish it depends on the lake. A lot of the popular lakes here the surveys are finding alabama/spots taking over the LMB population and they recommend keeping the ones you catch and many without size limits. They are also starting F1 introductions in a bunch of the larger lakes in middle/eastern NC so I'm going to start keeping more alabama/spots than I ever did. Before that, if I kept bass it would be an occasional 2-2.5lb bass or one I gut/tongue hooked that wasnt going to make it anyway. The meat is light and flakey and I have always enjoyed it. Its a good gateway fish if its clean meat for someone who doesnt like a fishy tasting fish. 

 

I've never had walleye though and I feally feel like I'm missing out now. Pickerel and pike are also good tasting but for me too boney to be worth eating. 

[Mobasser]

My favourite fish to eat are crappie fillets. Bluegill are good tasting also. And I like walleye whenever I can get some. I release all the bass I catch.

[IcatchDinks]

11 hours ago, LonnieP said:

I don’t like the taste of any freshwater fish so no. 

This is what my wife says, and I don't like salt water fish. 

 I've fed her pike, bluegill, and bass. And while she doesn't hate them, she's not a fan. That's ok cuz I hate cleaning fish. 

 

 

[gim]

52 minutes ago, Functional said:

I've never had walleye though and I feally feel like I'm missing out now.

Its over rated.  It pretty much has zero taste.  It tastes like the batter or breading people lather it up in.

 

And they fight like a wet sock coming in too.

[MN Fisher]

7 minutes ago, gimruis said:

It tastes like the batter or breading people lather it up in.

Sunnies, perch and bass I just broil with butter, salt, pepper and maybe a dash of garlic

Walleye I need to do more with - usually blackened Cajun style - to give it some taste.

[Chilidog]

I keep the occasional 12' - 14" bass.  We beer batter fry them and they taste great.  Around here we are encouraged to keep 10 pike under 22".  They have become a problem.  After you learn how to filet them its not that difficult and they are a great tasting fish.

[gim]

3 minutes ago, Chilidog said:

Around here we are encouraged to keep 10 pike under 22".  They have become a problem.  After you learn how to filet them its not that difficult and they are a great tasting fish.

 

I agree, although "great" might not be the best term.  I think they're decent out of colder water though, provided you know how to properly filet them.

 

For some reason people just don't keep many of them though.  Everyone wants walleye or panfish.  I feel like a lot of anglers are missing out on an abundant, easy to catch resource.  I mean 10 northern pike is a heck of a lot of filet.

[Fried Lemons]

12 hours ago, PhishLI said:

This is quite true. One of my wading crew is Chinese born and speaks the language. Our county has a policy that no bass can be removed from our waters period due to the thin population, and he's totally on board with C&R. But because he speaks Chinese, and they tried to recruit him, he was able get the scoop from one of the poaching crews who come out from New York City to strip our waters. They sell bass to Chinese restaurants where they display them in large fish tanks for their customers to choose from. Finally, he set up a sting with the NY DEC to bust both the poachers and the restaurants they sell to, which happened. Even with that, it hasn't stopped them. They even come from New Jersey now. IMO, they are the #1 reason our bass population is so small. They're clever and relentless. Thank God the Russians are primarily focused on carp, or I'd have to switch hobbies to basket weaving.

That's wild but not surprising to me. The poaching is part of what turned me toward catch and release only fishing but luckily it's not a problem on the lakes I fish now.

[Swamp Girl]

21 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

I agree, although "great" might not be the best term.  I think they're decent out of colder water though, provided you know how to properly filet them.

 

For some reason people just don't keep many of them though.  Everyone wants walleye or panfish.  I feel like a lot of anglers are missing out on an abundant, easy to catch resource.  I mean 10 northern pike is a heck of a lot of filet.

 

Pike are delicious. Many angling wilderness paddlers prefer them to walleye. 

[gim]

Just now, ol'crickety said:

Pike are delicious. Many angling paddlers prefer them to walleye. 

 

I wish I was better at fileting pike because I catch a lot of them and they are a problem here that needs to be thinned.  There is an art to it that I've seen done many times before; I just never did it much myself.

[Swamp Girl]

5 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

I wish I was better at fileting pike because I catch a lot of them and they are a problem here that needs to be thinned.  There is an art to it that I've seen done many times before; I just never did it much myself.

 

I've tried the "five fillet" method, but don't like it. Too much meat is wasted. I simply fillet them the normal way and eat carefully so I don't swallow the Y-bones.