Catch'em and Eat'em

[NJ_Stump_Grinder]

I gut hooked a 3lb LM last summer and it was bleeding bad.

I knew it wasn't gonna make it no matter what I did so I cooked it up.

I consider myself a good cook, and rarely get complaints........ but even though I seasoned the hell out of that bass and baked it up to perfection, it was bland and tasteless (if not a little poor tasting).

I don't see any reason to keep em for cookin unless they aren't going to survive if released because of injury during the catch.

However, my neighbor has kept a few hybrid stripers from our home lake and he says they're much better than LM.

Maybe I'll try one this year.

[roadwarrior]

Stripers have a firm texture which makes them perfect for grilling. People who don't like them probably haven't dressed them properly. There is a red line that MUST be removed, it's not tricky, it's quite obvious.

We catch lots of small fish on the Tennessee River and keeping a few 10 lb stripers has absolutely no impact on the population. A 10 lb fish will yield about  2 lbs of fillets. Hybrids probably are the same, but we don't catch many of them.

[AOY]

I agree--stripers, hybrids, and whites are all great to eat if you get the bloodline out!  They are usually school fish and keeping them doesn't usually hurt the population--even big ones--cause there a LOT of big stripers and hybrids to be eaten!

[AOY]

At least there are a lot around here!