eating bass?

[drakedeming]

how many people on this site eat what they catch occasionally? i dont think i have ever eaten bass but plenty of blugill crappie northern and walleye

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Never.

Not freshwater anyway.

CPR  

[langs15]

2 bass and 1 catfish when I was younger, like 6-7.

Bass were disgusting but the catfish was very nice.

[alhuff]

if i go fishing with the intent on keeping what i catch i'm fishing for bluegill, they taste better and are fun to catch.  

i don't tend to keep bass unless i know the pond or lake i'm fishing needs to have some taken out due to over population, every pond/lake needs this to be done.

if i fish with my dad, he keeps everything, then we keep bass if we catch any.

keeping any species of fish, in moderation, is good for that pond or lake; but it has to been done in moderation.

my 2 cents,

Alfred

[razyrsharpe]

i keep appx. 10 - 15% of what i catch every year.  all that are kept are eaten.  

[.ghoti.]

Selective harvest. I take a few small fish for the table and release all the bigger ones. I also never take more than one meal's worth. If I want frozen fish, I'll buy it.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

Lake Ouachita has a limit of 6 per day. I keep all under about 4 pounds. I have 3 freezers, one for deer, half a calf, etc. The big one is for catfish. The samllest third one is for bass & panfish. I eat fish 3-4 times a week, never buying it. The catfish is for large cook-outs, but that freezer has about 35 pounds of bass fillets set aside for a church cook-off next month. I won't be able to provide the promised 50 pounds, but none of outr other anglers will meet their quota either, so catfish will be provided too. We'll fry up 400 pounds, community invited, the whole thng depending on a final inspection of our new church kitchen. I've never eaten a store-bought fish fillet that comes even remotely close to the quality and delicate flavor of a bass. Dry-frozen fish is junk food to me. I might as well grind up some chain pickerel and make some fish pancakes as eat that. Most of what I see in stores is frozen pond raised catfish and pollard. Yuck. I'll admit crappie and bluegill beat a bass for flavor and mildness, but I prefer fishing for bass and occasionally get into some slab crappie or gills along the way.

Jim

[senile1]

I rarely eat bass.  I'll only keep them when it is needed for the reservoir I'm fishing.  I'll eat crappie, bluegill, and catfish any time.  

[Bankbeater]

Catfish and bluegill yes. Bass and crappie no.

[Michael H]

I dont eat bass. If i want to go fishing for a meal i just go walleye fishing they taste alot better then bass. I dont ever bring fish home, they taste alot better freash.

[papa smurf]

I occaissionally keep bass to take home and fry.  If I plan on cooking fish, I start keeping most of my fish for a few days until I have enough for a fish fry.

[Captain Cali]

I myself haven't kept any freshwater fish but a friend of mine does on occasion. He would probably keep more if it wasn't for me. When I used to fish for "bass food" I'd sometimes give my catch to another angler but I never kept any.

[dodgeguy]

4 fish per year under 3.5 lbs each.this increaes the chance of them being males.it also leaves the big ones.

[paparock]

I rarely eat bass and never Smallmouth Bass. To keep fish to eat is a decision I make before each trip but generally I just catch and release eveything.

[Curado]

never

[BassJunkie]

Once in awhile my father and I will get together and catch some fish to have a big fish fry.  Usually crappies and trout on the menu but once in awhile a small bass or 2 end up in the fry.  I have never intentionally killed any bass over 17" and I can only legally keep them less than 12" or over 17" and I don't see any harm taking out a few dinky bass 2 or 3 times a year.  As far as trout and crappie though I keep alot of them and there are still too many.  They stock thousands of trout every year in lakes all around the state and the crappie never seem to drop in size or numbers.  I prefer crappie over all other fish, they are DELICIOUS.   ;D

[langs15]

But I eat basically EVERYTHING in saltwater, nothing in freshwater.

[cart7t]

I've got a qt size ziploc full of crappie fillets I caught on my trip last week.  As for bass,  I might keep a couple if mixed with other fish but I don't normally prefer the taste of the fish all that much.

[RoLo]

I can't think of any freshwater species I haven't eaten (even carp).

As for bass, my wife and I agree that bass are far superior

to any catfish we've eaten. Though walleyes are very good,

the most flavorful freshwater gamefish I've ever eaten were smallmouth bass from Lake Erie.

If I were to include panfish, it would probably be a draw between yellow perch and bluegills,

followed closely by crappies, but it's strictly a matter of taste.

Roger

[bassmasta7]

Only fish Ive eaten that i caught was a Ausable River SM.

[VABasser]

Me and my dad keep most of the panfish we catch unless they are really small because then its just a waste of time to spend the time to clean it just to get a couple bites.  Sometimes if I feel too lazy to clean the fish I just throw them back.  As for bass, we do keep some.  Though during the spawn we always throw all bass back.  If I catch a nice bass I feel kind of guilty about keeping it so usually throw it back.  I'd say any bass 3 pounds and under I would consider keeping if I wanted to eat some fish but if I caught a real lunker, just some pics and measurements/weight would be good enough for me .

[Madhouse27]

We used to eat a few bass here and there when we were kids. If I remember correctly the smallmouth were actually kind of tasty. Now, I guess my love affair with them doesn't allow me to kill any. If we're going to have a fish fry we'll go catch a bunch of white perch. In the spring I usually treat myself to a couple of brook trout and maybe a salmon or two. My favorite fish to eat are either fresh sushi grade tuna or haddock. Most of the time these two take care of my fish eating needs just fine.

[Ben]

We eat a whole lot of them

If it's a 12" - 13" bass and comes out of Clark's Hill, it goes in the fying pan. That's probably a couple of hundred a year. The DNR ask that you not release small bass in that lake. There are too many little bass and it's hampering their growth rate. Anything over that goes back in the lake. You couldn't pay me to keep a big bass out of their. The funny thing is, the will still give you a citation in a heart beat if it's less than 12" and if you have more than 10 per person.

When fishing most other waters I never keep the bass. Fishing private ponds I only keep bass if the owner wants some or if he has the same problem of being over stocked with small bass and aks me not to throw them back. I have a couple of catfish ponds the owners call me from time to time and ask me to come catch every bass I can out of them. My dad and I caught 93 bass out of one samll catfish pond it two days. That fall they drained it to harvest the catfish and there was one bass in it.

You have to remember, when it comes to small bass, catch and release may actually be doing the lake harm.  It's always best to check with the local DNR fisheries people and find out what their recommendations are.    There are lakes that have a hard time maintaining their seed stock (small bass), that's why you see slot limits  and minimum 14" fish and larger.  It boils down to you need to know the waters you are fishing.

[Cajun1977]

bass are a definite catch and release for me

[ww2farmer]

I C&R Bass only on public waters, there are enough people keeping them to eat. I do keep a few crappies, yellow perch, and bluegills. On my ponds I keep enough 10"-12" bass to regulate the population and prevent stunting/overcrowding. Same with the panfish.