eating bass?

[ScootZilla]

I had a Gill just the other day.It was so fresh and beat any fish i have ever taken a bite of yum.

Scoot

[Redtail]

NEVER and I don't allow anyone else to that fishes on my boat!

[Upnorth]

Never, always C&R.

[Rattlinrogue]

Fifteen years ago,I did.But only to be fried up and eaten.Now,with bass I'm totally catch and release.Our lake's biologist tells me that I should keep some of the smaller bass that are 15 inches or smaller.He says it's actually good for the fishery.I'm still catch and release,but I don't have a problem with anybody that does keep some to eat.

[Fatman1267MM]

I think bass actually taste better than catfish.  We eat a few each year.  We might keep a stringer full a couple times a year.  It is actually good for the population to take out some fish every once in a while.  If you want to cook bass, soak them in beer overnight, best way to fix them ever.

[papa smurf]

I like to soak mine in lemon juice and drink the beer.

[abelfisher]

No. C & R only.

[j-bass]

Two words, Blackend Bass.........(although I am all about conservation, once in a while, as long as its not the hawgs)......take your bass filets, dredge in unsalted butter and sprinkle with Chef Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Redfish Magic throw on a well seasoned cast iron skillet on a Coleman-type LP grill (heated thoroughly outdoors...too much smoke to be done inside) and cook for about 1 1/2 min per side.  You can do any thick-fleshed fish like this (i.e. snapper, redfish, grouper) and shrip/scallops (if you are patient enough to be constantly fliiping the meat). Bon a' petit.

[Tom Bass]

Most of the bass I catch I release. On occasion I will keep one for fryin' up. I dearly love a mess of panfish battered and fried. Same goes for good young catfish. I will keep bass for cooking when they are just over 14". Smaller ones are not legal to keep in NC and any that are much bigger don't taste as good in my opinion. But, I do love to fry up some bass once in a while.  8-) I also like to fry up some trout but I haven't done that in a while.

[KYbass1276]

C&R here too but don't have a problem with someone who wants to keep a couple to eat and as stated above sometimes it's needed to help a lake or pond produce better fish

[uiubassmaster]

I'm strictly catch and release with the exception of when I go to Canada every year, for $250, you can't pass up fresh walleye, smallmouth, northern, and crappie! YUM.....

[Lunkers0]

I never ate a Bass before.  I really don't like eating fish, I usually catch and release.  When I fish with my father in law though, we usually keep the walleye, perch, and crappie.  

[hendrix190]

whats funny is that years and years ago, the goal of fishing was to catch fish to bring home and eat, but everyone acts like that never existed, with all the catch and release now a days the goal of fishing has switched to just the challenge of being able to catch them... which isnt a bad thing, all im sayin is its not gonna hurt anything to eat some of the fish u catch, its not like bass are an endangered species or anything... i eat alot of bass, and ive eaten almost every species of fish that live here, and i think bass is probably one of the best eating freshwater fish.

[Tom Bass]

Hendrix,

You do have a point.  It does make one wonder. Most of the bass I catch I release just because I am the only one in my house that eats freshwater fish. I have a few in the freezer and I would hate to waste any gamefish on saving it for a meal that it maight not make it to.

[Other.]

I never kept a bass, My dad told me that the meat on a bass dossent taste very good. But some Lakes need bass token out because of over population. To much bass means more baitfish being eaten then a few of  the bass die  :'(

But I Never caught a "sick" or "unhealthy" bass. If i ever did I guess i would keep it for the good of the lake. Just remember that its best to keep the smaller ones. The bigger the bass the more it will spawn.

[Guest bigtex]

I keep 50% to 80% of bass that I catch.  I would also let it be known that they come out of MY POND and paid for them to be put in with MY MONEY.  I love to eat bass.  I think it is better than most fish.  Thats just my opinion

If I fish lakes or other peoples mini lakes and ponds then I release all of those bass.  

[Poor Richard]

 Some lakes produce bass that are very good eating, but we seldom indulge, and we're promoting C&R constantly.  Any bass lake will give you enough bluegills and/or crappies to load the plate, and they are better anyway.  Since I was here as a kid, C&R in Michigan has greatly improved the bass population!

But here is an exception we do apply:  any bass that is injured in a way that will likely kill it goes into our pot.  Bleeding gills are always fatal, for instance.  I fish with the barbs pressed down almost all the way on all my lures:  this really reduces the damage to close to zero.  I always have a small cooler on board with ice in it.  Fish can rot in warm water before they die; that bleeding bass goes on the ice and then I can say, "I kilt it, I'll eat it."  

Of course, some bass are just yukky anyway, like those caught from some alkaline lakes or those that have been eating hot dogs and candy wrappers.    

[Pa Angler]

I don't eat Bass but I do keep Walleyes in the 3lb to 5lb range they are really good.

Chow

The Pa Angler

[aggiebassin]

me and my family eat bass all the time.  we catch them out of our farm ponds and fillet them up.  we keep them to keep the ponds from becoming over populated.  

and personally i think other than crappie, bass are the best tasting freshwater fish.  i think they are way better than any catfish i have ever eaten.  our ponds have very clear, clean water so they don't have a fishy or dirty taste at all as do most catfish, or at least to me they do.  

but is all a matter of preference.  i know people that swear fried catfish are the best thing ever.  

p.s.

we usually fry the bass, but have blackened them also which is very good.