Eating Bass?

[fishinmastah]

Are bass good to eat? does it matter if it is a large mouth or a small mouth? if they are good to eat does it matter what season you eat them in? how do you cut a bass up?.....we always seems to catch alot of large and small mouth bass ice fishing and open water fishing...advise would be great....thanks

[bigredonice]

Smallmouth out of clean waters are good 12 months a year, and largemouth out of clean water are good during the colder months.   I wouldn't eat any bass out of places with dirty/muddy water 

[bwalleye]

In a word.....Yes.

[billybono]

i dont care for em, but people have told me that if you bleed em out first there not that bad...but not for me 


              billybono

[big big rdg]

I have only tried them 1 or 2 times b/c it hit a popper and inhaled the treble so bad that it wasnt worth trying to let it go and they came out alright, they tasted kinda fishy. Maybe there is a good recipe out there that they can taste good but I would just toss them back and eat some panfish instead.

[bigredonice]

supposedly soaking fillets in milk overnight will take out the negative taste.  Don't know from personal experience though.

[BASSandICE65]

Depends on how you prepare them. All fish are "fishy" cmon now but they all have an individual taste. I like a beer battered bass it is so good.

[hali-man]

I'll eat river smallmouth, but the rest go back.
I do keep bass for my sister's family sometimes.
They like them.

[Golden Luther]

A fellow I know makes Bass chowder- never wanted to try it thogh.

[Robb]

Yuck!! I'd rather eat pickeled herring .

[PIKEGUY]

C'mon guys show the bass a little love. That's all I ate growing up. mmm

[busler15]

Once a year in the summer I catch a 12-14", which is normal for the lake i fish. I normaly get 1 that swallows a hook all year, so I fillet it up and panfry it with butter, beer and lemon... MMM

[fishercat]

Sorry just can"t do it. One fresh water fish that I will eat and that is walleye. 

[Davidl]

Once I crispy batter fried two 16"er LMs, They were delicious but the I read the advisory about mercury content of predator fish. Since I have kids I won't bring 'em bak to eat, just as much fun catching tho.

[taxi1]

Had some bass fillets out of the pond recently. They had more of a fishy taste than the gills did.

[BASSandICE65]

Hmm a fishy taste from a fish what did you expect "taste like chicken" geesh you guys. Bass have their own special taste have to batter them to your taste buds all fish have a different "fishy taste" that is why we add spices to them

[icejunky]

If you do'em up right no one would even know they were eating Bass. I made a feats this past summer out of a few smallies.

here is the Link to the pics and description on MFF

http://www.myfishfinder.com/fishing_forum/index.php?topic=5624.0

[taxi1]

Hmm a fishy taste from a fish what did you expect "taste like chicken" geesh you guys. Bass have their own special taste have to batter them to your taste buds all fish have a different "fishy taste" that is why we add spices to them

Now be nice! 

When I refer to fishy taste I'm talking about flavor that is too strong.

[PIKEGUY]

Remember now....some people like them

[PIKEGUY]

2 things.....To each his own &  ...things change

[david123]

ok...here's the deal.

I don't eat much of any fresh water fish caught in the summer time.  Most of the lakes I fish are slow, warm, and smell like a swamp.  Even perch, which I love in the winter are mostly thrown back unless they e form a cold water environment. Stock Trout also have a muddy taste to them if you ask me.

Winter caught fish.....now there's the delicacy.  Fish caught from cold water environs have a completely different pleasant taste to them.  In the Winter time I keep every perch over about 7 inches.  I keep all bluegills and sunfish that are at least as big as my hand.  Crappies over 8-10 inches also go in the bucket, although they are a bit bland.

After you filet the fish (once you are proficient it takes about two minutes per fish)
do the classic French method of breading.  FIRST dredge the fish in flour coating it completely.  Make sure you season the flour with at least salt and pepper beforehand.
Drag the fish through a mixture of either water and egg or milk and egg, again coating it completely.  Last, Coat the now wet again fish in Italian Bread Crumbs and fry in 350 degree oil, turning once. 

Drain on a paper towel or brown paper bag and serve. 

[taxi1]

ok...here's the deal.

I don't eat much of any fresh water fish caught in the summer time.  Most of the lakes I fish are slow, warm, and smell like a swamp.  Even perch, which I love in the winter are mostly thrown back unless they e form a cold water environment. Stock Trout also have a muddy taste to them if you ask me.

Winter caught fish.....now there's the delicacy.  Fish caught from cold water environs have a completely different pleasant taste to them.  In the Winter time I keep every perch over about 7 inches.  I keep all bluegills and sunfish that are at least as big as my hand.  Crappies over 8-10 inches also go in the bucket, although they are a bit bland.

After you filet the fish (once you are proficient it takes about two minutes per fish)
do the classic French method of breading.  FIRST dredge the fish in flour coating it completely.  Make sure you season the flour with at least salt and pepper beforehand.
Drag the fish through a mixture of either water and egg or milk and egg, again coating it completely.  Last, Coat the now wet again fish in Italian Bread Crumbs and fry in 350 degree oil, turning once. 

Drain on a paper towel or brown paper bag and serve. 

Whenever I hear folks say they think summer fish are mushy or off taste I have to wonder what they do with them right after they catch them. Are they putting them into a livewell, on a stringer, or right on ice? I have found if fish are put right on ice immediately they taste much better.

[david123]

you are absolutely correct about icing the fish right away.  If I plan on keeping any, I take a cooler of ice in the summer and in the winter, the environment suffices.

[BASSandICE65]

Right now I am working on a recipe to make Bass taste like pizza....... hahahahaahahah  You guys are driving me crazy!!!!!!  HELLLOOOOO! They are fish!! 

[fishercat]

It's hard to believe but I used to eat them too

Say it ain't so slibbob your scarring me man.

[taxi1]

Right now I am working on a recipe to make Bass taste like pizza....... hahahahaahahah  You guys are driving me crazy!!!!!!  HELLLOOOOO! They are fish!! 

Why bother cooking them then? Why not eat them raw as in sushi if you like the fish flavor so well ?

[BASSandICE65]

Hmm sushi... Great idea lol

[Desperado]

THE BEST WAY TO EAT BASS

1. catch bass during Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar keep them frozen in a bucket
2. as soon as the ground thaws, dig a 3 inch deep trench in the back yard.
3. line the bass up in the trench
4. put 1 inch of soil over all the bass
5. place sweet corn seed on the soil that's covering the bass
6. place another half inch of soil over the sweet corn seed
7. wait four months (the sweet corn will eat the bass)
8. pick, cook and eat the sweet corn

[PIKEGUY]

Slip: Why am I not surprised you were the first to jump on that one ? lol

[Hood]

i tried a dog biscuit once...not bad kinda reminded me of a wheat cracker....bass? no thanks!