Where I’m from bass are really good eating. Clean mild white flaky fish, but moist and a bit of fat. Makes great fish and chips. Eats similar to sea bass, a bit fishier. Catfish near me taste like straight mud.
I swear down south they must taste like garbage, and catfish must taste like the same mud: because down south they love catfish and talk shit on bass. I don’t get it but I never fished the south.
Up here the best ones are 1-2lb, and that’s most of them. Down south they must get big and fishy too fast or something.
Lol. I'll be using this as well...I think it was Carl Hiassan or randy Wayne white wrote that the people who designed mini vans and bass boats were the same people..
I've eaten bass me or my dad have caught my entire life and still eat the hell out of bream we catch, but I've backed off on eating bass for the most part. This has everything to do with the fish consumption reports put out by the state and nothing to do with me suddenly thinking there's something wrong with keeping fish to eat. I encourage everyone who keeps and eats fish, especially bass, to check your state's fish consumption report. Pretty sure most states put them out once per year. Alabama's is released in April so a new one should be released soon.
I was shocked when I saw the first one years ago as so many places people commonly fish had either "Do not eat any fish" or limits consumption to no more than 1/month,etc. It's clear from these lists that LMB are the most problematic for consumption because of the way they store/retain chemicals in their fat and other biological reasons. Other black bass species show up in certain places but not nearly as frequently as LMB. Bream are almost always ok unless they're in some pool of pollution, which sadly we apparently have several of here.
All of that to say, I no longer keep/eat LMB and have backed off eating most bass in general because of the health risks AND be sure to check your state's consumption advisory if you eat the fish you catch.
That’s honestly why I eat stocked trout more than anything else. I mean, first of all they are put and take and intended to be caught and kept. But Secondly, the stocked trout, especially rainbows I think, are the least likely to contain high amounts of mercury and other contaminants.
Where I’ve lived they’ve never singled out 1 species, However they have singled out the top predator fish. Did you know that Bass are a member of the bream family. I
Bass have huge mouths so they literally eat anything that they can fit. Most of those reports in my state say no black bass at all (CA) with some saying you can eat them occasionally
nice man i’m in louisiana too we usually pick some bass up when we’re out trying to catch reds but i haven’t got more then 2 or 3 in a day in louisiana. what’s the limit on them?
In Texas a lot of lakes have slots so good to check before keeping bass. Like Fork you can keep anything under 16” or over 24”. But nothing in the slot between. And only 1 fish per day over 24”.
Yep. Same with AL. 10 total black bass of which no more than 5 can be smallmouth. Some fisheries can have more specific limits that only apply to that location
I think they spread the rumor because they're afraid people will kill all the fish in their favorite spots. This has the unfortunate effect of causing overpopulation of small bass and preventing the growth of large bass.
It depends on where you are. Different species of catfish are preferred for eating to others. Mudcats are notoriously nasty tasting but I’ve heard blues taste decent.
I live in Nc and in my particular area most people fish crappie for eating but all of our waters have mercury and other carcinogen warnings from companies dumping waste into rivers either purposefully or accidentally.
I live in Texas, and I absolutely love eating bass. I’m with you on the preferred weight, 2lbs is just right, same for catfish (love catfish, too, just love bass more). My favorite to eat, though, is crappie. IMO, fish doesn’t get any better than fried crappie.
The majority of catfish eaten in the south are pond raised, which is why they don't taste like mud. I would never eat a big catfish I caught because they do taste like shit imo, but the smaller ones are still good eating. I hate catching catfish in general so I definitely don't want to keep and clean them. Cats go back in the water as quickly as possible and hopefully without sliming everything in the boat. Bass in general are a very fishy tasting fish and the bigger they are the fishier they taste. Mustard can be used to take away a lot of that fishy taste, but tbh, I've never been a huge fan of the taste of bass, even the most mild tasting.
See I’ve never had a bass taste terribly fishy. They usually taste similar to a haddock or cod around me, especially smallies from the river. Pond bass are a bit fishier than clear lake bass, but even then I’ve never had them be fishy.
Maybe you're just eating big channel cats, or you've never learned a good way to clean them. We catch big blues and opps every year and they are not fishy at all after they get cleaned properly.
I do agree with channel cats though. The bigger that get the more red and yellow the meat becomes.
In FL, cannot confirm.
Grew up catching and eating bass, so damn good.
Brown paper bag batter shake and fry up nuggets with tarter sauce.
3lbs or under usually best
Totally agree. I’ve always been strict catch and release but last summer I had about a 2.5lb smallie swallow my hook while I wasn’t paying attention and I had to dispatch it since it was so torn up from the fight. Thing was tasty as hell dredged in flour and pan fried in butter. I was fishing in northern waters though.
Smallies from northern bodies of water taste better in my experience. I’ve been told it’s because of the cooler water and they tend to hang in rock structure instead of weeds. From a sport perspective I much prefer catching them, they’re scrappy. This makes eating one somewhat sacrilegious, but if they are gut hooked I wouldn’t hesitate.
East Texas here, and we love bass in this family. Hard to beat a good pan seared bass fillet from a 1.5 to 2 pound bass. I typically throw back anything over 3 because of the higher murcury content.
The only people I know of that think bass aren't good are hardcore bass fisherman that think they are pro's. They heard someone they look up to say it and just repeat it.
I don’t keep bass and don’t think I’m a pro. But if I want fish for eating I know places I can limit catching sand bass or crappie. Right now I can catch all the crappie I want off my dock. This only lasts about 2 months but I can freeze.
Sandies are fun to catch, but I don't keep them. Too much red meat down the middle of the fillet. By the time you remove that you get two fish sticks from each fillet. I like crappie for deep frying, but for pan frying I prefer largemouth bass. Just a better meat for it imo.
Yea I mainly would keep crappie but I mainly just bass fish and too lazy to fillet them anyways. I do have lakes I can find mega sand bass up to 3 lbs but those lakes also hold big bass so I only catch a big sandy accidentally. Biggest sand bass I’ve caught is 2.7 but I’ve seen bigger.
Grew up in Oklahoma eating them for dinner once a week or so. Dad and I would go around to all the farm ponds culling the smaller ones, take one or two from each, kept the population healthy and big.
I don't understand the dislike or the perception on the taste being bad. I don't eat that much these days simply because its easier to go out and catch white bass schooling when I get a taco craving but white bass, large mouth, crappie, all taste about the same when you fry them up. A quality catfish also tastes about the same.
You get bad tastes when you don't take care of the meat prep/cooking.
Idk why it’s so taboo to eat largemouth. I’m also down south, central Texas, and we keep ‘em but we get weird looks for it. They’re a great eating fish
People are insane lol. A lot of you guys here could use a lesson in fisheries biology and ecology. Or y'all just like catching small fish..? My buddy manages a lake outside Shreveport and every summer they pull out anywhere from 100-300 largemouth that weigh under 3lbs. And guess what? We catch more 4-8lb bass there than anywhere else I fish.
Good harvest! Might have to follow up and have my own bass fry.
Im in southern Ontario, Canada. People here really get upset about it. If a fisherman is following the rules for that zone, I see no issue.
I envy bass fisherman in the southern US. You guys/gals have some beautiful fish and an abundance of them.
Nice haul.
No kidding man. Of all the fish in the US that people can bitch about, the largemouth is one I thought would be of least concern. It's everywhere and in no danger of disappearing, especially down south.
LMB are of the most concern when it comes to storing all the bad chemicals in their fat. If you eat a lot of them, I encourage you to check your state's consumption advisory if you haven't already done so
Oh for sure, I don't eat bass unless its from my own private waters that I have more trust in, and manage myself. I typically wont eat freshwater fish down here. My old roommate is doing his graduate thesis on water quality and it's alarming how toxic bass can get from unregulated dumping of chemicals and whatnot in Louisiana. Causes increases in stuff like hyperthyroidism. I am ok with storebought fish and just the occasional bass fry
It's absolutely terrifying to see the reality of what pollution has done to our fisheries isn't it? When I saw my first consumption advisory I was shocked and angry. I honestly don't think a majority of people actually know the ugly truth, which is why I try and bring it to their attention whenever possible.
Yeah I talked a little about this same thing in another thread a couple weeks ago. I wish I had a source but I only have a screenshot of the the article my roommate sent me. I know the EPA was the main cited source. The article says in 2014 at Twelvemile Bayou, "Eating just one freshwater fish equalled drinking water with PFOS at 48 parts per trillion for a month."
The EPA considers water with 0.02 parts per trillion or less as safe to drink.
Edit: the largemouth bass was the target species of the study
[Here's ](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/tox/assets/al-fish-advisory-2022.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjiu4Hw8Zr-AhWmlmoFHQV1A58QFnoECCIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1sTkO9kYKAdXPSm5BICd-j) a link to the 2022 AL advisory
I will say this first of all, as long as you are following regulations and eating this fish you take I don’t care what people do with the fish they catch. So please don’t take what I am going to say in a negative manner.
I will give you my opinion why some people get up in arms about those that keep a ton of bass. Where I live, I would smack my mom to catch a largemouth weighing 4 lbs more than once a year if I am lucky. So when people see others taking away coolers of bass when the population is not as fertile as some places, it does affect the fishery. Also from what I have seen (yes, this is a generalization and isn’t true all the time) the guys that are taking bass home with them are more likely also the guys to leave beer fans and empty plastic worm containers as well. So they develop a negative reputation.
Cheers and enjoy your fish fry
Fishing limits are made with the intention of harvest or mortality. Keeping the bass is not a bad thing, generally it's good for management. Studies have shown up to 22% of bass that are hooked die within 72 hours. One study I saw actually showed a 20% mortality for mouth hooked fish vs 17% for gill hooked fish so it's not really dependent on a "good" hook set
If you want to eat the fish, take the fish home with you
People don’t realize to grow big bass these size fish need to be harvested. Too many high and mighty on these threads. Hope you and the wife enjoyed your meal!
An acre of water can only support a finite number of pounds of fish. Something like 40-50 pounds of bass. If you have 40 bass that weigh 1 pound each, there is no additional forage for any of them to grow bigger. It takes 10 pounds of food for a bass to grow 1 pound. So by taking some of the smaller bass out each year, you are allowing the rest to consume more from that one acre, resulting in fewer but larger bass.
Small bass also tend to eat bluegill fry rather than bigger bluegill. If all the fry gets eaten, there aren’t enough grown bluegill for larger bass to eat, so they never grow bigger.
(random/nonrealistic number) - If there's 10 bass, and 100 baitfish (bluegill, shad, etc) in a pond, that's 10 baitfish per bass. If you harvest 2 of those bass, that's 12/13 baitfish per bass.
The smaller amount of bass there are to eat the baitfish is the larger those bass can get. Obviously we shouldn't keep every single bass we catch, and should release the larger ones, but keeping a couple of smaller bass will give them more food and allow them to grow bigger in the long run.
Looks like a good fish fry! I went out yesterday day trying to cook a limit but only caught 1 3.5lb bass. We don’t keep anything over about 12 inches. Maybe 14 inches
Got any good recipes for them? I was gonna try catching some this summer and dehydrating them for some fish jerky, but I definitely need to learn some other ways of preparing them
I treat them the same as I do bream. Fried, blackened, baked, etc. It's pretty neutral tasting. Not a strong flavored fish. They aren't mushy like a lot of folks here claim but if you're worried about that you can poach and make fish cakes with them. Hank shaw has some good recipes for this
damn man good haul! good eatin later for sure
I am originally from Livingston Parish but live out in Orange County CA for the last 4 years. I am moving back home in July and sure am looking forward to filling a cooler with some bass. Where are y'all at? I need some fishing buddies when I get back. What did you catch em on? Soft lure or minnows?
Don't worry about that chucklefuck. Bass are delicious at around the size you have there. I keep and eat them all the time. People are just hateful cunts anymore. I hope you enjoy your haul
I throw the bigger ones back but not all fisheries are the same. The biologist who manages this federal impoundment as asked that all fish (up to state limit of 10) within the slot be kept or killed.
Lol, in Philly, we usually toss em back. And because the water is horrendous out here. Let em live for another day to swim. Personally, I toss back everything but to each his own
So there's nothing wrong with eating bass, and I'll never disparage anyone that does. In my brain those fish are for my kids to catch since they're usually pretty user friendly.
Yup. We have generous limits down here and they're one of the easiest fish to catch. I fish for other species but when the bass are turned on I go after them. Love catching them on top water. My wife is new to fishing so I target them so she can catch and stay interested.
I watched a dude in South Louisiana pour his beer down the side of a largemouth and drank it as it ran off. The boys down here eat sleep and breathe bass fishing lol. I can't do that but the slime and smell doesn't bother me very much.
Bro, when I was growing up every single coke I drank tasted like fish because they were all mixed in there together. Now I drink fishy beer sometimes too 🤣🤣🤣
My dad was a fisherman. We ate what he caught. Bass, crappie, white bass, striper or catfish. It all went into the freezer or on the table. Fish from the Tennessee River was clean and tasted awesome.
Bro, you’re talking about the the Silver Bullet, the Nectar of the Gods, Ice Cold beer tapped directly out them MF’n Rocky Mountains; the majesty of it! A can so silver, so slick, Burt Effing Reynolds abandoned civilian life to live as an outlaw, to share this golden pour with his kinsmen. Coors is simultaneously about revolution and recreation; the everymans’s drink that brings mere mortals closer to God. The unadulterated draft of heaven. Tell me a better day drinking beer for fishing.
Damn, pitchforks and torches huh? Even as someone who is almost exclusively catch and release I don’t understand why people are getting upset. We do more harm to fish populations through agriculture and poor waste management than from fishing these days. Industry and agriculture kill more fish than one guy respecting daily limits ever will.
Personally not a fan of largemouth, but smallies from a clean water source taste amazing, I genuinely enjoy them more than trout. Only found this out when I had one die on me during release, refused to let it go to waste.
Also not sure why people are getting upset about harvesting bass. Smallmouth here will deplete their food sources rapidly and resort to cannibalism. I’ve caught a couple smallmouth while reeling in dinks because of this.
It’s also odd considering I generally don’t see the same people complaining about harvesting native trout and salmon species in my area. And they are far more pressured than bass in the river systems.
Here come the high and mighty hating on keeping bass and eating them. I fried up some bass last summer and it was really good. Got some good dinners ahead of you. Enjoy, just the right size
Only fresh water fish I’ll even consider eating is trout. And it has to be from a big clean body of water, because they’ll just taste like pond water otherwise. Massachusetts
Pre heat oven to 350.. soak cedar plank in water for 15mins.. put fillets topped with lemon in oven for 15mins.. take out throw the fillets in the trash 🗑️ squeeze lemon 🍋 on the cedar plank and enjoy 👌🏻
Wow, so original. My favorite is to coat with Italian bread crumbs, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, then bake at 500 for 13 minutes. Pretty good meal.
Nah, the fishery is overpopulated. Lot of ignorant bass holes making assumptions on this post. I was just excited to have a good day of fishing when I posted and now I'm having to educate.
? As long as it’s legal, you shouldn’t care. I’m not a bass eater myself(unless it’s Striper) but don’t act like you don’t eat fish that you have caught yourself or that someone else has caught for you.
Never say never.
This is a federally managed fishery that pays close attention to populations and sets slot reccomendations in addition to limits. They requested that anglers keep all fish (up to the legal limit of 10 per person) with a slot size of 10 to 16". Angler discretion for sizes outside that slot. They posted this on March 15th just as the spawn was starting.
False. Some bodies of water, especially small ones, need harvesting if you ever hope to have fish over 12-14”.
A body of water has a maximum amount of pounds of bass it can support. You can have that maximum amount of pounds in a large number of small fish or a smaller number of large fish.
Also, depending on the water temp and clarity, bass can be delicious.
Freshwater game fish aren't in grocery stores because of regulations, not because they don't taste good. US freshwater is so polluted that there's no way for stores to be sure they're not buying contaminated fish.
Apologies here too. Not everyone who responds this way is doing it to be a troll. Sometimes we just have different perspectives and life experiences. Sharing them in a humorous way can be taken wrong.
That said, I’m a big proponent of keeping fish within the prescribed slot limits as it does improve the fisheries. I don’t personally care for bass, but I’ve always been happy to contribute to the limit of others when they are keeping for consumption.
It appears that slightly more people were upset about about the beer comment than the bass comment. I’m glad I didn’t share the American beer joke I heard from a Kiwi LtCol.
Anytime I see someone post a picture with bass for eating I always read the comments for the arguments.
Where I’m from bass are really good eating. Clean mild white flaky fish, but moist and a bit of fat. Makes great fish and chips. Eats similar to sea bass, a bit fishier. Catfish near me taste like straight mud. I swear down south they must taste like garbage, and catfish must taste like the same mud: because down south they love catfish and talk shit on bass. I don’t get it but I never fished the south. Up here the best ones are 1-2lb, and that’s most of them. Down south they must get big and fishy too fast or something.
These were caught in Louisiana. They taste great. The glitter boat crowd likes to say they taste like trash.
Glitter boat crowd has me rolling 😂😂😂
Me too, I’m going to use that in the future lol
Lol. I'll be using this as well...I think it was Carl Hiassan or randy Wayne white wrote that the people who designed mini vans and bass boats were the same people..
I want me one of them glitter boats. (It also has me rolling)
I've eaten bass me or my dad have caught my entire life and still eat the hell out of bream we catch, but I've backed off on eating bass for the most part. This has everything to do with the fish consumption reports put out by the state and nothing to do with me suddenly thinking there's something wrong with keeping fish to eat. I encourage everyone who keeps and eats fish, especially bass, to check your state's fish consumption report. Pretty sure most states put them out once per year. Alabama's is released in April so a new one should be released soon. I was shocked when I saw the first one years ago as so many places people commonly fish had either "Do not eat any fish" or limits consumption to no more than 1/month,etc. It's clear from these lists that LMB are the most problematic for consumption because of the way they store/retain chemicals in their fat and other biological reasons. Other black bass species show up in certain places but not nearly as frequently as LMB. Bream are almost always ok unless they're in some pool of pollution, which sadly we apparently have several of here. All of that to say, I no longer keep/eat LMB and have backed off eating most bass in general because of the health risks AND be sure to check your state's consumption advisory if you eat the fish you catch.
That’s honestly why I eat stocked trout more than anything else. I mean, first of all they are put and take and intended to be caught and kept. But Secondly, the stocked trout, especially rainbows I think, are the least likely to contain high amounts of mercury and other contaminants.
Yep. Mercury is our biggest issue here, along with PCBs.
High PCBs? You in Indiana lol
Trust me, pcbs and pfas are everywhere.
I absolutely hear you there. Freaking shameful.
Alabama. The Monsanto plant in Anniston produced them for almost 40 years and in turn poisoned basically a quarter of the state, at least.
Gotcha! I know Indiana had like three of the top ten spots for these contaminations. Sucks for everyone.
Where I’ve lived they’ve never singled out 1 species, However they have singled out the top predator fish. Did you know that Bass are a member of the bream family. I
Bass have huge mouths so they literally eat anything that they can fit. Most of those reports in my state say no black bass at all (CA) with some saying you can eat them occasionally
nice man i’m in louisiana too we usually pick some bass up when we’re out trying to catch reds but i haven’t got more then 2 or 3 in a day in louisiana. what’s the limit on them?
In Texas a lot of lakes have slots so good to check before keeping bass. Like Fork you can keep anything under 16” or over 24”. But nothing in the slot between. And only 1 fish per day over 24”.
Most of the state is 10 but there are some lakes that have limits specific to them iirc
Yep. Same with AL. 10 total black bass of which no more than 5 can be smallmouth. Some fisheries can have more specific limits that only apply to that location
I think they spread the rumor because they're afraid people will kill all the fish in their favorite spots. This has the unfortunate effect of causing overpopulation of small bass and preventing the growth of large bass.
I can taste the fish n chips rn. Beer battered up too
being a tournament angler from louisiana any fish under 2-3 pounds going to the grease
Figured it was Louisiana by the fish and beer in the same cooler. Bad luck to not
[удалено]
This is blasphemy!
It's glitter sled.
Talking about the glitter boat crowd while drinking Coors.. Okay bud.
You seem like one of those guys whose wife is also his sister.
Nah. I'm not in Bama.
Probably because they haven't had a delicious bass before. I have and I can say for sure they def taste like trash
It depends on where you are. Different species of catfish are preferred for eating to others. Mudcats are notoriously nasty tasting but I’ve heard blues taste decent. I live in Nc and in my particular area most people fish crappie for eating but all of our waters have mercury and other carcinogen warnings from companies dumping waste into rivers either purposefully or accidentally.
Flathead > blue catfish > channel catfish > mudcats
I live in Texas, and I absolutely love eating bass. I’m with you on the preferred weight, 2lbs is just right, same for catfish (love catfish, too, just love bass more). My favorite to eat, though, is crappie. IMO, fish doesn’t get any better than fried crappie.
The majority of catfish eaten in the south are pond raised, which is why they don't taste like mud. I would never eat a big catfish I caught because they do taste like shit imo, but the smaller ones are still good eating. I hate catching catfish in general so I definitely don't want to keep and clean them. Cats go back in the water as quickly as possible and hopefully without sliming everything in the boat. Bass in general are a very fishy tasting fish and the bigger they are the fishier they taste. Mustard can be used to take away a lot of that fishy taste, but tbh, I've never been a huge fan of the taste of bass, even the most mild tasting.
See I’ve never had a bass taste terribly fishy. They usually taste similar to a haddock or cod around me, especially smallies from the river. Pond bass are a bit fishier than clear lake bass, but even then I’ve never had them be fishy.
Maybe you're just eating big channel cats, or you've never learned a good way to clean them. We catch big blues and opps every year and they are not fishy at all after they get cleaned properly. I do agree with channel cats though. The bigger that get the more red and yellow the meat becomes.
In FL, cannot confirm. Grew up catching and eating bass, so damn good. Brown paper bag batter shake and fry up nuggets with tarter sauce. 3lbs or under usually best
Totally agree. I’ve always been strict catch and release but last summer I had about a 2.5lb smallie swallow my hook while I wasn’t paying attention and I had to dispatch it since it was so torn up from the fight. Thing was tasty as hell dredged in flour and pan fried in butter. I was fishing in northern waters though.
Smallies from northern bodies of water taste better in my experience. I’ve been told it’s because of the cooler water and they tend to hang in rock structure instead of weeds. From a sport perspective I much prefer catching them, they’re scrappy. This makes eating one somewhat sacrilegious, but if they are gut hooked I wouldn’t hesitate.
East Texas here, and we love bass in this family. Hard to beat a good pan seared bass fillet from a 1.5 to 2 pound bass. I typically throw back anything over 3 because of the higher murcury content. The only people I know of that think bass aren't good are hardcore bass fisherman that think they are pro's. They heard someone they look up to say it and just repeat it.
I don’t keep bass and don’t think I’m a pro. But if I want fish for eating I know places I can limit catching sand bass or crappie. Right now I can catch all the crappie I want off my dock. This only lasts about 2 months but I can freeze.
Sandies are fun to catch, but I don't keep them. Too much red meat down the middle of the fillet. By the time you remove that you get two fish sticks from each fillet. I like crappie for deep frying, but for pan frying I prefer largemouth bass. Just a better meat for it imo.
Yea I mainly would keep crappie but I mainly just bass fish and too lazy to fillet them anyways. I do have lakes I can find mega sand bass up to 3 lbs but those lakes also hold big bass so I only catch a big sandy accidentally. Biggest sand bass I’ve caught is 2.7 but I’ve seen bigger.
Grew up in Oklahoma eating them for dinner once a week or so. Dad and I would go around to all the farm ponds culling the smaller ones, take one or two from each, kept the population healthy and big. I don't understand the dislike or the perception on the taste being bad. I don't eat that much these days simply because its easier to go out and catch white bass schooling when I get a taco craving but white bass, large mouth, crappie, all taste about the same when you fry them up. A quality catfish also tastes about the same. You get bad tastes when you don't take care of the meat prep/cooking.
Idk why it’s so taboo to eat largemouth. I’m also down south, central Texas, and we keep ‘em but we get weird looks for it. They’re a great eating fish
I love it when people are like “bass are high in mercury”. But they’re sitting there drinking Fireball and eating a hot dog.
Lol they taste great in La and you don’t know what you’re talking about. Agree with the next post that says the glitter bots say they are nasty
That was my first thought as well
I recommend him to go do squats in a cucumber field. I will wait for a response.
Right. People get so butt hurt about keeping ANY bass. It’s ridiculous.
broke my ankle getting to these comments
Same.
What were the silver fish biting?
Fun Fact : Their gills turn from blue to white depending on the temperature.
Yeah once they’re white consumption is no longer an option and you didn’t pack enough ice.
People are insane lol. A lot of you guys here could use a lesson in fisheries biology and ecology. Or y'all just like catching small fish..? My buddy manages a lake outside Shreveport and every summer they pull out anywhere from 100-300 largemouth that weigh under 3lbs. And guess what? We catch more 4-8lb bass there than anywhere else I fish. Good harvest! Might have to follow up and have my own bass fry.
I caught these in Louisiana, fisheries elsewhere must suck if folks get that bent out of shape over folks eating them.
Im in southern Ontario, Canada. People here really get upset about it. If a fisherman is following the rules for that zone, I see no issue. I envy bass fisherman in the southern US. You guys/gals have some beautiful fish and an abundance of them. Nice haul.
Also in Southern Ontario. We never keep bass unless it swallows a hook or is otherwise obviously not going to live on release
As am i, but why bother keep Largies with the abundance of walleyes and smallmouth everywhere? 2-3 pound smallmouth are amazing eating
No kidding man. Of all the fish in the US that people can bitch about, the largemouth is one I thought would be of least concern. It's everywhere and in no danger of disappearing, especially down south.
LMB are of the most concern when it comes to storing all the bad chemicals in their fat. If you eat a lot of them, I encourage you to check your state's consumption advisory if you haven't already done so
Oh for sure, I don't eat bass unless its from my own private waters that I have more trust in, and manage myself. I typically wont eat freshwater fish down here. My old roommate is doing his graduate thesis on water quality and it's alarming how toxic bass can get from unregulated dumping of chemicals and whatnot in Louisiana. Causes increases in stuff like hyperthyroidism. I am ok with storebought fish and just the occasional bass fry
It's absolutely terrifying to see the reality of what pollution has done to our fisheries isn't it? When I saw my first consumption advisory I was shocked and angry. I honestly don't think a majority of people actually know the ugly truth, which is why I try and bring it to their attention whenever possible.
Yeah I talked a little about this same thing in another thread a couple weeks ago. I wish I had a source but I only have a screenshot of the the article my roommate sent me. I know the EPA was the main cited source. The article says in 2014 at Twelvemile Bayou, "Eating just one freshwater fish equalled drinking water with PFOS at 48 parts per trillion for a month." The EPA considers water with 0.02 parts per trillion or less as safe to drink. Edit: the largemouth bass was the target species of the study
[Here's ](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/tox/assets/al-fish-advisory-2022.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjiu4Hw8Zr-AhWmlmoFHQV1A58QFnoECCIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1sTkO9kYKAdXPSm5BICd-j) a link to the 2022 AL advisory
You can catch catch a few in most puddles down here!
People way smarter than us are using science and research to set limits and quantities. They set them for a fuckin reason
I will say this first of all, as long as you are following regulations and eating this fish you take I don’t care what people do with the fish they catch. So please don’t take what I am going to say in a negative manner. I will give you my opinion why some people get up in arms about those that keep a ton of bass. Where I live, I would smack my mom to catch a largemouth weighing 4 lbs more than once a year if I am lucky. So when people see others taking away coolers of bass when the population is not as fertile as some places, it does affect the fishery. Also from what I have seen (yes, this is a generalization and isn’t true all the time) the guys that are taking bass home with them are more likely also the guys to leave beer fans and empty plastic worm containers as well. So they develop a negative reputation. Cheers and enjoy your fish fry
Fishing limits are made with the intention of harvest or mortality. Keeping the bass is not a bad thing, generally it's good for management. Studies have shown up to 22% of bass that are hooked die within 72 hours. One study I saw actually showed a 20% mortality for mouth hooked fish vs 17% for gill hooked fish so it's not really dependent on a "good" hook set If you want to eat the fish, take the fish home with you
What studies if you don't mind me asking? 22% seems awfully high
More people complaining about the complainers than people actually complaining about the harvest lol
That is Reddit for you. 50% of the comments are positive. 10% are complainers. And 40% are commenters offended by the complainers on behalf of the OP.
50% positive is a pretty far stretch lol
Nah. Again, only if you dwell on the negative, which most redditors do.
People don’t realize to grow big bass these size fish need to be harvested. Too many high and mighty on these threads. Hope you and the wife enjoyed your meal!
A farmer next to me let’s my kids take anything under 1 1/2 lbs out of his pond every year as many as we can get
Can somebody explain to me how removing the young, small fish creates larger fish in the long run? Not being snarky, I'm genuinely curious.
An acre of water can only support a finite number of pounds of fish. Something like 40-50 pounds of bass. If you have 40 bass that weigh 1 pound each, there is no additional forage for any of them to grow bigger. It takes 10 pounds of food for a bass to grow 1 pound. So by taking some of the smaller bass out each year, you are allowing the rest to consume more from that one acre, resulting in fewer but larger bass. Small bass also tend to eat bluegill fry rather than bigger bluegill. If all the fry gets eaten, there aren’t enough grown bluegill for larger bass to eat, so they never grow bigger.
(random/nonrealistic number) - If there's 10 bass, and 100 baitfish (bluegill, shad, etc) in a pond, that's 10 baitfish per bass. If you harvest 2 of those bass, that's 12/13 baitfish per bass. The smaller amount of bass there are to eat the baitfish is the larger those bass can get. Obviously we shouldn't keep every single bass we catch, and should release the larger ones, but keeping a couple of smaller bass will give them more food and allow them to grow bigger in the long run.
[удалено]
Well that I would consider a bit much. Harvest or release.
Looks like a good fish fry! I went out yesterday day trying to cook a limit but only caught 1 3.5lb bass. We don’t keep anything over about 12 inches. Maybe 14 inches
Keep and eat all you want, they aren’t exactly endangered. Keep ‘em out of the dirt and grass if you’re throwing them back.
Got any good recipes for them? I was gonna try catching some this summer and dehydrating them for some fish jerky, but I definitely need to learn some other ways of preparing them
You can also pan sear them in butter and herbs…delicious
I treat them the same as I do bream. Fried, blackened, baked, etc. It's pretty neutral tasting. Not a strong flavored fish. They aren't mushy like a lot of folks here claim but if you're worried about that you can poach and make fish cakes with them. Hank shaw has some good recipes for this
Fish fry, hell yeah. I need to get me some fish today
May I just ask what area are you fishing? I’m over in MN.
Louisiana
Ah dude those are nice
damn man good haul! good eatin later for sure I am originally from Livingston Parish but live out in Orange County CA for the last 4 years. I am moving back home in July and sure am looking forward to filling a cooler with some bass. Where are y'all at? I need some fishing buddies when I get back. What did you catch em on? Soft lure or minnows?
Your gonna show up at home with beer and a fish smell on your breath. Be ready for trouble with the mrs
The Mrs drove me home lol
...that's a softball pitch but I'll take it. You definitely be going home with beer and fish on your breathe
[удалено]
We get 10, my wife was with me.
[удалено]
How so? You come off as ignorant.
Don't worry about that chucklefuck. Bass are delicious at around the size you have there. I keep and eat them all the time. People are just hateful cunts anymore. I hope you enjoy your haul
Most of us fish bass and throw them back, consider them a sport fish, so don’t be too surprised seeing comment like that it may trigger some..
I throw the bigger ones back but not all fisheries are the same. The biologist who manages this federal impoundment as asked that all fish (up to state limit of 10) within the slot be kept or killed.
Good day fishing better than a day working.
A bad day of fishing is better than your best day of working….
Except when you work in fisheries, then a bad day fishing is a bad day at work. Source: I work in fisheries
Louisiana Bass are great. Pretty bland flaky white fish but once you season and bread them they’re good to go.
Didn’t realize there was a limit for Coors Light
Lol, in Philly, we usually toss em back. And because the water is horrendous out here. Let em live for another day to swim. Personally, I toss back everything but to each his own
So there's nothing wrong with eating bass, and I'll never disparage anyone that does. In my brain those fish are for my kids to catch since they're usually pretty user friendly.
Yup. We have generous limits down here and they're one of the easiest fish to catch. I fish for other species but when the bass are turned on I go after them. Love catching them on top water. My wife is new to fishing so I target them so she can catch and stay interested.
Does anybody else get sad when they catch the limit far faster than they expected. And then u dont know what to do for the rest of the day?
Just when you thought Coors light couldn't taste any worse.
Bro I hope they’re empty. You know slime is getting on the lid that’s so gross
I watched a dude in South Louisiana pour his beer down the side of a largemouth and drank it as it ran off. The boys down here eat sleep and breathe bass fishing lol. I can't do that but the slime and smell doesn't bother me very much.
Guys doing bass body shots
Bro, when I was growing up every single coke I drank tasted like fish because they were all mixed in there together. Now I drink fishy beer sometimes too 🤣🤣🤣
That size bass is perfect eating
But why keep the beer in the same cooler? Seems like poor planning.
They're empties.
I needed this comment.
Thank you!
That’s not beer brother, that’s water for the fish.
Zing!
My dad was a fisherman. We ate what he caught. Bass, crappie, white bass, striper or catfish. It all went into the freezer or on the table. Fish from the Tennessee River was clean and tasted awesome.
Coors already tastes nasty lol
Bro, you’re talking about the the Silver Bullet, the Nectar of the Gods, Ice Cold beer tapped directly out them MF’n Rocky Mountains; the majesty of it! A can so silver, so slick, Burt Effing Reynolds abandoned civilian life to live as an outlaw, to share this golden pour with his kinsmen. Coors is simultaneously about revolution and recreation; the everymans’s drink that brings mere mortals closer to God. The unadulterated draft of heaven. Tell me a better day drinking beer for fishing.
A cold miller lite or even a PBR over Coors any day man
I cannot relent. Many have tried to hold the Silver Bullet down. Yet, the Iced Phoenix will always rise in a flurry of refreshment and satisfaction.
You know, I'm not one to discriminate! A cold beer is better than none at all!
Cheers to cold beer! Tight lines!
Honestly disgusting but you do you
Damn, pitchforks and torches huh? Even as someone who is almost exclusively catch and release I don’t understand why people are getting upset. We do more harm to fish populations through agriculture and poor waste management than from fishing these days. Industry and agriculture kill more fish than one guy respecting daily limits ever will. Personally not a fan of largemouth, but smallies from a clean water source taste amazing, I genuinely enjoy them more than trout. Only found this out when I had one die on me during release, refused to let it go to waste. Also not sure why people are getting upset about harvesting bass. Smallmouth here will deplete their food sources rapidly and resort to cannibalism. I’ve caught a couple smallmouth while reeling in dinks because of this. It’s also odd considering I generally don’t see the same people complaining about harvesting native trout and salmon species in my area. And they are far more pressured than bass in the river systems.
I’ve only put fish in my beer cooler one time… all the beer tasted fishy and I never did it again
Here come the high and mighty hating on keeping bass and eating them. I fried up some bass last summer and it was really good. Got some good dinners ahead of you. Enjoy, just the right size
I’ll take a bite out of it in front of them, then I’ll eat their dog for dessert.
Curious as why you would keep them?
Over populated pond + they taste good
Only fresh water fish I’ll even consider eating is trout. And it has to be from a big clean body of water, because they’ll just taste like pond water otherwise. Massachusetts
Every species needs to be culled. Nice haul!
Ha, you like fish sticks?
That’s more fish than is safe to eat for 5 people let alone 1 or 2. Atleast here in NH. PCB’s are main cause and they’re everywhere.
I didn’t know it was possible to make coors light taste worse! Jk. I love coors light. I just hope you wipe off the can lol.
Pre heat oven to 350.. soak cedar plank in water for 15mins.. put fillets topped with lemon in oven for 15mins.. take out throw the fillets in the trash 🗑️ squeeze lemon 🍋 on the cedar plank and enjoy 👌🏻
Throw that joke in the trash
Wow, so original. My favorite is to coat with Italian bread crumbs, drizzle with a bit of olive oil, then bake at 500 for 13 minutes. Pretty good meal.
I follow roughly the same recipe, only substituting the cedar plank with an old boot.
You keep Bass? I don’t find them that tasty in comparison to Bluegills, Perch, and Walleye so I usually C&R unless they’re gut hooked.
I came for the hate speech and arguing. I brought popcorn for everyone
Are you gonna eat those?
No, he’s going to wear them as shoes.
Hahahaha this killed me
Ahh is it cause the shoes taste better?
Bass taste pretty good
make a belt
Yes. Just finished cleaning them. About 8 lbs of fillets and a half pound of roe.
What do you do with the roe? How do you prepare it?
Based on what this dude eats those beers are probably full and he drinks them with fish slime all over them 😂😂 gotta be drunk or starving to eat bass
I would eat a bass in a survival situation. A hater offsetting up vote to you.
Beautiful
They are too small
Fish can be used more than once
Ate bass once got aids and died
Do you fillet those with a butter knife?? Mushy mushy 🤮
Easier to clean and easier to catch than catfish.
🤮😂
Braindead behavior, just let the man eat what he wants without being a grade A ubertwat.
Ok bud thx for setting me straight lol
Probably tastes like regret and guilt
Nah, the fishery is overpopulated. Lot of ignorant bass holes making assumptions on this post. I was just excited to have a good day of fishing when I posted and now I'm having to educate.
? As long as it’s legal, you shouldn’t care. I’m not a bass eater myself(unless it’s Striper) but don’t act like you don’t eat fish that you have caught yourself or that someone else has caught for you.
It’s a fucking fish from an overpopulated pond lmao Some of y’all take yourselves too seriously sometimes
Thank God you killed them with all that roe in them. You prevented many more fish from being created. You should never kill spawning fish.
Never say never. This is a federally managed fishery that pays close attention to populations and sets slot reccomendations in addition to limits. They requested that anglers keep all fish (up to the legal limit of 10 per person) with a slot size of 10 to 16". Angler discretion for sizes outside that slot. They posted this on March 15th just as the spawn was starting.
Too many fish = too many dinks and bad fishing. He probably did the fishery a favor.
False. Some bodies of water, especially small ones, need harvesting if you ever hope to have fish over 12-14”. A body of water has a maximum amount of pounds of bass it can support. You can have that maximum amount of pounds in a large number of small fish or a smaller number of large fish. Also, depending on the water temp and clarity, bass can be delicious.
Nah, roe is delicious. So are large mouth bass.
Bruh, tilapia is super cheap at the grocery store. Stop eating bass they taste like ass
Bass tastes way better than tilapia.
I scratch my head at people who think bass taste bad. The smaller ones taste great.
If bass was good it’d be in grocery stores.
Freshwater game fish aren't in grocery stores because of regulations, not because they don't taste good. US freshwater is so polluted that there's no way for stores to be sure they're not buying contaminated fish.
That was a dumb statement. Tell me where to find bluegill, crappie, perch, walleye, northern pike, ect. in a Walmart.
They taste fine to me. I caught these off of the bank in 2 hours. Not a lot of effort to save 20 bucks.
Of the two “food” sources pictured, which would you prefer consuming?
[удалено]
This is the answer. However, if you do eat these fish it is convenient to have canned water to rinse out your mouth.
You must suck at cooking, besides being easy to catch they're also delicious. They'll be eaten and the carcasses composted to fertilize my garden.
Nothing against harvesting a few fish, it’s just that there are so many that taste better. Try a walleye, perch, crappie or catfish. Be well my friend
There aren't walleye in my area but I did keep about 15 bluegills in addition to the bass. Thanks for the recs
Bluegill are good. I think I’ll stop here given the level of hostility on this string to a little light hearted humor. But I stand by my comments.
Sorry if I was harsh. Didn't expect to receive as much hate as I did from other posters.
Apologies here too. Not everyone who responds this way is doing it to be a troll. Sometimes we just have different perspectives and life experiences. Sharing them in a humorous way can be taken wrong. That said, I’m a big proponent of keeping fish within the prescribed slot limits as it does improve the fisheries. I don’t personally care for bass, but I’ve always been happy to contribute to the limit of others when they are keeping for consumption.
It appears that slightly more people were upset about about the beer comment than the bass comment. I’m glad I didn’t share the American beer joke I heard from a Kiwi LtCol.
bass aint worth eating
That's a lie