How many of you eat bass?

[WyoChris]

I'll eat a smallmouth every once in awhile, especially on the clear rocky lakes up north. Never ate a largemouth though... and probably never will

[duckhuntr21]

I will keep a few for the table when the other fish aren't cooperating as well. I think they taste fine when caught in the winter or early in the year. I will also give them to the neighbors when they hound me for fish and tell them they are walleye. They don't seem to be able to tell the difference.

[merkman]

I talk to Dean Beck (areas fisheries supervisor) guite often for article information. He is a strong supporter of eating those 11 to 13-inch bass. It will make the fisheries (bass) in this area healthier by removing some of the smaller bass from the system.

+1

[ricqik]

i always make sure i bring home a limit of 23-24 incher wkly

[Jig Master]

We were ice fishing one time up on a lake in the north metro that used to be a secret and now is nothing but a community hole. My buddy's walked over to talk to some old guys that were tip-up fishing and looked in their bucket and saw a hawg they estimated at 6.5 lbs. The old guy looked over at my buddy and said, "catch and release into a hot pan o' grease." They walked back but didn't tell me the story until after we left the lake because they knew I probably woulda kicked the dudes a$$

[poncho]

We eat smaller LMB on occasions ( 11-13 inchers ). I agree on the theory of helping the system by harvesting smaller sized fish for the table. I really like the taste too. I will not eat SMB, they just take too much time to grow big on my home waters.

[Fisherman45]

I try for 100% C&R here. I myself wouldn't eat a bass, but have taken gut hooked fish to the neighbor and he says they are pretty tasty.

Bob

[BeezeHound]

Bass can be very good especially on the grill with some butter and lemon pepper.

[JP Z]

We used to boil them and have with warm butter.........they are great Poor mans lobster. Nowadays I don't keep bass......now muskies on the other hand

[Hula_Grub]

I've eaten a few BWCA smallies and one throat hooked largie. Cooked the largie the grill, seasoned and wrapped in foil. Not too bad...

[74mph]

PLEASE DONT EAT BASS!!! I am only okay with it if your like Dietz or the other guys who know the bass will not survive.

In my opinion it is souly for the reason that most people dont eat bass that the bass fishing is so good in and around the twin cities. It is very very tough to go anywhere within an hour of the city and catch numbers of good size walleye or panfish and I believe that it is because of the people to fish ratio and how many people fish for walleye and panfish for food. It seems that we are left with potato chips for pan fish and cigars for walleye in many metro area lakes.

Bass are a sport fish and should remain a sport fish. If we all do our part to keep the big fish in the lakes the fishing will continue to be great. I believe many of you would agree. Weve gotta take care of our good Bass populations.

[goblueM]

plenty of people eat bass. if people want to eat bass, more power to them. now, if there are stringers of 16-21 inchers going home every night, that would obviously hurt size structure. BUT!!!

there are plenty of biological reasons for their healthy populations (in addition to prevailing angler attitudes toward bass consumption)

[LightningBG]

PLEASE DONT EAT BASS!!! I am only okay with it if your like Dietz or the other guys who know the bass will not survive.

In my opinion it is souly for the reason that most people dont eat bass that the bass fishing is so good in and around the twin cities. It is very very tough to go anywhere within an hour of the city and catch numbers of good size walleye or panfish and I believe that it is because of the people to fish ratio and how many people fish for walleye and panfish for food. It seems that we are left with potato chips for pan fish and cigars for walleye in many metro area lakes.

Bass are a sport fish and should remain a sport fish. If we all do our part to keep the big fish in the lakes the fishing will continue to be great. I believe many of you would agree. Weve gotta take care of our good Bass populations.

Sounds pretty selfish. While we're at it, I'm gonna ask everyone to stop keeping walleyes, so I can catch more. (sarcasm). If people want to eat bass, have at it. I rarely fish for bass and even if I did I'm not sure I would keep any, but if people want to, more power to them.

Does anyone have any good recipes for smallies? The lake I'm headed to next week has tons of them. (no sarcasm, I really want to know). We'll be targeting other species, but if its slow we might go after bass.

[Aaron Carrell]

Well, I wasn't going to chime in here cause I don't play much of a role in this matter, however I will say that once or twice a year I may take home some bass to eat. Typically what happens is I've caught an accidental Walleye or 2 and decide, Hey! that sounds good for dinner. So if the water is cool, and I'm catching them in the right lake I'll keep a few 12-15" fish make it a full dinner. Most of the time when we have a mix of the 2 species on the same plate for people to eat, nobody ever tastes the difference. Bass can taste "fishier" if you get them in warmer water especially, but if you cook it right there is hardly any difference IMHO.

I'd never tell anyone not to take bass home to eat, but I do recommend to people not to keep anything over 15" for the sake of the fishery. Spring cold water this time of year though would be the optimal time IMO to keep the bucketmouths.

[gritsnham]

Alot of the metro lakes could use that 10-14 inch harvest to help build the size structure up a little bit. Plus those bigger bass will have alot more toxins in them since they have ate more food.

The bigger fish are the important ones for spawning as well so I say take home some bass to eat if you want but let the big fish swim (same with walleyes) and our lakes will remain healthy.

Also keep all the pike you want except the real big girls since they keep those little snakes in check

[74mph]

I totally agree with all of you. Eating the smaller ones might be healthy for you and the bass populations. It is the principal here that I think is important. I moved to minnesota a few year ago thinking that the fishing was going to rock. It turns out that its not all that great around the metro for good size panfish and walleye. Many of the old timers would say that it was really good many years ago. Now in a few key spots you can find them but many of the lakes are sitting pretty thin. I can drive a couple of hours away and the fishing gets alot better. The people to fish ratio just goes way down.

The bass are the one species that are great to catch and people dont harvest a ton of them so they keep on maintaining good populations and size.

You guys are likley all good sportsmen and dont keep bucket fulls of fish but I have seen this happen and its just not good. It would be a shame if it happened to Bass. I didnt mean to offend anyone or come across as selfish. It was probably an inappropriate use of capital letters.

Mostly Im happy with the bass. Its the other species that have already taken a beating and thats what is frustrating for me. I guess it doesnt matter what kind of fish it is - strategic harvest is the key (if you want to harvest at all otherwise CPR!).

[Craigums]

Well said,

I don't keep many fish, but i dont have a problem with people keeping a few either. One this that did make me cringe was last year I went down to a local lake to fish off the pier and I noticed a couple people there had a stringer full of 15-19inch bass. Just not cool, however they were within there limit so nothing I could do

[mainbutter]

Bass are TAAASSTYYYY.

I never keep any in nearby lakes however. I only keep fish from places that get fished so rarely it doesn't impact the population.

I generally save my bass-frying for unpopulated fly-in only or portage-only lakes in Ontario. I've got a couple places that probably only get fished by 2 or 3 people a year.

[Acemac]

[PoorWordUsage] white carp catch them and toss them in the woods.....

[Bass Whacker]

Lightingbg try soaking the fillets in milk for a couple hours then put them in a foil pouch with butter and seasoning of choice. the milk step makes a huge differance.

[Get'n Jiggy]

The trick to Bass is,leave the belly meat. I spent a few years in Florida and ate Bass once a week even in summer. They seem to have much stronger acids or something in thier stomachs. The other thing is keep'em cold, heck you probably wouldn't eat a steak thats been in 80 degree water all day! If I plan to eat any fish in august I get'em on ice as soon as thier caught.

[magic_minnow]

no i dont eat bass, but if yuo do ethically, FISH ON BRO!

[genegodawa]

When the LMB are in the way of the pannies, they suffer the same fate.

It's like anything else, moderation is a good thing.

So to all with a superior attitude about those who will keep and eat 'em, I only got two words.....and they're not "let's dance".

Take that, Sled! LOL