Rock Bass,To eat or not to eat?

[JeremyCampbell]

I catch and release these things every time I fish the river.I caught around ten yesterday.Just seems like someone out there may actually eat them .Has anyone tried smoking them? Are rock bass treated like a carp when prepared for consumption?I've Allways been told they are nasty fish and to not eat them.People eat weird things everyday,Heck I ate squid for the first time a week ago.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I've never tried them but have heard the same thing.

[Cicada]

Years ago, my cousin owned a baitshop and the lake had a ton of rock bass. He sponsored a family tournament. We were told by the game warden that they had to be cleaned, if not wormy, and not thrown in the woods someplace or it would be wanton waste. Something like 450 rock bass were brought in. Well, after cleaning a little over 250 of them it was funny how many of the rest turned out to be wormy. We tried some and they were just fine. The rest went to two nursing homes and the old folks loved them. The trick, like with any fish, is to keep them fresh until you clean them and maybe stick to keeping them when they are in cooler waters. The wormy ones, by the way, made real good fertilizer for a couple of gardens.

[fishdale]

I throw them in with sunnies once and a while and I personally think they are fine and no one else has ever complained about them. They quality will depend on the quality of the water, the ones I have had are from a very clean/deep lake.

If you wonder how they taste keep a few and fry them up. Everyone's taste buds are different.

I like when people say they suck and then they say they have never tried them.

[Alagnak]

Throw them in with whatever other fish you're covering with batter and deep frying and it will taste the same as the rest. The only thing that makes it taste any different it in your head. If you're really worried about it make sure the inlaws get that batch ;-)

[Mike89]

we have eaten them for years.

[LABS4ME]

I'm surprised how many peope say different varieties of fish taste soooo much different. Especially if fried. I have many times cut fillets up into pieces where you cannot tell what species it is by the shape of the fillet... Guys who thought they were enjoying walleye were eating Northerns, eel pout and perch... When guys think they are eating sunnies, may have an occasional rock bass,crappie or LMB mixed in... I have yet to have one person be able to tell the difference... Even if they professed to be able to.

One guy I know was adamant he could tell the 'rock bass' pieces in a fish fry... We were frying up sunnies and perch and the last plate I had two crappies that I mixed in... He immediately said he could tell those pieces were rock bass... He said it tasted like mud and were mushy and overall just horrible. Nobody else could tell and even liked the' rock bass'... When all was consumed, I let him know that there were no rock bass and instead I mixed in his favorite fish... Crappie. I knew he zeroed in on the fillet thickness and 'labeled' those rock bass in his head... When they were crappie. What kills me is his mind said how horrible they tasted when in fact it is about the only fish he usually eats!

Clean cold water, a lack of weeds and rock bass are generally are ok to keep and eat. I rarely do as most muddy-weedy lakes will produce worms in their flesh... Plus they are a buggar to fillet!

When I had a cabin on Cass, many visiting groups targeted them to bring home...

Good luck!

Ken

[Leaky]

I grew up with the notion that rock bass were a garbage fish. And if they are caught out of warm water on a muddy weedy lake, they indeed are. One day we were fishing on a deep clear lake near Garrison and got into a bunch that all ran about 3/4 - 1 lb while we were targeting walleyes. It was a blast - one after another. Our goal was to catch enough fish to go in, build a fire and fry fish. So we kept and cleaned them. I was really nervous about feeding the neighbors these things as I had never ate them before.

They were great and has been mentioned, if we had told people these were crappies (fillets look similar) no one would have known the difference.

[JeremyCampbell]

LoL,I will keep a few and mix it with some small mouth and try it.Maybe in the fall time.

[rockman]

Years ago we would catch rock bass while ice fishing for crappies in the Park Rapids area. Some of those we kept were over a 1 lb., a couple of them going almost 1.25 lbs. Tasted just fine, especially out of ice cold water. Nice, white meaty fillets. Yum!

[ncesi]

We call them company crappies!

[Big Bobber]

Clip their gills to bleed them out before you clean them and soak them out overnight in water in the refrigerator.

[otterman91105]

We eat them in the spring before the water gets to warm. They are pretty good. After the water gets warm i will not keep them.

[hockeybc69]

As has been said,,,,, mix it with a batch of fish, and 100% gaurantee nobody would jump up and shout profanity because the know they got a rockbass fillet.....

I made fish Sunday, and it was 50/50 sunfish/pike...... not a single person out of 10 people had a clue... I announced after dinner what we ate and I got some confused looks for a moment, and not a one had anything negative to say......

All in your head!

[JeremyCampbell]

Thanks guys

[deerminator]

Wait, which is taboo to serve? Sunfish or pike? We love both! Pike is our new favorite since we started catching so many. You can't beat the firm white flesh which is better than walleye in my opinion. Anywhoo, never ate rock bass but the resort we go to every year, the owner cooks them and says it's just a perception thing. They taste great and if you cook them, no worries about parasites.

[DonBo]

Why would you even want too? Guess if you can't catch any walleye or crappie or pike or sunfish, then you gotta do what you gotta do if you want to eat some fish.

Me? I'm not doing it. Not eating any bass either, or carp or dogfish or musky or...but that's just me.

[perchking]

Pike is our new favorite since we started catching so many. You can't beat the firm white flesh which is better than walleye in my opinion.

I agree, I love pike!!!

[OnAFly]

I've eaten rockbass and they taste just like a crappie. No difference. It just in people's heads.

[hockeybc69]

Quote:

Not eating any bass either, or carp or dogfish or musky or...but that's just me.

I do have my limits.....

bass.... been there done that. small fillets arent bad... I can get plenty of other fish I prefer.

smoked paddlefish....yes, paddlefish.... BLECK!

smoked sturgeon..... gag....

smoked carp..... a few times is enough for me...

muskie cheeks are very good.

[EBass]

(hi-jack)

What fish is served at the American Legion all you can eat fish fry? Was it Rockies?

[Selmer]

Sorry, but this seems to be a Minnesota issue. I guarantee that none of you can pick out a rock bass in a blind taste test with battered and fried bluegill, crappie, rock bass, green sunfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, walleye, and northern. Rock bass are simply a different strain of sunfish - same family as bluegills, pumpkinseed, LMB, SMB, crappies, etc. They're all sunfish. Only in Minnesota do people call bluegills and pumpkinseed "sunnies" with no distinction. We consider a 9-12" rock bass a bonus fish when we're fishing, especially over deep water rock piles from clean lakes. I love 'em!

[delcecchi]

Gotta be pretty good size to be worth cleaning. Not much meat on the smaller ones.

[deets22]

I prefer to fry them up with Muskie fillets it makes for a nice hodge podge of goodness

[blue_healer_guy]

+1