Do you eat rock bass?

[MurkyWaters]

I have never eaten rock bass. It seems to me like they get a lot less attention on the dinner plate than sunnies and crappies. Is this because they taste bad?

[AlwysFshn]

I have tried to clean a couple over the years, but often times they have worms in the meat. I don't they would kill a person, but I have enough protein in my diet without eating worms. I am sure others may suggest they are fine to eat, but that is my two cents.

[ROOKSTER69]

I've eaten them in the spring of the year. However, most of the time they seem to be wormy. They don't taste bad, but don't look real appetizing with those little black dots on the fillet.

[cribbageboy]

Never eaten or even filleted them for that matter. Fun to catch, but i have heard that they are packed full of bones. Don't know if there is any truth to that or not though.

[Deepinthewoods]

I've eaten rock bass several times. As cribbageboy says, they are boney. The extra little bones that on bluegills you can ignore (near the ribcage) are quite prominent in rock bass and make cleaning more of a chore. They taste ok.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I've eaten them and they taste just fine. I've never seen one with worms, but I would avoid any that had worms.

[MedicDan]

I have eaten Rock Bass a few times. It tastes ok, and I have only had a few with worms when filleting, so obviously I don't eat those, other then that, it isn't really a bad fish.

[Schief]

I will eat Rock Bass through most of the season. They are no crappie or Walleye but not bad at all. Especially if you wanna have a nice fish fry and have had a slow day on the lake They aren't too hard to filet and get away from the bones and I have yet to see one with worms. God I hope I didn't just not notice them, thats a nice thought.

Reminds me of a joke.

Whats worse than finding a worm inside an apple that you are eating? Finding half of a worm inside of an apple that you are eating.

[ice-man/vexilar-king]

Worms, and I think a bull head taste better LOL

[Selmer]

Wow, the rock bass I catch in NE South Dakota must be totally different that what you're all catching! I've never seen a worm in them, and they taste great! They have a little finer grain to the flesh than a bluegill, but still firmer than crappie meat. They do stink a little when you clean them because of how many crawdads they eat, but the bone structure is the same as on a bluegill. They are, after all, a member of the sunfish family.

Selmer

[jwhjr]

Nope, I don't eat them.

[Walleyeguy32]

I find it difficult to eat something with red eyes.

[shortfatguy]

I have never been so desperate that I had to eat rock bass but I dont see why they wouldnt be good so long as the worm issue doesnt come into play!!

[10,000 Casts]

No

[Green 'eyes!]

I kept a rock bass last year to try, thinking the fish just had a bad rap. Well, truth be told, the rap is correct. It was the worst tasting fish I ever ate!

[Grant Pearson]

What I've noticed is that as the season goes on and the water temps rise, their flesh goes mushy and doesn't taste as well.

[Joe's Kid]

I find it difficult to eat something with red eyes.

I see plenty of folks eating things with red eyes every Saturday morning at the diner.

[rockman]

Not to turn the tide of the thread here, but I had a couple of white bass that were given to me recently by a co-worker. We cooked them up last night, and I didn't think they tasted that great.The fish came from the Mississippi River in SE MN.Back to the thread topic,I normally don't keep rock bass,unless it is during the cold water time of the year, or during the icefishing season.

[bogwalker]

Rock Bass are great tasting if you catch them in cold water. We fillet them and have never had a problem with bones. Maybe the small ones have more bones.

[ratherBfishnJP]

The biggest problem i have ever had withthem is them dang worm in them

[The Grebe]

I started cleaning rock bass alot of moons ago, when I was a lad and didn't know how to fillet then, so I ate them just like we did the other fish...didn't really like them. Didn't like any of the fish we used to eat! maybe sunnies, but that was about it.

As I got older and started filleting what I caught, I realized that the rock bass had alot of those little white grubs in them, also, those little white balls embedded in the meat and black spots....that is a whole kaboodle of parasitic activity and thats only the ones you can see! You can probably throw tape worms in there to!

I've eaten sunnies with those black spots and that doesn't bother me much if it is just a few. I've popped those white spots out of Mille Lacs perch and gobbled them up to, but for a fish that tastes as mediocre as a rock bass, I passed on eating them things long ago because of the over abundance of the boogers!

[fishandshroom]

I see plenty of folks eating things with red eyes every Saturday morning at the diner.

Awsome tis exactly what I thought.

If you really look at every fish you clean you cuold probably find a worm or parasite in each one I don't keep rockies but the worms and so on are perfectly fine.

[goblueM]

i've eaten just about every fish and bird under the sun (yes including grackles and rock bass) and I didn't find rock bass to be that bad. Just dont keep them out of nasty warm pea soup water. Fillet em and fry em in your favorite fish batter. Can't be too bad deep fried

[Float tube guy]

it's ok fried....never had a problem with worms.

[wanger29]

Yellow bass are real good. Anyone ever try them?