I do a lot of bass fishing. Usually I don't keep any. A couple times this year there were a few that inhaled the bait and were bleeding from the gills, so I kept them.
I've eaten bass in the past and have never been impressed. It seemed mushy and gamey. At one point I swore I'd never keep another.
However, I figured I'd give it another shot this year since I killed the poor guys with my massive hook set.
The two batches I've done this year have been excellent -- firm, with good northern-like flavor -- and I'm not entirely sure why.
What I did this time:
-Cut their throats to bleed them out in the livewell -- Been doing this with everything lately. Makes cleaning a lot less messy. There's usually almost no blood left in the meat.
-Washed them really well and put them in the fridge submerged in water with some lemon juice.
-Left them in the fridge for a week -- this wasn't really on purpose, they just ended up in there that long both times.
-Normal breading with ShoreLunch and deep fried in vegetable oil. -- You might say anything deep fried is going to be good, but that was not my prior experience with bass.
The two batches consisted of a pair of ~3lb fish from two different lakes in 62 and 73 degree water (respectively).
What are your experiences with eating Largemouth bass?
Do they fall off as the water warms?
Did I accidently prepare them in just the right way?
Last edited:
