I caught you a delicious bass

SupressYourself

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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?
 
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DirtyMike

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I haven't tried it. I cleaned a small mouth for my great uncle one time and I think they have bones made of adamantium. Walleye seem too easy to catch, clean, and prepare. Nice work though.
 

NodakBuckeye

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We used to keep smallies and largemouth up on Lake Champlain in June; annual trip to visit an aunt n uncle. Never had a bad meal. Have kept them at other times and other places and usually were good.
 

Frosty....

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I like both but never ate either from summer waters. Both are great from cold waters.
 


KDM

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Only with Cajun shore lunch and a WHOLE LOTTA BLUE NUM NUM"S!!!
 

Ericb

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I'd guess you took better care of the meat this time. Back in AZ large mouth much over 1 lb were usually not pleasent to eat. Water temps and mercury content are very differnt here. I have eaten a few smallies from the Missouri and they have been decent.
 

NodakBuckeye

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Have had some in the fall out of water that had some algae bloom and they tasted, well like swamp arse.
 
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Bed Wetter

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Before making comparisons to northern perhaps you ought to pickle a few bass and let us know what you discover.
 


5575

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I made a couple batches of smallies on the deep fryer this weekend.
Not one complained, everyone thought they were eating walleye! ha ha ha

no joke

A biologist with the ND game and fish told me to start keeping and eating them at the ramp one time. He told me I was doing no favors to the lake throwing them all back and that they tasted great. He was right and they fillet just like a walleye.
They are stuffed with crawfish this time of year.
 

Sum1

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I kept a couple one time from early spring cold waters and they were disgusting. I took about three bites and threw the rest away. Walleye are.just.too easy to clean and prepare, they taste great. You clean them and cook them, done.
 

SupressYourself

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I agree that walleye are superior table fare, but they're kinda boring to catch. I've had sticks give me a better fight.
Now to drop a Texas rig right under a log, see the line start to move sideways, reel up and yank that rod like you got a pair -- that's what wet dreams are made of.
 


Enslow

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I made a couple batches of smallies on the deep fryer this weekend.
Not one complained, everyone thought they were eating walleye! ha ha ha

no joke

A biologist with the ND game and fish told me to start keeping and eating them at the ramp one time. He told me I was doing no favors to the lake throwing them all back and that they tasted great. He was right and they fillet just like a walleye.
They are stuffed with crawfish this time of year.[/QUOTE

The biologists say keep everything in this state.
 

muskelllunge13

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Bleeding them out is important with bass, if Im going to eat them I always do that and then throw them on ice till Im ready to fillet them. Second they don't freeze well, makes em even softer. Fry em up that night or the next at the latest.
 

squirrel92

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I like both smallmouths and largemouths. Hell, I even like eating rock bass but I enjoy fish that taste "fishy".
 

Enslow

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Bass fishing is awesome but eating them no thanks.
 


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