shynot

Hi all. I am a 49 year old female who loves to fish. I have recently caught bass in Lake Oroville, Northern California. I have heard from a co-worker that bass is her favorite fish to eat. I would like to try it. I can catch, clean/gut and cook fish - but I do have a problem with getting the hooks out/holding them, putting them on the stringer and I don't know how to kill them. I hate the thought of inflicting pain, hurting them when I hold them, them flopping around, that blank eye stare, trying to hold on and carefully remove the hook, and put them on the stringer . . . but so far I have let all the bass go because they live so darn long on the stringer and I don't really know the "best" way to kill them. The Park Ranger said club them on the head (if so, how?), my husband asks me if I am going to gut them "alive", I wonder about just quickly cutting off their heads, or should I just put them on ice in the chest to die? This is not a joke, I really want to know the best way to kill them if I plan to eat them. :-/