Its hard to beat some of the commercial breadings like Shore Lunch or Andy's, but back in the mid 70's in central texas there was a local fishing show called Mertis & Denver (anybody remember them??).  Their bass recipe called for soaking the fillets in Louisiana Hot Sauce for several minutes then shaking them in a paper bag of 1/2 corn flour (not corn meal) and 1/2 flour with a couple table spoons of Lowrey's Seasoning Salt.  The hot sauce adds terrific flavor and just the right amount of heat.  It is still my favorite.

I am 70 years old and have caught and released thousands of bass incvluding my all time best of 10 lbs+.  That was then and this is now.  If it is a legal bass and I catch it. I wiil eat it.

 

If it is 4 lbs or better I will scale it and filet the fish leaving the skin.  Baked in the oven, skin down, with butter and lemon pepper, it is a gourmet's delight.  Smaller bass I fillet and cut into bite sized pieces.

 

Just anorher thought... slot limits are imposed for a reason.  For example a 12" - 15" slot limit is considered by many to be the same as a 15" minimum.  Not so!  When the DOC imposes those limits, it is because there are too many small fish and they want you to take those home and eat them!  That is a hard pill to swalliow for the catch and release crowd but it is the key to the good health of a fishery.

 

Just my $.02...

I only eat small ones caught after the ice goes off while the water is cold. Under these conditions that's some darn fine meat.

I soak the filets overnight in salt water.

Filets get a bath in a mixture of milk and egg, then dredged in flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder and sometimes cornmeal mixture. Fry in peanut oil. Sometimes some Cajun seasoning in the flour is good too.

Easy peasy and freakin delicious. Some hot sauce finishes it off.

Buried in salt, wrapped in tin foil, and cooked over open wood flame. How this is done exactly? Not sure my grandmother did it and I never asked how. Simply put though the best way I've ever eaten LMB. Came out sweet and not a bit fishy. (probably similare to how salmon can be cooked)

Just straight into the pan with a little butter is hard to beat otherwise beer battered is also good.

I prefer my bass with a side of C&R! Lol

AND YET ANOTHER FOOD THREAD. Mods, gonna ask again for a food forum, so we can talk about scrapple and other recipies.

Oh yea. Bring on the scapple. I love it. Yum yum um!!!

To  me, there is only one way to eat  bass. Or any fish for that matter. Fry it, fry it, or fry it.

I use Andy's sea food seasoning.

 

I didn't use to eat bass. Where I used to deer and turkey hunt the farmers allowed me to fish all there ponds. I would catch lots of bass. The farmer told me to keep some and we'd have them for dinner. I thought oh no. Any way. They were delicious. I asked him what he did to make them tatse so good. He told me to soak them in salted water for a while. Like brinning them. Now I keep some of the  12 " or or smaller where legal, just for a small mess of fish.

 

Did I say delicious?

Bass is the best fresh water fish to eat down here in south louisiana!

The best is deep fried fillets cut into nuggets with louisiana seasoned crispy batter! We can cook down here trust me..

Great to see another south Louisiana guy here.

I normally am C&R on bass, but I do keep some small ones for the occasional family fish fry if I go with family. My solo trips are release, just due to convenience.

On a side note... Have you ever eaten crappie? Never met a man who preferred bass fillets to crappie

Great to see another south Louisiana guy here.

I normally am C&R on bass, but I do keep some small ones for the occasional family fish fry if I go with family. My solo trips are release, just due to convenience.

On a side note... Have you ever eaten crappie? Never met a man who preferred bass fillets to crappie

 

x2. Bass are for the lake, crappie are for the freezer.

MMMHMMMH! I show is hungry.

FYI:

 

For those of you that enjoy store bought fish:

 

"Farm raised" catfish is not alwasy so.  Some of it comes out of very poluted rivers, to be placed into farm ponds and then sold as farm raised.

 

"Tilapia" Much of it comes from over seas where the fish are raised in cespools of human and animal waste.

 

Store bought fish is mostly disgusting.

FYI:

 

For those of you that enjoy store bought fish:

 

"Farm raised" catfish is not alwasy so.  Some of it comes out of very poluted rivers, to be placed into farm ponds and then sold as farm raised.

 

"Tilapia" Much of it comes from over seas where the fish are raised in cespools of human and animal waste.

 

Store bought fish is mostly disgusting.

 

Gee, thanks.

I was told by my bass club that my outboard would blow up if I ate bass. 

 

I take my mom and aunt for deep smallies(delicious) and keep 2 12"s each trip between the three of us.  We don't know of another fish that tastes better other than sturgeon.  We love filets, but prefer skinning and cooking to save more meat.

 

Key: remove the fat and dark areas of meat.  It tastes gross!

I hear crappie is really awesome to eat. I personally am a c&r guy when it comes to bass.

I fry all my fish doesn't matter what I catch and keep.

 

1st Fillet said fish out

 

2nd Soak in 7-up overnight

 

3rd Mix Andy's Red and Hamm's fish batter 1/2 and 1/2 ( or whatever batter you prefer to use)

 

Finally throw them bad boys in the fryer and enjoy !

I only keep and eat bass when I'm on camping trips (something about eating what you catch is fun in that environment).

I keep it simple: boiled in lemon butter and pepper and served with rice.

eat?

I eat my bass by slobbering over my pics on my phone wondering how big she will get and if we will ever meet again.

I don't eat my fish I let them go but if someone is cooking bass I'll try it if it looks good

personal preference, but i can not eat a bass that i catch, i'm man enough to tell you that i feel bad when i do.However blueguill and crappie better watch out, delicious,no wonder bass love to eat em too!

Bass strictly catch & release for me. Although, I LOVE me some crappie, bluegill and catfish caught & released.... In hot grease.

I fry all my fish doesn't matter what I catch and keep.

 

1st Fillet said fish out

 

2nd Soak in 7-up overnight

 

3rd Mix Andy's Red and Hamm's fish batter 1/2 and 1/2 ( or whatever batter you prefer to use)

 

Finally throw them bad boys in the fryer and enjoy !

 

Why 7-up?

Why 7-up?

I use sprite. It takes the fishy taste away and gives the meat a sweater taste.

Ah, I see.

I use sprite. It takes the fishy taste away and gives the meat a sweater taste.

Would that sweater taste like wool or polyester? Lol jus giving ya a hard time..

We would always keep our catch as a kid, dad would keep em on ice overnight then clean.