It seems as if almost nobody eats their catch. Is this a misconception on my part? Crappie are supposed to be fabulous, and they are, but honestly, I can tell VERY little difference between bass and crappie.

 

So who eats 'em, and who lets 'em go?

Thanks

It depends on the lake . I like to eat bass but selectively harvest them .

I cull a certain amount of bass from my lake to keep it from being dink city. I don't keep fish over 16 inches. I have  a friend at church that loves bass on the bone, so I keep some for him sometimes.

I prefer bass filets. because I believe the skin of bass gives them a muddy taste.

We catch a lot of saltwater fish that are better than bass. I like bream and catfish better than bass too.

I have no problem with people keeping bass as long as they obey the law.

 

Anything that I don’t think is going to make it, finds it way to folk that can use a free meal

I don't eat much freshwater fish besides hatchery raised trout.  I let the bass/crappie/bluegill all go, but I'll eat almost any saltwater fish that's edible and legal.

I rather eat grouper, snapper, hogfish, lobster, and other delicious seafood that I catch than eat a bass. 

Not a fan of bass as table fare, there are better fish to eat out there. Will usually go for crappie, yellow perch or walleye if I am looking for a fish fry.

 

Keeping your legal fish is no issue though if you like them. A lot of fisheries can use some of the smaller legal fish removed. Some may act like its a mortal crime to keep any bass but they are just way overboard on catch/release.

If it's not Walleye I'm not eating it. 

 

 

 

Mike

Trout is the only freshwater fish that I'll eat. 

Never tried em, don’t intend to.

Nope

no, but i have fed a few to some ospreys and one eagle

Why certainly ?

Nope, and I negatively judge those who do. My opinion, which matters little.

Despite putting a hook through their mouth and dragging them through the water I have a soft spot for fish. I almost always catch and release. I occasionally will go fishing for whitefish, bluegill , or catfish and keep a few to eat. The bass by me don’t taste that good.

No. Never.

 

Release all of them.

Bass and catfish are delicious.  However, they are not as delicious as I am lazy.  I only harvest fish I don’t think will survive so as not to waste and the occasional striper for my mother.

I do not. 

Bass are friends, not food.

I do not, but I'm not a big fish eater. As long as they are legally harvested, I have no problem with people that do. I have given bass to people fishing from the bank that looked like they needed some help.

2 hours ago, LonnieP said:

Trout is the only freshwater fish that I'll eat. 

Same here for Freshwater. Yellow Tails are something I will eat when Im at the west coast on my brother's boat. 

4 hours ago, LonnieP said:

Trout is the only freshwater fish that I'll eat. 

Gotta try Northern Snakehead!

You bet.  I don't stock pile but I do enjoy a good meal of bass.

I've only ever eaten one, and I got my butt chewed out on here over it, but I still think I made the right choice in the end. I am a good cook, so the little guy did not go to waste. Not catfish good, but still pretty good. I won't do it again though. Next time I'll just toss it for the turtles to eat. They are apparently hungry in this pond I like to fish at. I caught a turtle yesterday on a hotdog that had seen better days. Poor dude had two front legs missing, no wonder it was hungry!

I wish I liked them, but freshwater fish and my tastebuds do not get along. More than willing to take someone who likes to eat them to several different lakes I frequent to keep both our limits of fish under the slot for them to take home. I'd rather see the guy taking home a limit of 12 inch under the slot fish to eat than the the guy who kept a 10 pounder last winter to put on his wall from power plant lake that will just be skinned and the rest thrown out, when it could have been measured, photo'd and released. The same guy probably would have scolded and scoffed at a bank angler for keeping a 5 pounder to eat. Keeping those little fish is good for a fishery, keeping those big spawners is not so great.