I wish I was talking about peanut butter. I caught a nine pound largemouth Saturday. It was epic. Took some pictures and put her on the scale then turned her loose. She swam away all sassy , then 5 minutes later she floated to the top on her side. Bummer. I tried three times to release her, and every time it went the same way.  I’ve had fish die before but this one bothers me a little bit. She was delicious though. Has this happened to anyone else on the internet ?

It's a risk we take. I'm sure you tried to do what you know to be safe practice. It happens occasionally. I guess you can go down the checklist for things like what depth she came from, how long the fight was, where she was hooked, and probably some other factors. Sorry that happened on an otherwise nice catch.

All your fellow fishermen will hate you for the rest of your life.  Personally I take one home every couple of weeks, and yes they're delicious.

Congrats on the Big Bass.

Bummer she didn't make it but it happens.  At least you got to enjoy her twice.  A picture of that filleted carcass would probably trigger a few peeps. I am not one.

A-Jay

 

Yep happens to all of us.

Deep hook seems to happen to me every year on a Shaky head, not sure why.

I don't keep many LM bass but the ones I do keep are a delicacy.

Congrats on your PB. And you did the ethical thing ????

Sounds like you made the best out of that situation to me. 

So tell us how you prepared it.

27 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

A picture of that filleted carcass would probably trigger a few peeps.

Where are my smelling salts??

4 minutes ago, slonezp said:

So tell us how you prepared it.

The fillet was so thick I had to cut it into cubes. Then I soaked the cubes in salt and lemon water for a half a day. Then Smothered them with 1/2 mustard and siracha and zatarains Louisiana for the crust. Deep fried in vegetable oil . It was fantastic. 

13 minutes ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

The fillet was so thick I had to cut it into cubes. Then I soaked the cubes in salt and lemon water for a half a day. Then Smothered them with 1/2 mustard and siracha and zatarains Louisiana for the crust. Deep fried in vegetable oil . It was fantastic. 

Sound awesome.

Sometimes I'll venture into MickyDee's for the square fish.

A-Jay

8 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Sound awesome.

Sometimes I'll venture into MickyDee's for the square fish.

A-Jay

It was surprising to me how good it was. Filleting her was like sawing an old boot, she had some tough skin. 

13 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Sound awesome.

Sometimes I'll venture into MickyDee's for the square fish.

A-Jay

Total ear worm! Gets stuck in my brain every time.

13 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

Sound awesome.

Sometimes I'll venture into MickyDee's for the square fish.

A-Jay

 

Guilty.

I always eat my peanut butter. 

6 minutes ago, Skunkmaster-k said:

It was surprising to me how good it was. Filleting her was like sawing an old boot, she had some tough skin. 

LMB is a good tasting fish. Next PB, try cutting the meat into scallop sized chunks, wrapping in bacon, and grilling on indirect heat. 

Another way to cook it is pan fried in butter with a 50/50 breadcrumb/grated parmesan cheese coating with salt and pepper to taste

You did the right thing. I'm surprised an old fish tasted so good, but given your wonderful prep, I shouldn't be. 

44 minutes ago, slonezp said:

LMB is a good tasting fish. Next PB, try cutting the meat into scallop sized chunks, wrapping in bacon, and grilling on indirect heat. 

Another way to cook it is pan fried in butter with a 50/50 breadcrumb/grated parmesan cheese coating with salt and pepper to taste

That does sound good. I did laugh a little bit when I read “next pb”. 

For decades I used a home made stringer with 2 SST slide lock clips on a 10’ 300# test mono and 1# weight. 

When I caught DD bass they where immediately clip onto the stringer and lowered into the water before weighing or any photo taking. The cool deeper water relieves stress and lets the bass recover. Still have that stringer!

Stress kills big bass faster then average size bass because they are older fish.

Tongue hooked bass always bleed out, nothing you can do to save them.

Tom

Hate that it died but big bass are tasty, people just don’t like the thought of them dead so they say it’s tough and nasty to discourage people from trying it. They taste just like the small ones only there is way more food 

 

congrats on the PB

Bummer that it happened with a gal that big...but oh well.

 

I'm not gonna berate you for not 'wasting' her - I'm a selective harvest guy myself. Any bass in the 1.5#-2.5# range has a 50/50 shot of going home with me.

PB & full belly ?

Congratulations on your PB. You tried to save her but glad you didn't waste her. She apparently gave you all she had.

Not with bass. Just Steelhead.

Congratulations!

And also sorry she couldn’t be saved,

But you got a new memory and full belly!

 

Life is good 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike