My favorite fish to eat. Next is crappie, then small mouth bass 

You should try some rock bass.

Yes sir.

My favorite freshwater fish

Crappie first for me, then bluegills 

It's been so long since I tried them that I can't remember what they taste like.

For me, it's yellow perch first, then brook trout, bluegill, and walleye. 

Bluegills are one of my favourite fish to eat. 

Second to crappie for me!

Deep fried bluegills with coleslaw and hush puppies were a common meal back in my days as a little boy.

Delicious ...

Bluegill are delicious. 

Bluegill is # 1 then spotted Bass.

When I lived in the north ,We used to ice fish for them  The best eating fish around. Better the Walleye but they are hard to fillet 

39 minutes ago, bowhunter63 said:

but they are hard to fillet 

Yep, big ones get filleted but the smaller ones get gutted and fried whole. 

11 minutes ago, Jar11591 said:

Yep, big ones get filleted but the smaller ones get gutted and fried whole. 

Broiled whole....

18 hours ago, Bazoo said:

It's been so long since I tried them that I can't remember what they taste like.

 

They taste like nothing, naturally.  That's why people have to resort to rolling them in batter or breading, frying them, and adding tartar sauce.

 

Freshwater fish on its own is very tasteless.

 

Saltwater fish, by comparison, is very robust in flavor.

my dad growing up in the 1930s on familly farm told me he went out and caught bullheads just to have food on the table to eat.

I enjoy walleye, crappie, and bluegill, but as @gimwrote after we slather them in batter and spices with sauce they all taste the same.

Walleye is number 1 for me, followed by any sort of wild trout/salmon, smallmouth bass, rock bass, and then yellow perch and sunfish.

 

Sunfish and yellow perch are usually too small for me to bother keeping and here in Canada, sunfish don't grow to the same sizes as those south of the 49th parallel north.

On 7/17/2025 at 12:31 PM, BlackDragon98 said:

Walleye is number 1 for me, followed by any sort of wild trout/salmon, smallmouth bass, rock bass, and then yellow perch and sunfish.

 

Sunfish and yellow perch are usually too small for me to bother keeping and here in Canada, sunfish don't grow to the same sizes as those south of the 49th parallel north.

I caught a handfull of rock bass a few years ago and put them on a stringer, some folks came by and seen our stringer and we heard them say " keeping rock bass?" I then released them after i read reviews on the interweb about rock bass meat.

51 minutes ago, throttleplate said:

I caught a handfull of rock bass a few years ago and put them on a stringer, some folks came by and seen our stringer and we heard them say " keeping rock bass?" I then released them after i read reviews on the interweb about rock bass meat.

It mainly depends on the time of year and the water quality of the area you are fishing, but rock bass are worth eating when they're decently sized. In Ontario, there's no season or limits on them so you can catch them year round and keep as many as you want.

 

I've never caught them (rock bass) during winter myself, but I have a friend who does and he says the meat tastes the best when you catch them through the ice. They're much harder to catch through the ice though.

On 7/16/2025 at 8:31 AM, Jar11591 said:

Yep, big ones get filleted but the smaller ones get gutted and fried whole. 

With scales😎

On 7/16/2025 at 6:58 PM, gim said:

 

They taste like nothing, naturally.  That's why people have to resort to rolling them in batter or breading, frying them, and adding tartar sauce.

 

Freshwater fish on its own is very tasteless.

 

Saltwater fish, by comparison, is very robust in flavor.

I know some freshwater fish that are robust in flavor, you wouldn’t like them 😂 

 

as far as bluegill goes, the juice ain’t worth the squeeze for me. Burn more calories than you gain 

20 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I know some freshwater fish that are robust in flavor, you wouldn’t like them 😂

Please tell us what they are, maybe Buffalo head?

Yes I do, but Walleye is #1 and Perch is #2. After that, Bluegills and Rock Bass are tied for third. 

On 7/18/2025 at 2:36 PM, throttleplate said:

released them after i read reviews on the interweb about rock bass meat.

Not sure what the rest of the interwebz are saying, but they're wrong. Rock bass is excellent.

11 hours ago, throttleplate said:

Please tell us what they are, maybe Buffalo head?

I’ve heard smoked buffalo is good, but most other ways it’s rubbery. Never had it myself. 
 

I had some Asian carp once and it was robust, not in a good way. Drum was not good but not terrible. Gar is actually pretty good but it’s a strange texture, almost like fried clams. Had it grilled before as well and that was not the  play. A catfish over 15 lbs is also robust but again, not in a good way. A striper or white bass without the bloodline removed can be pretty fishy, especially if it’s been frozen. Bowfin will ruin the frying pan you use to cook it……..