Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Sunfish-Including Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass LMB-it's what's for dinner

I love to fish and my favorite species of eating fish is Walleye. Crappie and Perch are right up there as well.

For years I have always believed that Bass were not good for eating. In 2011 we went out to fish on lake Oahe in SD with a guide. We caught some nice walleye and some smallmouth. He convinced us to keep the smallmouth for table fare. With cautious optimism I fried some up (after frying some walleye first to be safe and compare. I tell you what it was pretty good. A bit different flavor almost like dark meat versus white meat chicken, but pretty good.

Recently I was out exploring the ice and trying to reduce the LMB population in our new to me lake. I ended up with a nice 14"er for my brief effort and decided rather than leave it for critter food I'd fillet it. I'm really glad I did as it's really quite good. I'd say it's a bit more of a firm texture like a perch and taste was quite good. No fishy or muddy taste. Not as good as walleye mind you, but rest assured I'll be eating more.

I agree...It is pretty nice firm mild meat.

For me, the taste of LMB depends on what body of water they come from.

Smallies are usually always good, IMO, but as they're my favorite freshwater fish, it's sacrilege to eat them!

I harvested leagal sized LMB from the chain of lakes my lake house is on this summer. I came back with 30 lbs of fillet. Im still eating it and having fish fries....

LMB seem to be taking over so I figured I would help out...

As some of you probably know Asian Americans absolutely love the taste of largemouth bass, so much so that their are fish farmers producing them just for that purpose. Interesting thing is they prefer to purchase them live which is a win win for the retailer as they don't have to deal with the inspection standards.

I've always thought lmb have a strong taste vs. panfish.

I love to eat LMB. If walleye's an A, and panfish are A-, LMB is a solid B+. With a beer batter (& beers for the chef & his customers) they all taste nearly identical to me.

I'm with Sunil about SMB, though. Hard to even think about killing them

Let's see; double electric frying pan, fish powders, canola oil, egg. Yep, I am ready!

LMB good to eat, the few times I have eaten SMB they tasted a little stronger to me. IMHO.

There's always been a stigma about bass it seems. It seems most fisherman don't consider them table fare, but I now do.

Not sure if it will make a difference winter versus summer, but I like it!

Same here. Fun to catch but I don't really care for them to eat. Bluegill, YP, Walleye, and Crappie are about all I bother to clean.

I like to eat them. But my favorite is stripers from Lake Texoma with the red meat cut out of the filets. I have not tried walleye.

Sounds good to me! If the ice don't melt this weekend from the rain maybe I'll get some minnows to ice fish for some lmb.

Sacrelicious!

I too never considered them table fare,they where strictly catch and release for me.That was until I hooked one in the gullet pretty bad.It was after work just past dusk and I was winding the reel in to head up to the house.When a lmb just shy of 6 lbs devoured my lure.By the time I got the hook out in the dark it was DOA.Instead of feeding the racoons I decided to give it a try and I was quite surprised at how good it was.I later mentioned it to some bass fishing buddies and man did I get a load of crap about eating a bass that was from my own pond.While for public waters and in general catch and release is a good thing I cant believe the misinformation that is out there these days.

We love largemouth bass! Many bodies of water require regular harvesting anyway...so why not take advantage?!

My preference is smaller fish.

A pound or close to that is what we like to eat.

I love LMB too but, being from the deep south, have never tasted northern species like Wallege, Pike, etc.

Cecil,
Are LMB being farmed in the US?

In cold water I'll put a 1-2.5 lb lmb up against darn near any fish for table fare. Like stated above, if Walleye (and cold water crappie in my book) are an A+ then LMB is a good solid B+. Now just like with most fish as they get bigger they don't taste as good...same with catfish. Guess I haven't noticed that with crappie, but then again I've never eaten a 3+ lb crappie...and if I ever catch one he'll be going on the wall, not on the plate!

Question by djs: "Cecil, Are LMB being farmed in the US?" Yes, a few fish farms are raising some LMB for market. One of them is near me in NW Ohio. Most of the ones raised by them for the food market go to Canada for the oriental market. Some of their larger 'food' bass are sold for pond stocking.

Well, well, well!

You must get some walleye!

For many, including myself, that is the THEEEE best tasting freshwater fish. With Yellow Perch in a close second......

I can wait to try one of my fresh water Snapper...

Agreed, Bobby.

Not many will get the chance, so it's a grand event!

My personal rankings:

1. WE
2. YP
3. Crappie
4. BG

I'd put Crappie over perch and right up there with walleye provided they are from clean waters. Crappie is so nice and tender/flaky.

We don't generally keep walleye over 20" as they just are not as good as smaller fish. The LMB that I took measured 14". Not sure how a larger one would be but I do intend to find out.

I'm down with TJ's list, but I don't know about #4. Smallies might be better than BG......