Catch and Release bass fishing

[fishunt83]

C & R all bass for me. I dont eat them so why keep them?

[tnj8222]

theres nothing wrong with keeping some little guys for food. thats called selective harvest and some lakes really need this. especially with crappie. but what gets me is people keeping big bass.

if you have never ate bass before you should give it a try i really like it. but like i said just the small ones and not a bucket or stringer full either.

[bpm2000]

what do u think about LM vs SM in taste? (not that i can catch a @#$@ing LM this year to try)

[YellowBear]

I like the Smallmouth much better than a Largemouth as table fair.

[mallard83]

If you are not going to eat it don't keep it and rizzla is not correct about the bluegills and panfish dieing as long as you know how to unhook them correctly or leave the hook in them. C&R

[tnj8222]

i have never ate a smallie. just largemouth.

and by the way panfish have a great recover rate. the only fish i see that dies easy when released is trout. i swear you touch a trout and it will die.

my above post sounded as if i eat alot of bass. i do not and i dont think others should either, but they are good. i release about 99% of the bass i catch!

[panfisher]

what i retain is what i eat. i do not enjoy eating salmon, fresh or otherwise though a friend does a light grill and smoked salmon thats great. i like eating panfish. summertime the panfish can be a little hard to catch in numbers so i'll look for bass in certain lakes. i usually don't keep really big fish. there is a difference in the taste. catch and release panfish certainly works. i've caught the same bluegills the following year in the smaller lakes, i've also have fished some lakes were due to no pressure the bass became stunted and skinny due to eating all the food which made poor fishing for panfish. of course this is not always the case. <')//<

[Wilkstr]

Yea bluegills/panfish/perch are pretty tough to kill...

I CnR all my bass...I can't imagine how bad the meat would taste...

Are you saying that bass don’t taste good? Whoever told you that has never eaten one. I personally C&R, however every once and a while we will keep some to deep fry in beer batter. They certainly are not as good as a walleye, but bass taste great, just like other white meat including pike.

[Rizzla]

finally some ppl who kno wat they are talkin about. bass like any fish if prepared rite taste great. if it taste bad to you all. learn how to cook.

[bpm2000]

finally some ppl who kno wat they are talkin about. bass like any fish if prepared rite taste great. if it taste bad to you all. learn how to cook.

:chef:

[beerman1981]

finally some ppl who kno wat they are talkin about. bass like any fish if prepared rite taste great. if it taste bad to you all. learn how to cook.

Yeah man, I totally agree. I do a lot of C and R for bass, but sometimes, it's nice to take one home, filet it out, cut it into chunks, beer batter the chunks and deep fry it. Done this way, it tastes the same as walleye, perch, blue gill, etc.

[Fish-or-man?]

I like to eat a dinner of bass once a year, thus once a year I'll keep two under twelve-inchers for the table (from a relatively clean, large body of water). I haven't had a smallmouth, but a young largemouth is better tasting than your average trout IMO.

[Edgeran]

To me, keeping a game fish to eat, like a bass, is like Pete Sampras eating the tennis ball at the end of a match.

[bassackwards]

I ALWAYS C&R my bass. Give 'em a kiss and set 'em free for next time.

UNLESS....I get the one!!! Then it's going on the wall.

[panfisher]

so how about that one for the wall? i have one that i caught 18 years ago (lrgmth). now i have one waiting to be mounted (don't think i'll get a better one) plus the cost to have them looking their best and the waiting time to get done, would keep many fishermen from having it done!!! <')//<

[beerman1981]

so how about that one for the wall? i have one that i caught 18 years ago (lrgmth). now i have one waiting to be mounted (don't think i'll get a better one) plus the cost to have them looking their best and the waiting time to get done, would keep many fishermen from having it done!!! <')//<

How big was the hawg you are mounting?

[jake campbell]

The bass in washington state take too long to get big for people to be keeping and eating them, especially smallmouth, people dont realize how old a decent sized fish is so they just keep it, and it is wrong if you ask me. If it is a huge fish, take a picture and get a replica mount, they look just as good as the real thing. I c&r all of my bass and strongly encourage all other bass fishermen to do the same. If a lake is infested with little ones I don't see any problem with taking a few of those but let the bigger ones go.

[panfisher]

i catch plenty of bass but i'll mainly keep the 12' fish, the big ones do have a different flavor. i thoroughly enjoy everything about fishing, i'll tie flies, jigs, make spinners and have carved my own lures, have read many books on fishing or related to fishing, i'm a fish eater, and i do like the look of a well mounted fish. but they are doing better with the plastics and may not mind one some time. everyone has their own thinking and reasons for how and why they fish. as long as the questions are made and a answers are given, i think we all do learn something. as far as the bass to be mounted, check out the i-82 ponds in the freshwater lake reports. i was out there a few days ago and seen two nice bass that would go over the 5lb mark.