Barbeque Bass Time!

[MAttt]

Nothing better than a few smallies foil wrapped with a few onions,
a touch of garlic with a few taters on the Q.
mmmm
Just like a big blue gill, but you don't have to filet as many!
17 to 19" seem to be perfect size imo.
:fish:
Finally the real opener is here.
Good luck to all on the opener!

[basskiller46]

Nothing better than a few smallies foil wrapped with a few onions,
a touch of garlic with a few taters on the Q.
mmmm
Just like a big blue gill, but you don't have to filet as many!
17 to 19" seem to be perfect size imo.
:fish:
Finally the real opener is here.
Good luck to all on the opener!

Why would you eat a 4.5 pound small mouth?:confused:

[fishonbb]

Always tasted good to me. Here we go again!

[Oldgrandman]

Why would you eat a 4.5 pound small mouth?:confused:

It is fresh fish....thats why! Bass gets a bad rap. I am not so fond of LM especially in the heat of the summer but SM are not so bad trimmed and cleaned properly. I'd rather eat it then a salmon or steelhead quite frankly. I might go for em tomorrow myself and if I get a few in that range I might be taking them home.
My neighbor and my wife both like to eat em. It's not like they are endangered or anything either.

[basskiller46]

Think about it you dont catch a 4.5 pound smallie all the time eating them isnt going to make more of them. Im not saying dont eat bass you have every right too. Im just saying throw back atleast the trophy class fish.
They dont taste good when they get that big anyway.

[MAttt]

I grew up eating smallies, but somewhere along the line they
became not good eating per the general public.
But that's ok with me since they are awsome fighters
and seem to be overpopulated on most waters I fish
and are as good as any bluegill imo.

I agree with you on the trout OGM, not bad once in awhile
but a tad too strong for my taste unless smoked.

17 to 19's are pretty common where i fish and there is not much
meat on them when they are smaller but over 19 I let go
since they are trophys at that point imo.

I usually don't keep more than 10 a year,
but I don't discriminate, I like gills, calicos,
walleyes and perch too and are all fun to catch at
different times.

Have a good Holiday.

[Carpmaster]

Sounds good to me! Wish more guys would keep bass especially LM!

[basskiller46]

I grew up eating smallies, but somewhere along the line they
became not good eating per the general public.
But that's ok with me since they are awsome fighters
and seem to be overpopulated on most waters I fish
and are as good as any bluegill imo.

I agree with you on the trout OGM, not bad once in awhile
but a tad too strong for my taste unless smoked.

17 to 19's are pretty common where i fish and there is not much
meat on them when they are smaller but over 19 I let go
since they are trophys at that point imo.

I usually don't keep more than 10 a year,
but I don't discriminate, I like gills, calicos,
walleyes and perch too and are all fun to catch at
different times.

Have a good Holiday.

Well then i dont really mind if your letting the big ones go. I was just suprised because i havent seen many overpopulated smallmouth lakes.

Cant wait to shoot carp this year. Now that is a fish that we should really get rid of.

[redear]

Nothing better than a few smallies foil wrapped with a few onions,
a touch of garlic with a few taters on the Q.
mmmm
Just like a big blue gill, but you don't have to filet as many!
17 to 19" seem to be perfect size imo.
:fish:
Finally the real opener is here.
Good luck to all on the opener!

nothing better than seeing a smallie swim off after a good fight. i have never ate one or will EVER eat any bass. plenty of panfish to eat

[sea nympho]

Chalk-up my vote in the 'selective harvest' column...stopping @ 19" is fair. Especially when prepared intelligently, as demonstrated, by cooking the micropterus whole, en papillote...better flavor - no waste, since bass suck to filet. I keep no bass (except for the wall;)) & I prefer to eat salmonids, pike, & catfish, but I can't hold it against anyone to take a few bass, or any fish, for the table...for me it's natural &a waste not/want not thing. I grew up riding home on my bike w/ a stringer of trout for dinner, in Lake County, and took my share of nasty looks form a few of the local guides and many out-of-town yuppies...which really, just made the fish taste better. :evilsmile

[waterfoul]

Chalk-up my vote in the 'selective harvest' column...stopping @ 19" is fair. Especially when prepared intelligently, as demonstrated, by cooking the micropterus whole, en papillote...better flavor - no waste, since bass suck to filet. I keep no bass (except for the wall;)) & I prefer to eat salmonids, pike, & catfish, but I can't hold it against anyone to take a few bass, or any fish, for the table...for me it's natural &a waste not/want not thing. I grew up riding home on my bike w/ a stringer of trout for dinner, in Lake County, and took my share of nasty looks form a few of the local guides and many out-of-town yuppies...which really, just made the fish taste better. :evilsmile


Spoken like the chef that you are!! Now...where are your MA pictures???????

[Oldgrandman]

I was just suprised because i havent seen many overpopulated smallmouth lakes.

Targeting LM is not gonna catch as many SM as some might think. They are sometimes in the same water in a lake but generally not, I have found. Takes a different approach to bag em consistently.
Actually I only eat bass once in a great while too. Usually if the wife is hungry for a fish dinner and the eyes are not cooperative.

Report: hit the Grand this morning off shore, got 6 small SM and a 10-12 lb flathead. That was a fun ride....

[ZFK]

I dunno, im not to fond of LM, but have heard that smallies are about as good eating as walleyes. I guess if i was starving i would eat just about anything to keep my satisfied.

[Roosevelt]

I think smallies compare tastewise to a rock bass more than anything and I eat rock bass. I kinda quit eatin lm's and sm's when they raised the limit to 14", but I'm sure a 17"er smallie would be good eating. I wouldn't eat a lm over 14". I've ate lm's from certain clean lakes over 16" and they were pretty tasty too.

I don't think a 17-19" smallie is a trophy, it's a good fish though no doubt. when I used to fish em I'd get 18-20"ers all day long. Got a couple 22's as well. Pound for pound they are the best fightin fish around. i always wondered how a 36" smallie would fight compared to a salmon. LOL!

i did notice around the same time pro bass fishing got real popular the stigma against eating bass got real popular to. :dizzy: Money, popularity and the propaganda it breeds ruins everything IMO.

A guy I used to know would wrap lm bass pieces in bacon and grill em.....TASTY!:corkysm55 i remember catchin stringers full of 10-12"ers as a kid and eatin em all. they never ran out and got bigger every year. I still go back and catch a few just for fun these days. Prolly gonna go there tomorrow and might even slay a few.:evilsmile

[Firemedic]

A guy I used to know would wrap lm bass pieces in bacon and grill em.....TASTY!:corkysm55


Of course. Anything wrapped with bacon tastes good. You could wrap up a piece of shoe leather in bacon and I'd eat it.

[Elk5012]

I eat smallies all the time. In a clear lake, I'd eat them no matter what size they were. Out the the Detroit river I wouldn't eat them at all. If I had a plate with smallies, white fish, trout or catfish, I'd be reaching for the bass before the others.

[stinky reinke]

Went sm bass fishing saturday and caught 32 with 7 being over 14 inches. The bass out of Lake Huron are great to eat, especially for shore lunch!!

[ZFK]

I think smallies compare tastewise to a rock bass more than anything and I eat rock bass. I kinda quit eatin lm's and sm's when they raised the limit to 14", but I'm sure a 17"er smallie would be good eating. I wouldn't eat a lm over 14". I've ate lm's from certain clean lakes over 16" and they were pretty tasty too.

Roosevelt, where ya located, i know a lake up north that you can have all the rock bass i catch!