Found some serious Smallies this weekend

[FinsnFur]

Ended up catching 15 Smallies, three Stripers and 2 Walleye in a about a 4 hour time period.
Man I needed that. What a blast.


Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

[HaMeR]

    Nice day out!!

Do you release them this time of year?

[slagmaker]

Looks like ya had a great time.



Thanks for sharing

[Hawks Feather]

Looks like fishing is picking up and you seem to be enjoying it.   

Jerry

[Dave]

Wow - some nice fish.
I GOTTA get out (more).

[coyote101]

How many did you keep to eat?

[Okanagan]

Great fishing, great catching and great pics!

[nastygunz]

 Where is the stripeRs🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟🐟

[FinsnFur]

Thanks guys it was a blast...it felt good to hit em like that for a change. Especially after waiting so long for the river to settle down after the thaw. The kayak comes out SOON...and Bluegills and Largemouth Bass will be next 

I didnt keep anything except the Walleye in the pic. I catch and release all my bass anymore. I do it for sport (addiction) and it assures the resource will be there for my kids, kids...hopefully. 

When the bluegills start spawning here over the next week or so, I will stock the freezer with my legal allowance of those. 25 daily,  50 possession.
And I catch so few Walleyes I usually eat those the day I catch them lol. It's like a peanut butter cup to a 5 year old. 

[HaMeR]

 

Im gonna get my stuff out & get it cleaned up & new line spooled on. I do love catching those big bluegills!!

As for the Walleye eating regimen you practice,, I don't blame ya one bit!! Walleye is the best eating fish IMO. Followed closely by crappie & Bluegill. 

I used to fillet those big pond bluegills out. Dip em in milk then roll them in flour & cornmeal. Lay out a long piece of wax paper. Place one filet on the paper then fold it once. Then another filet & fold it once again. Do that til you run out of fillets. Throw it in the freezer & when you want a fish samich just unroll however many you want & drop it in some hot oil. They aren't all stuck together that way.

[HaMeR]

Got all 5 rigs ready to roll!! Grab my license this Friday & watch it rain til Sunday!! 

[pitw]

Man them bass got some serious tail fins, eh. Are they no good to eat?  I see folk down your way always fishing for bass, is it because it's the only fish or ?

Good job, eh.

[Okanagan]

Am interested to see what the experts who have bass handy to where they live will say about eating them. 

I think they are good to eat, and ate a LOT of bass when I was growing up.  Last time I was around any bass was a couple of years ago in OKLA when my cousin and I ate a bunch of them, smallmouth and largemouth. 

I like walleye better, and consider walleyes the best eating of freshwater fish.

 

[nastygunz]

 I never much cared for the taste of bass myself. I just like catching them now. I have been keeping an eye on the outlet of a pond that I hit every spring when the big bluegills move in. I wait till I see them hitting on the surface and then break out the flyrod.

[FinsnFur]

I think the reason you see so many people fishing for them down here Barry is because it's literally a sport. Just like calling coyotes. Most people dont want them, and they get released unharmed after bragging rights based on the size of the fish.
They have tons of bass tournaments down here that draw maroons from all over the country to fish for bass on the Mississippi and win some cash doing it. I hate it, I hate most of the guys that do it, and I hate being on the river when it's happening. Those guys for the most part are ruthless, littering, foul mouth disrespectful assholes. But it brings money to the little river towns. 

Bass are very plentiful, but there's an art to catching one thats mature and thats where the sport comes in. The bigger they are the harder they are to catch because they seem to get smarter.
WI regulations wont allow anyone to harvest any bass under 14" if you DO CHOOSE to keep them, and your only allowed 5. You will have a damn long day in trying to catch 5 Bass over 14 inches most days. Thats why like a day I had above...it's so fun. It doesnt happen very often to very many people.
The bass tournaments use the same rules. They collect 5 fish through the day, farm them if they need to and go weigh in at the end of the day. The fish must be kept alive and are released after weigh in. The team with the most weight in their 5 fish, wins first place.

They arent bad to eat as far as I'm concerned. I prefer to eat them when they come through the ice though. They just taste better. There is a pink strip of meat that runs their lateral line that should be removed after they are filleted.  If not it gives the meat a bit of a grassy fishy taste.
If you ask someone that dont like eating bass they will tell you they taste too fishy, and the reason is because that pink strip got left on. No other fish has this that I know of, so not many people know it should be cut off to make it taste better.

[Hawks Feather]

They have tons of bass tournaments down here that draw maroons from all over the country to fish for bass on the Mississippi and win some cash doing it. I hate it, I hate most of the guys that do it, and I hate being on the river when it's happening. Those guys for the most part are ruthless, littering, foul mouth disrespectful assholes.

Jim,
I am just wondering if you could explain this a little better.  While I am not real sure, I have the feeling that you are not one on their fans.   

Jerry

[pitw]

Great reply master .
I sure hear you on the cold water fish, I've often wondered how folks eat them outta their ponds that gotta be near 80F.  Even here the summer fish taste like mud in the shallow lakes. 
I've often thought the lateral line tasted like [stuff in a pile behind a cow] and will leave it on the plate when possible.  Now I'll try your plan of cutting it off first.
Seems anything turned into a contest becomes a poop show including wet tshirt contests.

[Okanagan]

Jim, interesting good info on bass.  Will tuck that item away re cutting off the pink strip along the lateral line.

On albacore tuna from salt water there is a similar line of dark meat along the lateral line that has a strong taste.  We cut it off before cooking or canning and the canned tuna is waaaay better if all trace of it is removed before canning.

However, by way of full disclosure:  I am omnivorous and not very picky about taste on most things, to the extend that my wife says that it is a waste to let me eat expensive chocolate or drink expensive coffee when Hershey bars and reheated convenience store coffee will do.

[coyote101]

We usually release the bass we catch here (mostly largemouth), unless they have been injured; those we keep and eat. I like the taste of bass just fine, although I guess I don't have a very discerning palate. 

When we go on our canoeing trips to Canada, we eat fish about every other day, and it is usually smallmouth, or sometimes pike. For the most part that isn't by choice; I am just a lousy walleye fisherman. I would eat walleye before bass if I could catch the damn things!  Maybe this will be the year. 

Pat