Largemouth Bass Marinade - Kills The Gamey Flavor

[Al Agnew]

As long as you only keep largemouth under about 14 inches, and the smaller the better, they taste just fine. Fillet them, dip the fillets in a mixture of raw egg with enough milk to make it runny, then drop them in a paper sack full of salted and peppered cornmeal, take them out and deep fry. You won't taste much difference, if any, between them and crappie or bluegill.

An even better (and probably even less healthy) way of fixing them is to fillet them, dip the fillets in melted butter, roll in crushed potato chips, put in a casserole dish, pile on more melted butter and potato chips, and bake them. You'll think you've died and gone to heaven!

[WakenLake]

My friend keeps largemouths so I don't post pictures here much because of that. If its 15 it goes on his stringer, I like the taste but I release all my bass(although I traded a cat for a bass once since they were keepin him anyways). To each his own, I'll have to try the marinade.

[ozark trout fisher]

I for years fished a lake where it was greatly encouraged (actually technically required at one point, though obviously not enforceable) to keep all largemouth bass under 12 inches. The reason obviously was that this particular lake was (and still is to the best of my knowledge) way overpopulated with smaller fish. So the management strategy was to have everyone keep the little guys and release everything else.

Because of that, I have eaten quite a few largemouth, admittedly mostly just small ones. I can't personally tell much difference in the taste between them and bluegill or crappie. The only fish that I've ever eaten with a really bad "gamey" taste have been big catfish, mostly 5 pounds and larger.

[eric1978]

An even better (and probably even less healthy) way of fixing them is to fillet them, dip the fillets in melted butter, roll in crushed potato chips, put in a casserole dish, pile on more melted butter and potato chips, and bake them. You'll think you've died and gone to heaven!

Hmmm, sounds...interesting. It doesn't get all soggy? I can't eat soggy fish.

[MoSportsmen]

Yep small bass fillets mixed with crappie and it is pretty hard to tell the difference. I fish a lot of slot limmit lakes and don't hesitate to keep those between 10.5 and 12 inches. That is what slot limmits are for. They say slot limmits don't do much for large lakes but it is standard in the smaller lake I usually fish.

I do agree that bass over 15 are less tasty so for me throw em back and eat something else. Hopefully catching them again another day when they bend the rod even farther.

[Mark]

Agree - the 12' bass are very good eating. Like most animals, the big older ones never taste as good as the young ones.

[Greasy B]

Yep, my favorite Bluegill lake has a LMB slot. The small ones go in the pan. I haven't had a need to flavor them any different that the bluegill but the butter and potato chip bake in the oven recipe sounds awfully good.

[Mark]

I'll bet that would work well in a pan on a grill over some hot coals when camping.

[5bites]

I too like the taste of bass. Sometimes I fry crappie and bass at the same time and never notice which is which.

I keep them out of a membership lake I belong to and some private ponds. Basically anything under 15" is in danger of hitting the frying pan depending on whether I feel like cleaning fish or not. At big lakes I never keep them since I tournament fish. Now if someone else wants to keep them and is doing it legally GOOD FOR THEM!That would be one of the reasons they are here. To be eaten. If I give up on tournament fishing one day I might start chopping their heads off too. These fish reproduce you know? Hence people have been keeping them for years and years yet our lakes are right now about as strong as they've ever been!

[5bites]

Also thanks for posting the video.