couple of crappie trips

[line wetter]

went up searching for crappie a couple of times in the last 10 days. Got 13 one day and 14 another. All on white jigs in brush piles 14 to 18 feet deep. coves around the state park area. I was cleaning fish at the ramp and one boat pulled in and asked if I was cleaning white bass. Of course not. No way will I ruin my fillet knife on those things. i suspect if you tried to use them as fertilizer your crops would taste bad.

Yeah I know there are all kinds of ways to make them edible but I mean good grief if you have to go to that much trouble to be able to eat them what does that tell you. Would be a good food for anyone wanting to lose weight.

[Sam]

Ha - well, different strokes for different folks!  I've heard that a lot and it seems many people dislike, despise, etc. white bass fishing - especially, maybe, the big-tourney bass guys.  That's fine with me, everyone should just do what they enjoy.

I really like crappie and walleye fishing best.  All this year my partner and I have fished Stockton once or twice a week.  Sometimes we both get our limits, often not - but we do pretty good and we've both got lots of filets in our freezers.

Thing is, I'll fish for most anything that's biting at the time and have fun doing it.  White bass in particular are a LOT of fun,  in my opinion.  They fight like crazy on light to medium tackle, they run in big bunches, and they sometimes go on top-water "feeding frenzies".  I think it's a blast to "chase the boils" when they're doing that and throw a Roostertail or Rattletrap into all that surface action before they quit and submerge, then they come up in another spot.  Unhooking and throwing fish in the bottom of the boat so fast it's hard to keep count and you don't have time to put them in the live well is my idea of a real good time.

Then there's the eating.  We like smoked fish, and I like to smoke white bass filets with green apple wood in our outdoor BBQ.  Untreated white bass filets are oily and fishy like many ocean fish, and that's what's best for smoking - mild-tasting fish like crappie don't smoke nearly as well.  Or, for breading and frying like crappie all you've got to do is soak white bass filets in Club Soda (carbonated water) in a bowl in the 'fridge for about two hours before frying, then rinse them off.  I generally freeze fish filets in quart freezer bags containing five fish each - ten filets.  Last night we had two of our grown grandkids over for supper, and we thawed, breaded, and fried three bags of filets - ten crappie and five white bass.  I soaked the white bass filets in Club Soda for two hours before frying, and you honestly can't tell them from crappie side-by-side on the same plate.  Real good eating!  When it's large white bass, over 14" or so, I also trim the red meat off.

But do what you want - leave those nasty white bass in the lake if you want, I'll take care of them.  LOL

[Bassin' fool]

I’ve always said if you don’t like white bass then you’ve never had them cooked right. I’ve turned many non believers onto white bass. The secret is, don’t tell them what they’re about to eat and they’ll just assume it’s a farm pond largemouth 😂

[PHhunter]

I fed about 40 people white bass last night and many people told me how good it was. Even some that said they usually do not like fish. People who bad mouth white bass do not know how to fix them. 

[WhateversBitin]

13 hours ago, Sam said:

When it's large white bass, over 14" or so, I also trim the red meat off.

+1 on this for sure. I don't even have a minimum for this. All red meat on white bass gets trimmed off my fillets.

Some of my best fishing memories are from schools of whites that stayed on the surface for a lengthy, and frenzied, period of time. I can't help but smile remembering myself and two other high school boys in a Scamp on Beaver Lake 30 years ago. It was sitting pretty low in the water, by the time we headed to shore.

[MOPanfisher]

Where I have been fishing the last couole weeks crappie and whites are both pretty well populated.  I have no problem taking g home a limit of each.  The whites are firmer fleshed and very tasty.  I am careful when cleaning them to trim them well.

[line wetter]

don't mean to make fun of anyone who likes white bass. just like to stir the water. Over the years We have gotten used to the delicate fish flavors, crappie, walleye, bluegill, flounder and grouper. Even a nice flathead catfish is good to eat. All these I can roll in cornmeal, deep fry and they are wonderful. I haven't frozen any fish for the past 20 years. Like the fresh caught flavor and I go often enough to get enough to eat. Never have been one to care for any type of food that is dressed up to taste different from what it really is. Just a died in the wool meat and taters man.

The whites are fun to catch except when night fishing for crappie and they wrap your line up around the others set out. i do have some friends who like them and when with them we will keep what they want.