What do bass taste like? 2024

bigguyz reply :

I always catch and release, but my wife asked me what they taste like so I did not know. What do they taste like? Is there a difference between SM and LM?

Thanks.

Lightninrod reply :

D/k about Smallies but L/M taste just fine if.......you skin them instead of scaling them. .

Dan

SDoolittle reply :

A lot of people will say that largemouth are not good to eat, but I think they are good. Growing up we had several farm ponds and had to keep a few fish from time to time in order to maintain healthy populations. Fish in the 12"-14" range seem to be the best. I have probably eaten smallmouth at some time, but I can't remember.

Del from philly reply :

Quote
I always catch and release, but my wife asked me what they taste like so I did not know. What do they taste like? Is there a difference between SM and LM?
Thanks.

Largemouth are a very bony fish......and everytime iv cooked them they came out pretty greasy/oily...

not the best for eating, but it seems more like an aquired taste......

not my favorite freshwater fish as far as eating is concerned,

but yellow Perch are good eating, and even sunfish/blue gills can taste pretty good....cook em right over an open flame fire

Catt reply :

First off if your fried fish is coming out greasy/oily your grease was not hot enough or you didn't remove them from the grease soon enough. To fry fish you mush have very hot grease and remember fish cooks extremely fast since it is a flaky meat.

Being a Cajun I can promise you most people do not like seafood because they have eaten seafood that was not cleaned properly and prepared properly. Some people however just plan don't like seafood, my wife is one. But if you like seafood I can prepare bass that you will absolutely love, it's so good that if you get some on your forehead your tongue will beat your brains out trying to get to it.

BOOYAH reply :

Quote
it's so good that if you get some on your forehead your tongue will beat your brains out trying to get to it.

ROFL thats funny.

But yes bass tastes just fine to me also.

Jig Man reply :

I have eaten several bass species but I can't stand to clean largemouth because the smell like frogs.

Bassn Blvd reply :

Bass taste like BASS. DUH.... They are not bony or greasy/oily. Speck or saltwater fish I think are much better but nothing wrong at all with bass. I stay away from eating golf course bass, neighborhood ponds or dainage canals fish.

.dsaavedra. reply :

i find that bass taste almost as good as stripers. i love them. i had three last year and i wanna keep some next time i go.

BoroBass reply :

Quote
Some people however just plan don't like seafood, my wife is one.

I'm another one of those. No one can believe I like fishing so much and won't eat any seafood. I think last time I ate seafood was in kindergarten when someone gave me fish sticks and told me they were chicken fingers.

JuniorFisherJJ08 reply :

Well personally for me i like hybrid Gills. When they spawn and your catching then in the 9inch+range you can taste them before your home. They are easy to fillet. I just use some macgic powder(breading) and deep fry them.

I prepare bass the same way, bass will fall apart more but they are still delicious.

I never at fish before until last year when my father MADE me try iy, i loved to fish but the smell and taste didnt appeal to me. But basically i shoved it in my mouth and couldnt belive what i was missing!

If you know how to prepare it right its absouloutley GREAT!

Gorgebassman reply :

I think that bass are more of a pain to clean than they are worth as far as taste dont care for them myself if i am going to eat freshwater fish I prefer crappie or walleye but I suppose we all have our own tastes more power to you try it you may like it nothing wrong with keeping a few bass for dinner.

George Welcome reply :

LM bass taste exactly like the water that they come from smell. Bass out of a lake with a lot of algae will taste like algae, and bass from muddy water will taste like mud. Bass from clear clean water will taste just fine. However, I like my cats better cuz they taste like chicken.

Bud reply :

Quote
it's so good that if you get some on your forehead your tongue will beat your brains out trying to get to it.

that is what I call good. If you fillet them they are ok not as good as crappie.

garland reply :

George Welcome is right! Bass taste like the water they come from. Most fish do.

Brookie reply :

I gotta add a couple more questions. How would one clean a bass, do you clean them the same as brook trout by holding them upside downstick your knife in the anal fin slice up to the head pull the cuts out and cut off the head? Also I have honestly never seen bass meat itself can someone post a pic of a bass meal

.dsaavedra. reply :

they way i cooked it was i seasoned up the filets real good (too many ingredients to list) wrapped them all up in the same tin foil "bag" and put it on the grill for maybe 10 min. that way they are cooking in their own juices and its crazy delicious. i dotn like fried fish. bass meat is white meat.....just looks like plain fish...nothin special. its pretty flaky delicious too!!!! ;D

perch-jerker60 reply :

LM Taste like chicken to me ;D I have a good spice mixture I use when I cook the fillets....Taste pretty good.

perch-jerker60 reply :

Hope this helps

.dsaavedra. reply :

mmmmmmmm those are some nice thick filets!!!!

crayon7 reply :

dangit those look good and thick. my mouth is waterin over them filets might have to pull mine out of the freezer to cope. haha

perch-jerker60 reply :

Yeah Dave, that was from a pretty good days fishing......

ILfisherman reply :

MAN those fillets looks good! Anyways, I always pan fry my freshwater fish. Just a light coating of oil in a nonstick pan, coat the fillets in flour, seasoned with salt, pepper(sometimes lemon pepper), and paprika and you're ready to go. Wait for the pan to heat up a bit (wait for the sizzle when the fillet touches the pan) and enjoy w/ some lemon juice on the cooked fillet I've been wanting to try baking bass in the oven, wrapped in tinfoil like I do salmon....anyone tried this?

Hey, could you guys post what spices u guys put in your seasonings??? dying to know!

Rattlinrogue reply :

When I did eat them,I filleted and skinned the fillets.They are fine eating.

guest reply :

What else?

they taste like chicken of course.

perch-jerker60 reply :

Quote
MAN those fillets looks good! Anyways, I always pan fry my freshwater fish. Just a light coating of oil in a nonstick pan, coat the fillets in flour, seasoned with salt, pepper(sometimes lemon pepper), and paprika and you're ready to go. Wait for the pan to heat up a bit (wait for the sizzle when the fillet touches the pan) and enjoy w/ some lemon juice on the cooked fillet I've been wanting to try baking bass in the oven, wrapped in tinfoil like I do salmon....anyone tried this?
Hey, could you guys post what spices u guys put in your seasonings??? dying to know!

Try using course black pepper, course salt, paprika and ground cumin......I use these spices and pan fry the fillets in alittle olive oil. Pretty good

FatBoy reply :

I think the taste of crappie is pretty similar to how they smell (the whole fish right out of the water). Is that the same for bass? Do they taste like they smell (or like your hands smell after a good day)?

Brookie reply :

Well ive honestly never seen a crappie in person but judging from the name they probably smell and taste like a handful of fish sh!t.

just my 2 cents

Dan: reply :

I always thought bass didn't have much of a taste at all. When I ate them it seemed that they just acquired the taste of whatever you cooked them with. There are many much better eating fish

TENNESSEE NEWSOME reply :

Fillet, fillet, fillet. Just like the picture he posted above.

I catch and release only, but many years ago when I fished with my Dad, he would always keep a few to eat. They tasted just fine..definitely not boney or oily.

I've never tasted a smallmouth.

Catt reply :

This is what I use

perch-jerker60 reply :

Quote

Quote
Well ive honestly never seen a crappie in person but judging from the name they probably smell and taste like a handful of fish crap.

best tasting fish crap you will every eat.

Crappie as in Bream fish??? :-?

Fish Chris reply :

They taste like a cross between Bald Eagle, and Spotted Owl ;-)

Seriously though, I'm really picky about the fish that I eat. The only freshwater fish that I really like, is Crappie (filleted, soaked in milk overnight, and deep fried) and sometimes catfish..... either farm raised (for a gauranteed consistent flavor) or, when I lived in La, Flatheads. Never had a bad tasting Flathead.

Bass just taste "too much like fish" to me. Stripers are even worse.

Now Saltwater fishing open up all kinds of choices :-) Halibut, Salmon, Mahi Mahi, Swordfish, Yellowfin Tuna, etc, etc.........

All of this said, "IF" I liked the taste of Bass, I'd pick a place which had lots of smaller fish, and I'd bring home a limit every time ! Selective Harvest is where its at. When you see / hear of people getting all bent out of shape because somebody killed a few small bass for dinner, what they are showing, is that they don't understand much about fisheries.

Peace,

Fish

RoLo reply :

It should be indicated at the onset, that everyone doesn't enjoy eating fish, my own brother is a good example.

As for my wife and myself, we both love eating fish, which is to say, we don't want our fish to taste like chicken

and we don't want our chicken to taste like fish

Among my favorite freshwater fish are bluegill sunfish, yellow perch, walleyes and bass (both largemouth and smallmouth).

I'd have to say that the best tasting freshwater fish I've ever eaten were indeed "bass" (High in Omega-3 oil to boot).

I put catfish near the bottom, which taste like the mud from whence they came.

As Dan pointed out, I never scale my fish, but fillet-and-skin those we choose for table fare.

In saltwater, I believe that blackfish (tautog) would be my favorite, but I put them no higher than freshwater bass.

Roger

guest reply :

My absolute favorite freshwater fish is native brook trout caught from a mountain stream and eaten within a hour of harvest. Nothing more is required that a little salt, pepper, butter and lemon. delicate flavor, flaky meat.

And cooked camp style adds a smokey quality.

Totally to die for.

As for saltwater, too many good choices. but mahi mahi, and Chilean sea bass are among the best.

captaininsaneo reply :

Bass are just like several other kinds of fish, tastes great if you can cook. However, crappie and bluegill consistently taste better. A few large crappie bring alot of meat, but you generally have to catch quite a few bluegill. Catfish are excellent too.

I have no clue how she does it, but my grandma fries fish perfectly. I can probably attribute my addiction to fishing partially to her cooking abilities, and to my grandpas love of the sport.

pantera4 reply :

when i do ea them i use a product from bps called uncle henry's beer batter.really good deep fired,but i do think lm are better than sm

cart7t reply :

I've often had to fill a short crappie limit with a bass or two for a fish fry. Bass have a slightly gamier taste than crappie. You can pretty much tell that just by filleting them. The Crappie have a whiter flesh, the LM, sorta grey.

All in all, there's far better tasting fish that come out of saltwater than anything from freshwater.

=Matt 5.0= reply :

To me, LM Bass taste like Snapping Turtle...

8-)

BucketmouthAngler13 reply :

In these waters, the bass taste just like the catfish. Catfish = Very good.

polarbear reply :

I have to agree with Dominion Dan they tend to acquire the tatse of whatever you cook them in or with. If you are going to fry them dredge with a good quality breading, I use House-Autry seafood breader.

Whopper-Stopper reply :

They taste terrible so be sure to release that fat old girl. ;D

Rattlinrogue reply :

Quote
Well ive honestly never seen a crappie in person but judging from the name they probably smell and taste like a handful of fish sh!t.
just my 2 cents

Crappie or white perch as they're known in these parts are probably the best tasting freshwater fish swimming.

[[J4cks0n.Shr3dd3r]] reply :

I love bass.. Alot of good meat on them. I only eat LM though, altho I have never tried SM. I just fillet them, nothing fancy. Works good for me!

Del from philly reply :

after reading these posts, IV REALIZED A FEW THINGS i am doing very wrong.....LOL

a. i probably cooked them terribly, with the cool oil soaking into the meat, rather than hot enough to cook it right.....

b. i dont clean them right....so they are too bony

c. the fish come from murky water, which may7 be why they dont taste as good as they could

d. I scale them, when i should have skinned them

wow, thagts a lot to learn from one post

bpm2000 reply :

Just ate my first one this weekend after wondering for a long time how it would be, with a helping of trout and bluegill (was a mixed bag day!). Didn't think it was nearly as bad as a lot of people try to claim. The bluegill were definitely better tasting.

I will try one smallmouth this yr for comparison but I dont think ill be keeping any LM for eating anymore. Still have yet to find a fish I like better than yellow perch from the freshwater though!

J.adam reply :

I just tried and ate some large mouth last night. It did have a slight pond taste to it which I've never noticed before yesterday. my 11 yr old son pointed it out to me. I grew up eating LM out of our private lake on farm in upstate NY and never noticed any pond taste. they are easy to fillet and no bones if you do it right. always fried them. Super good fish. maybe the smaller ones are better tasting. mine was almost 3lb that tasted a little like pond water. Stay away from stinky smelling water. over all great eating fish!

BassWhole! reply :

Bass is white, solid, flaky, and bland. Works well fried, or brolied when flavored with spices or sauces. Doesn't have much "fish" flavor. It's a relatively easy fish to clean by filleting. I don't keep or eat bass normally, there are so many better options.

On 6/16/2007 at 11:12 PM, RoLo said:

In saltwater, I believe that blackfish (tautog) would be my favorite, but I put them no higher than freshwater bass.

Roger

Dude, you are in FL. There are so many good to great tasting fish down there. Blackfish are ok, but it doesn't lend to a lot of preparations. I really dig it fried though.

Dave Davidson reply :

Some butter, a little Old Bay, lemon...mmm..mmm. Good!

the reel ess reply :

On 8/16/2019 at 11:30 PM, J.adam said:

I just tried and ate some large mouth last night. It did have a slight pond taste to it which I've never noticed before yesterday. my 11 yr old son pointed it out to me. I grew up eating LM out of our private lake on farm in upstate NY and never noticed any pond taste. they are easy to fillet and no bones if you do it right. always fried them. Super good fish. maybe the smaller ones are better tasting. mine was almost 3lb that tasted a little like pond water. Stay away from stinky smelling water. over all great eating fish!

The smaller they are, the better they taste. Try keeping some in the 1 lb range and fillet them. They get crispier as well. If you're maintaining a pond, this is also a way to manage it for bigger bass.

I find that the cleaner and/or cooler the water, the better they taste. I'd rather eat bass from a clean pond than crappie from a dirty, large public reservoir.

12poundbass reply :

Holy 12 year old thread! Welcome to Bassresource.

billmac reply :

Absolutely filet them. But after that, I don't have much of a palate for fish. It all just kinda tastes like fish to me.

Big Rick reply :

Water temp has a great affect on the taste. The cooler the water the crisper the taste. The warmer the water the fishier the taste. All in all, it a great fillet for grilling, frying, blackening, and broiling. It just requires some good cajun seasoning and a hot pot of oil.

dodgeguy reply :

Bbq with hot sauce. Bbq with basil sauce. Don't eat fish from murky ponds. Clearwater fish taste better.only keep 12 to 18 inch fish. Fillet them it's easy.Theow big fish back. I eat like 3 a year.

waymont reply :

I have had SMB and LMB from really clean water lakes and do not enjoy them much at all. If I want to catch and eat I prefer Pike, perch and Sunfish.

SeaCrow reply :

The only reason a bass doesn't taste good is if the cook screws it up..they can be scaled and cooked just fine without skinning them..ate plenty of them that way..

WRB reply :

12 years ago BR had several very interesting members no longer active today.

In 12 years time the C & R crowd has grown the catch and eat group has demenished.

Catts 1st reply was spot on, if you want good tasting fish handle it and cook it properly.

My inlaws only ate walleyes and lake trout considered bass too soft and weedy tasting.

I grilled some LMB bass fillets caught from cool clear water, killed and iced the fish immediately after catching them, the result my inlaws ate the fish and liked it not knowing it was bass.

Tom

Glenn reply :

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/bass-recipe.html

A-Jay reply :

A-Jay

TnRiver46 reply :

We eat the bass we catch in a muddy swamp in south Alabama from 90 degree water, flaky firm delicious white meat. A lot of misinformation on this thread. Then again if you asked 30 people if bananas taste good you would get varied responses

NYWayfarer reply :

They taste terrible. Throw them back and catch some Crappie and Yellow Perch for eating.

roadwarrior reply :

Just like Bald Eagle, Whooping Crane and Passenger Pigeon.

Big Rick reply :

On 8/17/2019 at 2:44 AM, TnRiver46 said:

A lot of misinformation on this thread.

Not misinformation. OPINION. There's a big difference. Bass in water at 90 degrees have a propensity to have worms in the fillets.

clh121787 reply :

large mouth under 2 or 3 pounds are really good im sure bigger is ok too but i wont keep any bigger than that. while still alive i bleedem by cutting the gills. and put on ice. cleaning a cold fish is waay easier. spots are even better!

dodgeguy reply :

On 8/17/2019 at 1:18 AM, Glenn said:

https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/bass-recipe.html

It's cool that Glenn and this site are open minded about eating one sometimes.

Bluebasser86 reply :

The bass in our lakes are crawling with worms when the water temps get higher. They won't hurt you, but it's pretty gross imo. One of the nastiest tasting fish I've eaten, and I ate a lot of bass growing up out of necessity.

Smaller ones out of clear, colder water are the best if I was going to eat them, but I turn crappie and walleye loose so what do I know.

Yumeya reply :

I've never tried one.

I know wiper taste pretty d**n good, I prefer trout, salmon and halibut.

When I was at work a couple years ago another employ came in, he brought in some smoked fish and

d**n it was good, he asked everyone to guess what kind of fish it was....It was carp and it tasted awesome.

TnRiver46 reply :

https://www.bassresource.com/fish_biology/fish_parasites.html

turns out bass resource has a good article on the worms sometimes found in bass. In my area the fish with the most parasites come from remote clear cool water fisheries and are mostly in smallmouth. Therefore I don’t feel like the temperature of the particular body of water is a contributing factor. More likely that , as with most parasites and larvae, they are just more prevelant in summer than winter. The parasite’s life cycle is extremely complex and involves certain species of snails and fish eating birds.

RAMBLER reply :

I like fish and that includes bass. One of the ways I really like LMB is fillet it, leave the skin and scales on. Pat the meat dry, then sprinkle on a little olive oil, sprinkle with basil, put a few small strips of onion and tomato on the fillet. Don't cover the meat in onion and tomato, just that few strips fro some seasoning. Put them on the grill, skin side down (duh). Close the grill lid and let them cook until the center flakes, with a fork. The edges will be cooked dry and tight to the skin. The rest will just slide off the skin. Learned that from someone who said that was the only way to cook red snapper.

Happybeerbuzz reply :

I fall in the category of bass fisherman that has no problem letting people harvest fish that are fishing with me. They are welcome to take home my limit as well as their own. I insist that anything about 3 pounds or more go back in the water for the tournament guys. Although I like eating bass, I personally only harvest terminally hooked fish which happens. In that instance, I do this except with bass fillets. Descaling is too much work and messy.

Big Rick reply :

On 8/17/2019 at 7:40 PM, TnRiver46 said:

In my area the fish with the most parasites come from remote clear cool water fisheries and are mostly in smallmouth. Therefore I don’t feel like the temperature of the particular body of water is a contributing factor.

You may be correct in the statement concerning SMALLMOUTH. However, the largemouth I catch have a greater propensity to have worms in water temps above 85 degrees. The exact same fishery will not produce worm infested fish when water temps are cooler. Therefore experience and repeated test results prove that temperature of MY particular bodies of water are definitely a contributing factor. My bodies of water are in MS and LA. No smallmouth in my waters...

GreenPig reply :

On 6/16/2007 at 12:59 AM, Del from philly said:

Largemouth are a very bony fish......and everytime iv cooked them they came out pretty greasy/oily...

not the best for eating, but it seems more like an aquired taste......

not my favorite freshwater fish as far as eating is concerned,

but yellow Perch are good eating, and even sunfish/blue gills can taste pretty good....cook em right over an open flame fire

Bony? Yeah just as bony as crappie, bream,stripers,hybrids, and yellow perch. I fillet my largemouth bass and they are boneless and delicious.

BassWhole! reply :

On 8/18/2019 at 12:54 AM, GreenPig said:

Bony? Yeah just as bony as crappie, bream,stripers,hybrids, and yellow perch. I fillet my largemouth bass and they are boneless and delicious.

x2. Not very bony, and a breeze to fillet, with good yield.

scaleface reply :

I usually keep enough to feed my wife , son and I . Several years ago the Mo,Dept of Cons. wanted to thin out a lake and made it 12 fish daily creel and no length limit . I accumulated 36 bass and 72 fillets . My brother had a hamburger bar b q and invited a good amount of people . I brought my 72 fillets and deep fried them . I had compliment after complement on how good they were . They disappeared fast and my brother had lots of hamburgers left .Kind of ticked him off . LOL

N Florida Mike reply :

I keep some 12-16 inch LM bass every now and then .. I like bass filets, although there are other fish I’d rather eat. I have never seen one worm in any bass Ive cleaned. We fry ours and they are good. I don’t like bass quite as good on the bone. It has a stronger taste, I think from the skin. Still pretty good though.

gimruis reply :

There’s really no reason to keep and eat bass when there’s crappie, sunfish, walleye, perch, or trout to eat. They are all very plenty up here in the north and they are all much better table fare than bass. Pike isn’t bad either if you can get past the slime and remove the bones properly.

slonezp reply :

On 8/17/2019 at 8:44 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

The bass in our lakes are crawling with worms when the water temps get higher. They won't hurt you, but it's pretty gross imo. One of the nastiest tasting fish I've eaten, and I ate a lot of bass growing up out of necessity.

Smaller ones out of clear, colder water are the best if I was going to eat them, but I turn crappie and walleye loose so what do I know.

Are the worms in their flesh or in their mouths? I'll see worms and what I would call fleas in their mouths during the summertime.

I don't keep any fish when the water is above 65*, no matter what the species. I have no issue keeping almost any species of fish when the water is cooler. I like the taste of LM bass. Not a fan of SM bass and I will not keep them simply because I don't like the taste.

VolFan reply :

I havent eaten a shad or skipjack, but there's not a freshwater fish I've run into that was inedible on a regular basis, even carp and drum. Ive had an occasion bad-textured or flavored fish from time to time with every species, from rainbow trout to catfish but by and large if you get it on ice quickly, keep it there until you clean it a readonable time later, and then treat the filets the same until you cook them, you'll be fine. Dont blame the soup blame the chef.

Bass are big bluegills.

Sphynx reply :

Bass don't do it for me, they are fun to catch, but I don't eat them, crappie on the other hand are in deep doodoo if I hook into one, because he's swum his last race, I have also always enjoyed rainbow trout as table fare, and have many fond memories of catching and cooking them growing up.

Bluebasser86 reply :

On 8/18/2019 at 9:00 AM, slonezp said:

Are the worms in their flesh or in their mouths?

In the fillets. Looks like zits on the fillets, pop a knife into it and a worm explodes out like an alien, but people eat them like that and don't seem to care or don't know.

Russ E reply :

On 8/18/2019 at 9:27 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

In the fillets. Looks like zits on the fillets, pop a knife into it and a worm explodes out like an alien, but people wat them like that and don't seem to care or don't know.

I think all sunfish get them. we used to catch bluegills and rock bass in the summer that were loaded with worms.

My friend ate them.

If there were any worms, I did not eat them

greentrout reply :

i live in an area where there are plenty of restaurants that offer excellent seafood and catfish ... all of it tasty and fresh... would never eat a bass ...

good eating ...

DanielG reply :

As a kid we used to catch bass, white perch, pickerel, and hornpout (small catfish). I've eaten them all. For a long time now though I prefer cold water fish. Ocean fish mostly. Here in Maine haddock (the king of eating fish to me), cod, and even mackerel, an oily fish but very good.

Koz reply :

Quote

What do bass taste like?

Chicken. Everything unknown tastes like chicken.

Bill Lehr reply :

I really like raw gold fish...about 2" long. I just go to my local pet store, dip in the net and drop one down the ol' gullet. It tickles a bit on the way down, but it's a great variation of sushi. It's "American!"

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What do bass taste like? 2024

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