I grew up eating bass. I'm 52 and my family didn't have a lot of money but God provided for my family through my dad's hunting and fishing skills! Genesis 1:26 is God's view on this! Love the channel!
Good topic and well done video. As a kid fishing with my dad in the mid 60s to very early 70s, we kept and ate bass when we went on vacation 3 times to Arkansas. Most people did then. Fast forward 50 years. I fish kayak bass tournaments. Would I keep a small one or two on occasion for a meal where they're abundant? Sure. But I would rather catch panfish for that fish fry. Again good job on the video!
Bass fillets are great, i own a pond that has to be managed and you have to take some out. Know one should be shamed for eating a bass. I know a guy that goes to every tournament he can and keeps all the bass thrown back that are floating half dead and eats them. Who is worse, the guy eating them or the guys killing them.
It’s imperative to remove some bass from the lake or else there will be more predator then prey. But yes as a tournament fisherman I believe you should always let them four pounds or better go especially the trophy’s they are far and few between these days
Another great substitute for Bass is the Gar fish. I know people think they are a trash fish. However they are extremely delicious. It doesn't flake like catfish does.
I keep some bass to eat I release way more than I ever keep but after seeing 14 bass ranging from 3 to 5 pounds floating around the ramp after a night tournament on South Houston lake inTennessee, it's seems to me there needs to be more thought on how to keep these fish from dying after there release.
Once i ate a 15 inch Smallmouth that died. It was delicious. But besides that i throw all Smallmouth back. I eat 10 to 13 inch largemouth. when the water's cold they taste better.
Lake Murray Oklahoma is a great example of a lake that need selective conservation! If it’s legal in that lake or state none of us have the right to tell somebody they can’t or shouldn’t eat bass. Just my opinion, and yes I fish a few tournaments myself.
I know that a guy with a hook and a fishing pole can't hurt a population of fish. No matter what anyone says. He or she can keep as many as they want or can catch. How many times have you gone to the lake and blanked or just caught one, so not everyone catches 50 fish every time they go out. If you enjoy eating fish eat them so don't worry about what others think. I'm not big one keeping fish over 20 inches, but the dinks I always keep and eat.
Here in Michigan 14 inches is legal. I’ll keep and eat them. They taste better than the bigger ones. Keep the legal little one throw the 1.5lbs or bigger one back. Once I broke off 2 3lbs in the weeds. Next day I caught both in the same area and both had my old lure still stuck in there mouth.
I've always felt that Sportfishing/ catch-and-release was nowhere near as Noble as people make it out to be. To me it's a bit like torturing an animal for no other reason than for your fun and enjoyment. This fish do feel pain it is not fun for them. I do feel pretty guilty though since I have been bit by the bug and I'm doing a lot of catching release fishing lately, I am such a hypocrite😒
People forget.....for a lot of people; especially with people not having jobs; fishing is the only way too put protein in their stomachs. Bank fishing on our lake is up 200%. This may be slightly off topic, but I. help with the food pantry at our church. I took upon myself to go out and buy hams to give out at the food pantry on Wednesday (the day we are open) before Christmas, because we have no current way to store meat frozen or fresh. When people arrived at the food pantry they thought we were handing out gold bars. So my 2021 goal is to add a freezer to our food pantry and hopefully partner with a local beef and pork producer to keep it stocked so people less fortunate can get meat. Protein keeps you full and fuels the body.
I watched the Amish on a New York lake fish the docks with a Senco and literary catch and keep every Big bass they caught. Yep in the cooler!! I wish that lake had a slot size so the big girls could make it. It takes years for a fish to reach 5lb and bigger.
I owned 2 ponds 1 is 5 plus other is 3 if u don't take out the 10 to 14 inches the bass they will over take the pond and u will never grow 5s and 8s pound bass period not not saying take out all of them but one out of 3 plus good eating size
Glad you made a video on the topic! You guy's both made some awesome points and I agree with you, I don't mind if some people take a bass or two every now and then, I have done it myself growing up and now I just really keep them if they get hooked to deep or anything that kill's them so it doesn't get wasted... I'm with you boy's, crappie and catfish is where it's at lol
Its own person choice what they do, Like your view on it. My view look at the body of water size be smart about it. Pond that has no way fish to get in it naturally you can wipe them out. specially public ponds they get wiped out super fast "all fish breed". If a lake, river, creek system that is hard catch health bass, i say throw them back. If its very health water system ill keep 2-3lbs. If i catch a bass or any fish worth mounting, ill take alot pictures and take all the measurements to get a replicas made. Meat doesnt taste good when a fish gets to a certain size. Even with redfish i dont keep nothing over 20" really. Big speckle trout i throw back, 12-16" 👍. Good upload
My buddy here in pa just caught 3 over 3lbs yesterday through the ice and he kept boy was i pissed cuz around here man thats a pretty big fish but at the end of it as long qs its caught legally theres nuttin i can do now i didnt attack him and all that i jus asked qnd said you shouldnt have keep the small ones but ya i mean i dont eat fish of any kind so i might have a different taste on it but it is what it is
You can eat bass🤓as long as you follow the regulation of the lake of State😊.It's the Golden Carp you don't want to eat😞eating it will give you 7 years bad luck fishing😬😬😜😜
Growing up I watched Bill Dance and Roland Martin’s shows on Sundays after church. Only two shows on our reception at the time. I think it was Bill who always said, (not verbatim) “Keep only what you can uses and turn the rest back to fight again someday.” I would rather have crappie but every couple years we take my now 80 year old father n law on a river float trip and we Will keep our legal limit. Just for him.
I've eaten fish my whole life. I fish a good bit. Whether it be fun fishing or tournaments. My rule has always been don't keep any until after the spawn and only keep the 1 to 2 pounds. I also believe its good practice to eat the dead fish from that day's tournament.
I'm 52, when I was a kid we fished with the intention of eating what we caught, everyone I knew did. Now, people come up looking to bass pros as to how to fish and handle your fish. There are people who I think really never have kept and ate a bass. The problem comes, that too many people don't think for themselves they emulate instead. When you have an opinion, without supporting knowledge you'll tend to attack those who disagree, to camouflage their knowledge deficiency. This was a very sensible take on the subject fellas, good job.
I'm almost as old as you and that was my Dads approach when he was teaching us to fish. I was raised in Central florida and we fished to eat, period. It wasn't a sport or anything, it was cause we were hungry. I didn't even know until today that this was a thing, meaning people had an opinion on eating bass? Wow... learn something new everyday.
@@irql2 I can't say we went at it like a job, it was fun mainly but definitely food secondly. If it came over the side and it was within limits it was coming home. I'm from west central Florida btw, so we ate a lot of trout snook and redfish too.
@@billwhite7099 Yep, I remember dad going out with some relatives and bringing home massive drums. He'd tell stories about how they had to tie themselves to the pilings and fight for a while to reel one of those in. If you're from west central florida then you know where Polk county is and how many lakes are out there. We were always out fishing whenever we could. From time to time he'd take us over to melbourne and let us throw the cast net off some bridges. He was always catching trying to fill up the coolers with mullet... again, it was all for food :) Good memories too :)
I grew up in Missouri and my parents owned a piece of vacation property in Perryville. There were 2 lakes there and at that time, the legal limit for a "keeper" was 15". I can remember fishing there for weeks and weeks at a time, catching dozens of fish between 14" and 15", along with many smaller ones, without ONE over 15". My dad was a barber and everything we caught that was legal sized came home as well. Oddly, catfish were plentiful in that lake... we could limit out on channel cat every time we went there.
Not sure that I buy the "smaller bass are faster" argument, but they are definitely more aggressive and make up a larger biomass of the lake than the larger fish.
Louisiana native here, I'm 52 yrs old and have fished Toledo since my Dad and brother bought a camp there in 1995. I absolutely love that lake and have eaten a lot of fish from there, but I can honestly say I've never put a filet knife to any bass over 3 lbs unless it was one that was gonna die anyway, and preferably 1 to 2 1/2 lbers. And if I'm catching spotted bass, I'll make absolutely sure they are in my limit if I happen to be keeping bass that particular day. I'm like ya'll bass is not my preferred fish to eat, I love white perch, but a spotted bass is getting close to the taste of crappie, they are way better than largemouth. A typical 5 to 6 day trip in the spring bass fishing on Toledo with me and my son fishing every single day, I'll only keep a few bass about 2 days out of those 5-6 days. And in the Spring we're whacking em every day pretty much. As far as taste goes, ever since I was a teenager I've never understood why anyone would want to eat a bass 4lbs or bigger, they just aren't that good. What few bass I do put the knife to are in the cooler months of the year, there are certain lakes around my home here in North Central Louisiana that I won't keep any bass once it warms up.
I'm guilty... of NOT eating what I catch. However, I hang on every word spoken by Bob Lusk, aka The Pond Boss, and he says exactly what you said... we should be eating more of the smaller fish in most lakes to produce bigger fish. Now add what I've discovered recently... Being a new Texas resident, having just moved here from the PNW, I was very excited to learn about the Texas Sharelunker program, and started reading everything about it and learning everything I could about the details of the program. Then I went through some of the archived catches and checked out all the photos... Somehow I stumbled across the list of "Top 50 Largemouth caught in the State of Texas". So, being a math and statistics junky, I started analyzing all this and it became very clear that even though this program has been in place since the late 80's, over 1/2 of the top 50 (27) were caught in an 8 year span between '86 and '93. (Also a time when more people were keeping/eating what they caught... just sayin') Only 3 of those top 50 have been caught since 2012, and one of those barely made the list by about 1/2 oz. I'm 100% sure that the scientists who run the Sharelunker program know what they are doing, and to be absolutely honest with ourselves, I would say that throwing everything back, and not eating some of our smaller catch, is probably keeping us all from catching Bigger Better Bass. I'm just not going to do it... I like red meat.
This is ridiculous!!😂😂cuz I’ve eat a ton of bass!! 1-2 pounders are delicious!!! I freeze bags of fish every year!!! BUT!!!!! I catch and keep out of farm ponds. Not usually in the lakes we tournament fish in.
Fishing is expensive. I’ll drive 80-90 miles round trip to fish so I like to offset the cost of that by putting food on the table. I will always throw back bigger bass 3lbs plus. 5 bass that are 12-15” ends up being a fair amount of meat and will easily feed my family of four. The lake I fish a lot has a slot and you can keep one largemouth that’s 12” the rest have to be 15”. Spotted bass in the lake have no size limit. More people throw bass back than people that eat that eat them.
There are 2 official programs here in California regarding eating fish. the first is Catch ans release, no fish eaten. The other is SELECTIVE HARVEST where fish, including bass are encouraged to take limits and eat from time to time. Shasta Lake suffers in part due to almost no Selective Harvest of the spotted bass. Sadly bass the only fish in the United States where there is any controversy over eating it or not ONLY because it is the most popular tournament fish. Finally eating bass should not be akin to cannibalism.
The TPWD Outdoor Annual (Fishing Regulations) lists Freshwater Consumption Advisories for both Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn for Largemouth Bass concerning Mercury. You can read it yourself for all the details. The bigger the bass the more Mercury it has, so just eat the little ones, plus they taste better anyway. Spots are sweeter tasting too...
Great topic! I personally don't think I could make myself eat a Bass but, I wouldn't condemn someone else for it. I have a buddy who doesn't comprehend when I catch and release them...lol
Nearly everyone I know are befuddled when I tell them I put it back when it was a Bass lol I'll eat bass from friend pond's if they need them culled, BUT at my favorite big bass lake they go back.
Guys come to Guntersville in February and March with freezers and generators in back of trucks and clean everything they catch and throw carcus by boatramp. This is wrong to misuse somebody else's resource. Just be respectful and everyone can enjoy. Thanks good video.
Ok love both you guys. My viewpoint whether right or wrong. On some spot lakes limit of 10 or more on less than 14” fish. Of course not on trophy spots . A fish that’s dying eat em. Don’t go major crazy on killing large mouth but some occasional light harvest is fine. Basically my attitude don’t ever harvest more than you will eat.don’t freeze fish
I totally agree with you guys. Stay away somewhat from the bigger tournament lakes and stock your freezer from the smaller lakes and watersheds even ponds. Love the video.
If u stay within creel limits why not. Its not that good unless they feed on crawfish and bluegill, but if they're gorging on shad 🤮🤮🤮. Spots are great, completely different taste for whatever reason. Eatem up.
Some of your crappie fishermen are starting to get spooked about the consumption of Crappie based on the Live Scope usage. Are the crappie lakes being depleted now by overfishing? Being Positive is key.
I will eat smaller spots. Seems like they are pushing the large mouth out. What's your thoughts on mounting fish? I've never caught a 10lber but I always said if I did I want to hang it on the wall.
I agree with you and most things stated in this video. Except the big deer comment. You can have them, I’ll take a 1 1/2 year old doe any day over a big buck. So much better tasting in my opinion.
My grandparents fed us bass and all kinds of other fish when we were growing up but like you said with conservation laws it’s kinda hard for people to take out the smaller ones because on most lakes there’s a 15 inch limit on the bass and and most other fish 🐟
I've personally never have eaten a bass but I've only gotten into bass fishing a couple years ago. I see no problem with people eating them or keeping their limits, but like you said with people getting ridiculed over keeping their fish it's just ridiculous. I live in michigan so there isn't very many big LM but we have some spectacular SM fisheries and I've heard countless times smallmouth has an amazing taste.
Saw your moving back to Hemphill did you graduate from here ? I grew up by holly park if you know we’re that’s at but gotta place by alpine now. My dad has always had a 5 lb rule anything over goes back lol . I use that same rule today with my kids . I believe your right about Rayburn too it’s way over fished I think tournament anglers have ruined it for the weekend fisherman . I remember going to the lake and there be maybe 15 trucks there now you can’t find a spot to park .
You couldn't have picked a better location and subject to talk about this. I fish Choke Canyon often and I fish at least 3 days out of the week in the last 3 months and everytime I pull up off the ramp there is always someone cleaning a limit on 4+ pound bass that are full of eggs. I'm good with people eating any size fish. Just don't do it during the spawn.
Great topic,eat all the small ones ya want,those big 1s don't taste good,i personally don't even like the small 1s and I love fish,definitely not worth arguing over,its just a fish,I have a 10lbr on my wall that people would be pissed about,but if they knew how many big fish I threw back and the fact that I set a goal,when I was like 12 to mount only if over 10lb,and have caught another 10 after that and released it ,people gonna hate no matter what you do,cool video though
If you do not remove fish from the water, you'll only stunt the size of the fish. Yes, I eat Bass (as well as other fish) but I also practice catch and release.
I don't have a problem with somebody or even myself eating a bass although I don't just because I don't think that they are as good a fish to eat as others like a walleye for example. My thought on taking bass out of the gene pool is simply don't take fish out during the spawn or even the pre-spawn. Any other time is fine. But to interrupt the time of year when fish lay their eggs and to some degree raise the fry that is not a time to be taking fish away from the gene pool. And I also agree that taking fish larger than say 2 1/2 or 3 lb is contrary to allowing a lake to provide large trophy fish.
Just don’t be a locust. Be mindful of the environment and others. I have seen people keep everything no matter what. They are locusts. Then they complain that the small pond they depleted has nothing in it. I catch and release only.
I have and do eat bass occasionally , but just small keepers (14'' ers and spots ) . but growing up we weren't wealthy we ate what we caught and killed big little whatever . the bigger the bass are the less palatable they become. I have no regret eating bass
Jesus was a Fishermen and eat fish not to have a tournament to make money.Pe0ple keep what the legal limit is and do not let others tell you anything different so they can make a buck
States are all but begging people to eat some of the bass they catch. Straight catch and release is one of the worst things you can do for a trophy program. You would have to eat an enormous amount of fish to actually hurt the population in a large lake and removing some of the competition is very good for the rest bass. Where I’m from most people keep a mess of the smaller ones on most every trip and always have. The
I live on Toledo bend and our rule around our hood is 3 lb or bigger let them go period anytime of year I have heard some pros say we shouldn’t eat any bass here at all I guess we should stick to the big cats $$$! Right
I live on lay lake. If ever there was a lake that gets pressure this is it. That being said its slap full of 4 lbers. I personally dont eat many bass. I think one thing I'm glad yall mentioned is dead loss fish. It you hook one poorly gills tounge gut hook. Eat that fish or do what I do and give it to the guys that are fishing for food.
think their should be a weight limit on what you can say so that way the small ones get eaten and the ones over 4 pounds live to get big.. pretty easy fix..
I didnt relize there were so many fish eaters these days ,you eaters ruin fishing if theres to many small bass in a pond move them to another pond da,i manage ponds and fish lakes catch & release ,go to food lion plenty variety of fish to eat😳
for the record I don't have a problem with people eating bass what I have a problem with is when I see crappie fishermen with stringers full of two and three pounders along with the rest of their meat necklace that they go home and eat and what really makes me sick is when I see the four five six and seven pounders that come out of Santa Fe lake in the spring that all the shoreline crappie anglers catch on fish brain and they're on a damn meat necklace that's what makes me sick I'm not an idiot I do realize that the numbers need to be controlled but here in the state of Kansas our fishing game is pathetic you never see a game warden hardly at all so people just keep everything they catch from them for the most part and I have seen it affect our lakes you come up here some of these small lakes in the Southeast corner of the state and see what the krill limits are two fish a day cuz there ain't no fish with the exception of a handful of lakes
If I wanted to eat bass . I would find a lake with an abundance of small bass the needs to be thinned out. Usually a small lake. There are some lakes that have slot limits and the fisheries managers want people to remove fish within the slot.
I'm not a big fish guy. But if you bought your license and want to eat some fish, be it bass or not who am I to tell you what you can and can't eat. If you caught it and want to enjoy your catch go for it.
If you want too eat. Bass by all means do so.It’s like Bradley stated the limits are set . So it doesn’t effect the population. They are there for everyone too enjoy! My wife will eat nothing else but bass. This is.My on opinion.
Now on taste easy filet the bass less than 14 in cut them up in cube and added la. Hot sauce then salt pepper the flower and corn mel mix hot peanut oil drop them in float to top take out my my God better than anything but but respect the catch and release in tournament fishing only keep the dead ones to eat but u owned a pond u better wing out the little ones one out if 3 of u want have big bass thats a fact ask any pond management
I say if it’s legal let them do it I personally catch and release it isn’t all about professional anglers if they paid for the tags that makes it legal I see some professionals get mad if a person is fishing spot that they were going to you they feel they have more of a right to be there because their professional I don’t it’s public water
I keep bass from certain lakes and others I dont . On slot limit lakes the lake managers encourage the harvest of them to help the fishery . Its a win win . I get to eat fish and help the fishery at the same time .
I grew up eating bass. I'm 52 and my family didn't have a lot of money but God provided for my family through my dad's hunting and fishing skills! Genesis 1:26 is God's view on this! Love the channel!
We have a different problem with Lake Hartwell with mercury content in the fish.
Good topic and well done video. As a kid fishing with my dad in the mid 60s to very early 70s, we kept and ate bass when we went on vacation 3 times to Arkansas. Most people did then. Fast forward 50 years. I fish kayak bass tournaments. Would I keep a small one or two on occasion for a meal where they're abundant? Sure. But I would rather catch panfish for that fish fry. Again good job on the video!
Bass fillets are great, i own a pond that has to be managed and you have to take some out. Know one should be shamed for eating a bass. I know a guy that goes to every tournament he can and keeps all the bass thrown back that are floating half dead and eats them. Who is worse, the guy eating them or the guys killing them.
I think this great and agree but, fortunately/unfortunately I live in Louisiana...
It’s imperative to remove some bass from the lake or else there will be more predator then prey. But yes as a tournament fisherman I believe you should always let them four pounds or better go especially the trophy’s they are far and few between these days
Another great substitute for Bass is the Gar fish. I know people think they are a trash fish. However they are extremely delicious. It doesn't flake like catfish does.
I keep some bass to eat I release way more than I ever keep but after seeing 14 bass ranging from 3 to 5 pounds floating around the ramp after a night tournament on South Houston lake inTennessee, it's seems to me there needs to be more thought on how to keep these fish from dying after there release.
Once i ate a 15 inch Smallmouth that died. It was delicious. But besides that i throw all Smallmouth back. I eat 10 to 13 inch largemouth. when the water's cold they taste better.
Lake Murray Oklahoma is a great example of a lake that need selective conservation! If it’s legal in that lake or state none of us have the right to tell somebody they can’t or shouldn’t eat bass. Just my opinion, and yes I fish a few tournaments myself.
I couldn’t agree more
I know that a guy with a hook and a fishing pole can't hurt a population of fish. No matter what anyone says. He or she can keep as many as they want or can catch. How many times have you gone to the lake and blanked or just caught one, so not everyone catches 50 fish every time they go out. If you enjoy eating fish eat them so don't worry about what others think. I'm not big one keeping fish over 20 inches, but the dinks I always keep and eat.
Here in Michigan 14 inches is legal. I’ll keep and eat them. They taste better than the bigger ones. Keep the legal little one throw the 1.5lbs or bigger one back. Once I broke off 2 3lbs in the weeds. Next day I caught both in the same area and both had my old lure still stuck in there mouth.
No doubt about that!
I've always felt that Sportfishing/ catch-and-release was nowhere near as Noble as people make it out to be. To me it's a bit like torturing an animal for no other reason than for your fun and enjoyment. This fish do feel pain it is not fun for them. I do feel pretty guilty though since I have been bit by the bug and I'm doing a lot of catching release fishing lately, I am such a hypocrite😒
People forget.....for a lot of people; especially with people not having jobs; fishing is the only way too put protein in their stomachs. Bank fishing on our lake is up 200%.
This may be slightly off topic, but I. help with the food pantry at our church. I took upon myself to go out and buy hams to give out at the food pantry on Wednesday (the day we are open) before Christmas, because we have no current way to store meat frozen or fresh.
When people arrived at the food pantry they thought we were handing out gold bars. So my 2021 goal is to add a freezer to our food pantry and hopefully partner with a local beef and pork producer to keep it stocked so people less fortunate can get meat. Protein keeps you full and fuels the body.
I watched the Amish on a New York lake fish the docks with a Senco and literary catch and keep every Big bass they caught. Yep in the cooler!! I wish that lake had a slot size so the big girls could make it. It takes years for a fish to reach 5lb and bigger.
I owned 2 ponds 1 is 5 plus other is 3 if u don't take out the 10 to 14 inches the bass they will over take the pond and u will never grow 5s and 8s pound bass period not not saying take out all of them but one out of 3 plus good eating size
So don't forget to use a baby bass pattern lure to catch them.
Lol
Glad you made a video on the topic! You guy's both made some awesome points and I agree with you, I don't mind if some people take a bass or two every now and then, I have done it myself growing up and now I just really keep them if they get hooked to deep or anything that kill's them so it doesn't get wasted... I'm with you boy's, crappie and catfish is where it's at lol
Nothing wrong with eating those 12 to 15 inchers from lakes loaded with bass, but im a panfish guy when fishing for tablefare.
Its own person choice what they do, Like your view on it. My view look at the body of water size be smart about it. Pond that has no way fish to get in it naturally you can wipe them out. specially public ponds they get wiped out super fast "all fish breed". If a lake, river, creek system that is hard catch health bass, i say throw them back. If its very health water system ill keep 2-3lbs. If i catch a bass or any fish worth mounting, ill take alot pictures and take all the measurements to get a replicas made. Meat doesnt taste good when a fish gets to a certain size. Even with redfish i dont keep nothing over 20" really. Big speckle trout i throw back, 12-16" 👍. Good upload
Bass are delicious
Yes
My buddy here in pa just caught 3 over 3lbs yesterday through the ice and he kept boy was i pissed cuz around here man thats a pretty big fish but at the end of it as long qs its caught legally theres nuttin i can do now i didnt attack him and all that i jus asked qnd said you shouldnt have keep the small ones but ya i mean i dont eat fish of any kind so i might have a different taste on it but it is what it is
Interesting subject. I always catch and release just to catch them again!#RippinLipsInc Bream and crappie, a different story.
You can eat bass🤓as long as you follow the regulation of the lake of State😊.It's the Golden Carp you don't want to eat😞eating it will give you 7 years bad luck fishing😬😬😜😜
Sometimes size limits discorge eating the little ones
I don’t eat bass unless they die on me cause I don’t want to waste them
I can understand that
nothing wrong with eating them rats ,just leave the bigs alone my 2 sense enjoy the show
heck no im not eating a bass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Taking and/or eating bass is like killing your dog!
No, dog meat is much better !
anything for content
What do you mean?
People are stupid! Eat the damn fish if you want too!
I've ate bass for the past 55 years . I doubt I'm going to stop anytime soon 🥰
If its a legal catch iam eating that bass!!!!!
Sometimes I keep small fish to eat. I spend thousands of dollars in this great industry and i will keep enough a couple times a year. Hey get over it.
Bass is one of my favorite fish to eat! Eating fish isn't hurting anybody from catching big bass.
I love catching and eating bass.
Much respect i feel the same #DON'TFILETTHEBIGONES
Growing up I watched Bill Dance and Roland Martin’s shows on Sundays after church. Only two shows on our reception at the time. I think it was Bill who always said, (not verbatim) “Keep only what you can uses and turn the rest back to fight again someday.” I would rather have crappie but every couple years we take my now 80 year old father n law on a river float trip and we Will keep our legal limit. Just for him.
Agreed
I've eaten fish my whole life. I fish a good bit. Whether it be fun fishing or tournaments. My rule has always been don't keep any until after the spawn and only keep the 1 to 2 pounds. I also believe its good practice to eat the dead fish from that day's tournament.
I'm 52, when I was a kid we fished with the intention of eating what we caught, everyone I knew did. Now, people come up looking to bass pros as to how to fish and handle your fish. There are people who I think really never have kept and ate a bass. The problem comes, that too many people don't think for themselves they emulate instead. When you have an opinion, without supporting knowledge you'll tend to attack those who disagree, to camouflage their knowledge deficiency. This was a very sensible take on the subject fellas, good job.
I'm almost as old as you and that was my Dads approach when he was teaching us to fish. I was raised in Central florida and we fished to eat, period. It wasn't a sport or anything, it was cause we were hungry. I didn't even know until today that this was a thing, meaning people had an opinion on eating bass? Wow... learn something new everyday.
@@irql2 I can't say we went at it like a job, it was fun mainly but definitely food secondly. If it came over the side and it was within limits it was coming home. I'm from west central Florida btw, so we ate a lot of trout snook and redfish too.
@@billwhite7099 Yep, I remember dad going out with some relatives and bringing home massive drums. He'd tell stories about how they had to tie themselves to the pilings and fight for a while to reel one of those in. If you're from west central florida then you know where Polk county is and how many lakes are out there. We were always out fishing whenever we could. From time to time he'd take us over to melbourne and let us throw the cast net off some bridges. He was always catching trying to fill up the coolers with mullet... again, it was all for food :) Good memories too :)
I grew up in Missouri and my parents owned a piece of vacation property in Perryville. There were 2 lakes there and at that time, the legal limit for a "keeper" was 15". I can remember fishing there for weeks and weeks at a time, catching dozens of fish between 14" and 15", along with many smaller ones, without ONE over 15". My dad was a barber and everything we caught that was legal sized came home as well. Oddly, catfish were plentiful in that lake... we could limit out on channel cat every time we went there.
Not sure that I buy the "smaller bass are faster" argument, but they are definitely more aggressive and make up a larger biomass of the lake than the larger fish.
Bass are delicious!
👍
Louisiana native here, I'm 52 yrs old and have fished Toledo since my Dad and brother bought a camp there in 1995. I absolutely love that lake and have eaten a lot of fish from there, but I can honestly say I've never put a filet knife to any bass over 3 lbs unless it was one that was gonna die anyway, and preferably 1 to 2 1/2 lbers. And if I'm catching spotted bass, I'll make absolutely sure they are in my limit if I happen to be keeping bass that particular day. I'm like ya'll bass is not my preferred fish to eat, I love white perch, but a spotted bass is getting close to the taste of crappie, they are way better than largemouth. A typical 5 to 6 day trip in the spring bass fishing on Toledo with me and my son fishing every single day, I'll only keep a few bass about 2 days out of those 5-6 days. And in the Spring we're whacking em every day pretty much. As far as taste goes, ever since I was a teenager I've never understood why anyone would want to eat a bass 4lbs or bigger, they just aren't that good. What few bass I do put the knife to are in the cooler months of the year, there are certain lakes around my home here in North Central Louisiana that I won't keep any bass once it warms up.
I'm guilty... of NOT eating what I catch. However, I hang on every word spoken by Bob Lusk, aka The Pond Boss, and he says exactly what you said... we should be eating more of the smaller fish in most lakes to produce bigger fish.
Now add what I've discovered recently...
Being a new Texas resident, having just moved here from the PNW, I was very excited to learn about the Texas Sharelunker program, and started reading everything about it and learning everything I could about the details of the program. Then I went through some of the archived catches and checked out all the photos... Somehow I stumbled across the list of "Top 50 Largemouth caught in the State of Texas". So, being a math and statistics junky, I started analyzing all this and it became very clear that even though this program has been in place since the late 80's, over 1/2 of the top 50 (27) were caught in an 8 year span between '86 and '93. (Also a time when more people were keeping/eating what they caught... just sayin')
Only 3 of those top 50 have been caught since 2012, and one of those barely made the list by about 1/2 oz.
I'm 100% sure that the scientists who run the Sharelunker program know what they are doing, and to be absolutely honest with ourselves, I would say that throwing everything back, and not eating some of our smaller catch, is probably keeping us all from catching Bigger Better Bass.
I'm just not going to do it... I like red meat.
This is ridiculous!!😂😂cuz I’ve eat a ton of bass!! 1-2 pounders are delicious!!! I freeze bags of fish every year!!! BUT!!!!! I catch and keep out of farm ponds. Not usually in the lakes we tournament fish in.
Fishing is expensive. I’ll drive 80-90 miles round trip to fish so I like to offset the cost of that by putting food on the table. I will always throw back bigger bass 3lbs plus. 5 bass that are 12-15” ends up being a fair amount of meat and will easily feed my family of four. The lake I fish a lot has a slot and you can keep one largemouth that’s 12” the rest have to be 15”. Spotted bass in the lake have no size limit. More people throw bass back than people that eat that eat them.
That strike king wrap is tight
What’s up Andrew and Bradley
Y’all keep Todd and Scott straight
There are 2 official programs here in California regarding eating fish. the first is Catch ans release, no fish eaten. The other is SELECTIVE HARVEST where fish, including bass are encouraged to take limits and eat from time to time. Shasta Lake suffers in part due to almost no Selective Harvest of the spotted bass. Sadly bass the only fish in the United States where there is any controversy over eating it or not ONLY because it is the most popular tournament fish. Finally eating bass should not be akin to cannibalism.
Very good discussion. I might do something similar on my TH-cam channel. We target lake trout, rainbow, Kokanee , and Bass. Good video
The TPWD Outdoor Annual (Fishing Regulations) lists Freshwater Consumption Advisories for both Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn for Largemouth Bass concerning Mercury. You can read it yourself for all the details. The bigger the bass the more Mercury it has, so just eat the little ones, plus they taste better anyway. Spots are sweeter tasting too...
I pay 30 some dollars for a fishing license. Eaten 2 in my life. I'm 55. And the ones I've eaten have been caught in November
I'll eat bass. If it is five or under. If it is 10lbs or better, my buddy taxidermy will have busines.
Great topic!
I personally don't think I could make myself eat a Bass but, I wouldn't condemn someone else for it. I have a buddy who doesn't comprehend when I catch and release them...lol
Nearly everyone I know are befuddled when I tell them I put it back when it was a Bass lol
I'll eat bass from friend pond's if they need them culled, BUT at my favorite big bass lake they go back.
Guys come to Guntersville in February and March with freezers and generators in back of trucks and clean everything they catch and throw carcus by boatramp. This is wrong to misuse somebody else's resource. Just be respectful and everyone can enjoy. Thanks good video.
Ok love both you guys. My viewpoint whether right or wrong. On some spot lakes limit of 10 or more on less than 14” fish. Of course not on trophy spots . A fish that’s dying eat em. Don’t go major crazy on killing large mouth but some occasional light harvest is fine. Basically my attitude don’t ever harvest more than you will eat.don’t freeze fish
I totally agree with you guys. Stay away somewhat from the bigger tournament lakes and stock your freezer from the smaller lakes and watersheds even ponds. Love the video.
If u stay within creel limits why not. Its not that good unless they feed on crawfish and bluegill, but if they're gorging on shad 🤮🤮🤮. Spots are great, completely different taste for whatever reason. Eatem up.
If i want to eat bass ill usualy just catch white bass or hybrids. But if i get a 15-18in largemouth he's coming home too.
Some of your crappie fishermen are starting to get spooked about the consumption of Crappie based on the Live Scope usage. Are the crappie lakes being depleted now by overfishing? Being Positive is key.
I will eat smaller spots. Seems like they are pushing the large mouth out. What's your thoughts on mounting fish? I've never caught a 10lber but I always said if I did I want to hang it on the wall.
I agree with you and most things stated in this video. Except the big deer comment. You can have them, I’ll take a 1 1/2 year old doe any day over a big buck. So much better tasting in my opinion.
Gotta eat them responsibly.. if the majority of outdoorsman are doing it right the bass population will be fine.
My grandparents fed us bass and all kinds of other fish when we were growing up but like you said with conservation laws it’s kinda hard for people to take out the smaller ones because on most lakes there’s a 15 inch limit on the bass and and most other fish 🐟
Some lakes there are. Some lakes it’s 12”
@@AndrewUpshawFishing I live in Iowa and all of our lakes here have that 15 inch limit but our river systems has a 12 inch limit on the bass
I've personally never have eaten a bass but I've only gotten into bass fishing a couple years ago. I see no problem with people eating them or keeping their limits, but like you said with people getting ridiculed over keeping their fish it's just ridiculous. I live in michigan so there isn't very many big LM but we have some spectacular SM fisheries and I've heard countless times smallmouth has an amazing taste.
Saw your moving back to Hemphill did you graduate from here ? I grew up by holly park if you know we’re that’s at but gotta place by alpine now. My dad has always had a 5 lb rule anything over goes back lol . I use that same rule today with my kids . I believe your right about Rayburn too it’s way over fished I think tournament anglers have ruined it for the weekend fisherman . I remember going to the lake and there be maybe 15 trucks there now you can’t find a spot to park .
You couldn't have picked a better location and subject to talk about this. I fish Choke Canyon often and I fish at least 3 days out of the week in the last 3 months and everytime I pull up off the ramp there is always someone cleaning a limit on 4+ pound bass that are full of eggs. I'm good with people eating any size fish. Just don't do it during the spawn.
Great topic,eat all the small ones ya want,those big 1s don't taste good,i personally don't even like the small 1s and I love fish,definitely not worth arguing over,its just a fish,I have a 10lbr on my wall that people would be pissed about,but if they knew how many big fish I threw back and the fact that I set a goal,when I was like 12 to mount only if over 10lb,and have caught another 10 after that and released it ,people gonna hate no matter what you do,cool video though
If you do not remove fish from the water, you'll only stunt the size of the fish. Yes, I eat Bass
(as well as other fish) but I also practice catch and release.
Here's a thought.. if it's not breaking the law ...mind your business
Amen brother 👍
stay off my waters
@@raywilliams6098 I'm with you ray
If I caught ten pounder. I could not eat it. I’d just kiss her hug her take lots of pictures of her lol. Nothing wrong with fish for dinner.
I don’t eat bass personally but I don’t shame people that do. I hear it’s pretty good. Just don’t eat trophy size bass
I don't have a problem with somebody or even myself eating a bass although I don't just because I don't think that they are as good a fish to eat as others like a walleye for example. My thought on taking bass out of the gene pool is simply don't take fish out during the spawn or even the pre-spawn. Any other time is fine. But to interrupt the time of year when fish lay their eggs and to some degree raise the fry that is not a time to be taking fish away from the gene pool. And I also agree that taking fish larger than say 2 1/2 or 3 lb is contrary to allowing a lake to provide large trophy fish.
Just don’t be a locust. Be mindful of the environment and others.
I have seen people keep everything no matter what. They are locusts. Then they complain that the small pond they depleted has nothing in it.
I catch and release only.
I have and do eat bass occasionally , but just small keepers (14'' ers and spots ) . but growing up we weren't wealthy we ate what we caught and killed big little whatever . the bigger the bass are the less palatable they become. I have no regret eating bass
Easy decision for me... I don’t care for the taste of bass. Now crappie are a different story.
I can't eat any bass, we have better options to eat catch and release just like my ole girl friends. I had better options then too I got married lol
Jesus was a Fishermen and eat fish not to have a tournament to make money.Pe0ple keep what the legal limit is and do not let others tell you anything different so they can make a buck
States are all but begging people to eat some of the bass they catch. Straight catch and release is one of the worst things you can do for a trophy program. You would have to eat an enormous amount of fish to actually hurt the population in a large lake and removing some of the competition is very good for the rest bass. Where I’m from most people keep a mess of the smaller ones on most every trip and always have. The
I'll eat catfish and pretty much any other fish ,but not bass. I just prefer to catch and release. If it dies, that's a different story
You masterbassers are nuts. Eat a few.
They are a renewable resource but I never keep a spawning bass. Let her go back to the nest.
I live on Toledo bend and our rule around our hood is 3 lb or bigger let them go period anytime of year I have heard some pros say we shouldn’t eat any bass here at all I guess we should stick to the big cats $$$! Right
I live on lay lake. If ever there was a lake that gets pressure this is it. That being said its slap full of 4 lbers. I personally dont eat many bass. I think one thing I'm glad yall mentioned is dead loss fish. It you hook one poorly gills tounge gut hook. Eat that fish or do what I do and give it to the guys that are fishing for food.
think their should be a weight limit on what you can say so that way the small ones get eaten and the ones over 4 pounds live to get big.. pretty easy fix..
Red eyes are the absolute best
I didnt relize there were so many fish eaters these days ,you eaters ruin fishing if theres to many small bass in a pond move them to another pond da,i manage ponds and fish lakes catch & release ,go to food lion plenty variety of fish to eat😳
for the record I don't have a problem with people eating bass what I have a problem with is when I see crappie fishermen with stringers full of two and three pounders along with the rest of their meat necklace that they go home and eat and what really makes me sick is when I see the four five six and seven pounders that come out of Santa Fe lake in the spring that all the shoreline crappie anglers catch on fish brain and they're on a damn meat necklace that's what makes me sick I'm not an idiot I do realize that the numbers need to be controlled but here in the state of Kansas our fishing game is pathetic you never see a game warden hardly at all so people just keep everything they catch from them for the most part and I have seen it affect our lakes you come up here some of these small lakes in the Southeast corner of the state and see what the krill limits are two fish a day cuz there ain't no fish with the exception of a handful of lakes
If I wanted to eat bass . I would find a lake with an abundance of small bass the needs to be thinned out. Usually a small lake. There are some lakes that have slot limits and the fisheries managers want people to remove fish within the slot.
I'm not a big fish guy. But if you bought your license and want to eat some fish, be it bass or not who am I to tell you what you can and can't eat. If you caught it and want to enjoy your catch go for it.
If you want too eat. Bass by all means do so.It’s like Bradley stated the limits are set . So it doesn’t effect the population. They are there for everyone too enjoy! My wife will eat nothing else but bass. This is.My on opinion.
In the middle of the summer time It sucks when you pull them from out deep and they die but you can’t let them go to waste.
Me and my dad eat about 100 plus bass out of the ponds we fish. 10 to 13 inchers. it helps the lake. We throw everything over a pound back.
Some people fish to eat
... and some people, like me, eat to fish !
I know for a fact my grandfather ate bass and was a tournament angler.
Now on taste easy filet the bass less than 14 in cut them up in cube and added la. Hot sauce then salt pepper the flower and corn mel mix hot peanut oil drop them in float to top take out my my God better than anything but but respect the catch and release in tournament fishing only keep the dead ones to eat but u owned a pond u better wing out the little ones one out if 3 of u want have big bass thats a fact ask any pond management
I say if it’s legal let them do it I personally catch and release it isn’t all about professional anglers if they paid for the tags that makes it legal I see some professionals get mad if a person is fishing spot that they were going to you they feel they have more of a right to be there because their professional I don’t it’s public water
God made fish to be eating plain & simple. I personally will enjoy catching fish & eating them.. keep 🎣 folks..
👍👍👍
I keep bass from certain lakes and others I dont . On slot limit lakes the lake managers encourage the harvest of them to help the fishery . Its a win win . I get to eat fish and help the fishery at the same time .
Why wouldn’t you eat bass? I see Sea bass on menus all the time it’s a fish!
Is it right to eat bass ? What's wrong with it ? Don't bag limits protect the bass ?
Andy Your doing a great job love the channel👍!