Should You EAT Bass?!? (Small Mouth Catch And Cook)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ต.ค. 2024
- This is quite a controversial topic. Should we eat a bass? What’s your opinion? Leave a comment down below.
official sougayilang website: www.sougayilan...
for 30% off using code: BA30
Best,
Jesse
Mainely Outdoors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
****Want to use the flies that are in my box and help support my channel? *****
I tie all of my flies and will fill a box for you that is a minor image of mine, so you’ll never have to wonder if you're using the right flies. Just send me an email (mainelyoutdoors18@gmail.com) or contact me on Instagram (mainelyoutdoors18) and let me know what species you’re after, what area you’ll be fishing, and your favorite method of fishing and I’ll tie up some flies just for you!
I can also make you some trolling flies or ice fishing jigs if you'd like!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
***Mainely Outdoors Merch!!!**
Help support my channel so I can go on bigger adventures, improve my camera gear, and continue to provide you with high-quality content! The Mainely Outdoors merch store - teespring.com/... Thanks for all the support! You Guys are the Best!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fishing Gear:
Trout fly fishing reel: amzn.to/2HmeBCD
My favorite Trout fly line: amzn.to/2yZp963
Large spinning reel: amzn.to/2z4gZZO
Fly Box (Super cheap but get the job done): amzn.to/31LJVlX Net: amzn.to/2Z7HQiq
Net quick release magnet: amzn.to/2TAoHVl Trout Spey Rod set up: reel 7/8 - amzn.to/2VWMmkX
rod - amzn.to/31Q
line - amzn.to/3ea3qKw
backing - amzn.to/2VWMZej
My cooking set up:
Stove: amzn.to/2YRmPgs
Lightweight Pan: amzn.to/2Kz0Faf
Water filtration system: amzn.to/31CS3oE
Cutting tools:
Pronghorn - by Cypress Creek Knives - Instagram @ cypresscreekknives - www.cypresscre...
Pocket (favorite of all time!!): amzn.to/2KCaN24
Locking (my very first that I still own since I was 9 soo I’d say it lasts): amzn.to/31Q8jTB
Fixed: amzn.to/31EFIjR
Filming Equipment:
Big Camera: amzn.to/2Z8jGnO
Camera kit: amzn.to/31CP0wI
My only camera lenses at the moment: amzn.to/2z1WP2I
Polarizing lenses: amzn.to/2YYQpQL
ND filter: amzn.to/33B3Llt
GoPro: amzn.to/2Z8cGvi
Best GoPro microphone: amzn.to/2KAgI7B
Battery pack for all-day recording: amzn.to/2TyZsTb
Small microphone: amzn.to/31HM4PA
case to hold the mic adaptor: amzn.to/31HLAc5
GoPro Mic adaptor: amzn.to/31HKey1
Day Pack: amzn.to/31Fkn9R
Best outdoors camera backpack (love this thing!!): amzn.to/31J75JM
The above links are all affiliate links
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow me on:
INSTAGRAM:
mainelyoutdoors18
+
mainely.flies
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact me: Gmail: mainelyoutdoors18@gmail.com
Hi Jesse, I’m a big fan of your videos. I have been fishing for smallmouth bass for close to 60 years now. My family has a large bit of land in western Québec, where the fishing for bass, walleye, pike, lake trout, and brook/speckled trout. We would never hesitate eating bass out of our clear, cold water. Occasionally you will see worms from time to time, but when the fillets are pan fried in a well seasoned iron skillet over fire they are superlative! We dip them in flour, and season them with salt and pepper, and maybe a bit of Old Bay. Fry in bacon grease and oil mix. They’re firm, sweet, and hold their own with walleye and trout. Cheers, Sandy
I eat about 20 bass a year. Best eating size is 14 to 17 inchers. Smaller fish are hard to get a good fillet from and larger fish are grainy. My favorite way to cook fillet bass is like Bobby Flay does. Coat them in corn startch and bread them with panco or Italian bread crumbs. Fry them in Soybean or vegetable oil. Shake on Old Bay seasoning and make homemade tarter sauce. If I fowl hook a large bass I'll make fish soup or stew with it. Good eating. I bury left over parts in the garden to grow vegetables.
I'm 67 and have been eating bass since I was a kid, both spring and fall. They do tend to be a little mushy in the summer unless you get them from a cold stream or Lake. Keep up the great videos.
Yeah, that tends to be what I find too but they are great fryed firms them up a but. Glad you enjoyed the video!
I find that ice water in the fridge for 24 hours totally firms up the meat
My dad used to take us fishing up in Northern New Hampshire near the Canadian border in the most northern part of Stewartstownship near Coleman State Park. Never caught a Bass in any of the ponds around there. Did catch lots of yellow perch though. We were taught by the locals to never throw the perch back into the water because they were considered invasive to these particular bodies of water. I’m not sure if it’s true but we never threw them back in. People didn’t generally eat the perch, preferring trout as the edible fish, and because of this a lot of perch have been executed to waste or for their carcasses to be eaten by scavenging animals. It just didn’t seem right to me so I tried cooking one. Whoa! Other then being a little bonier than trout it tasted just as good, but different. It was a white meat with a very mild buttery flaky taste. It was so good that I won’t throw them to waste anymore. The number one rule is only keep what is going to be eaten, and be good stewards of this beautiful gift that’s here for us because if we don’t take care of it and become informed so that we can do our best at it, then it may not be here for our grandchildren to enjoy. I thought this was a great video to highlight the real reason we were drawn into the outdoor life. To become one with nature and be a force to maintain its balance and not become a reason for why it’s getting thrown out of whack. God bless happy fishing everyone!
Nothing better than a good large mouth fillet, but I don't care for the smaller ones, it seems like bigger ones taste better.
I've eaten plenty of largemouth in the last few years. I find they are better in Spring than mid Summer depending on where they are caught- smaller/warmer ponds vs. cooler larger ones. Though the last of this season was 3.5lb LM, cooked simply in butter, lemon and pepper, it was delicious, no pond scum taste at all. Nice camera work, editing etc. Subbed!
great vid, the cooking part was like a professional food channel show
Thanks that means alot! I'm very happy with how this video turned out!
I grew up fishing in the Adirondacks and always ate smallies. I wasn't aware there was a controversy about it till I started watching TH-cam and Instagram. Not as good as trout, but still delicious!
Really enjoy your videos, you're doing a great job showing the places you go. Love seeing the scenery and Wildlife! Keep up the great work on your channel.😊
Ace Videos said on a podcast that he really wants to go to Maine. You should hit him up
Hes one of the reasons I got into this Maybe ill try to reach out see if he want to be shown around
Cool video as always! I personally love eating bass! I find it has a similar flavor as yellow perch(which I also love to eat).
That's so weird, I like yellow perch, but every single way I've tried bass, both smallmouth and largemouth, all I can taste is super fishy concentrated pond scum. Even chain pickerel are palatable to me. What the heck am I doing wrong?
@@racerex340 lol, well we all have different taste buds, but how I cook bass is the same way I cook perch. Fillet, dip in beaten eggs, coat with smashed up ritz crackers, fry in olive oil.
@@myoutdoorlife3833 Yeah we're all unique in that sense. I've definitely tried the deep fried approach similar to yours, with the ritz crackers replace with bread crumbs. I'm going to continue trying different things, because I don't like the idea of fishing for something that I wouldn't eat. Thanks!
That sounds delicious !
I need to try yellow perch this year some how I never have. Where I grew up they were considered junk fish
Jesse I have lake James here and for years we could catch two to four 20 inch plus small mouth a morning there and maybe 20 fish a trip 15 to 19 inches. This did not change for thirty years, it stayed exactly the same , but today the ones over 20 inches are fewer even though the numbers are about the same ,,typically one time a year we would gather all who wanted to come on a sand bar and cook small mouth and walleye , and it was absolutely wonderful eating but after that one meal those guys would all go right back out fishing and throw them all back in the lake , the only difference we can see today is that the larger fish are fewer and we don’t know why.
Camera work was positively spectacular, professionally produced, well done!
Thanks! I'm very happy with how this one came out!
Though, I eat mostly trout and salmon and/or ocean fish like haddock, cod, striped bass, bluefish etc. Over the years I ate a handful of both large mouth and small mouth bass and prefer the small mouth. I think large mouth taste better when caught in the winter and usually small mouth taste good year round probably because I catch those in a cold deep lake but I usually let them go. Maybe it's time to try a few. Good video!
Have eaten bass for years. I always fileted it up, then held up to some light, so I could see and remove any cysts that I found. With those removed, no issues with eating them. Fried up they are excellent. They are also fun to catch!
Not sure if you saw all the cysts in this one but i was not going to take the time to do it. Personally, I dont mind "meats meat" so long as its cooked well I find it doesn’t change the flavor. Although, I decided not to tell Maren about them haha
Another great video. Really nice presentation on the plate almost looked to nice to eat. The culture in my country is almost anything you catch you cook and eat so i would have no problem with you taking a small mouth bass for the table.
Thanks! Yeah, thats how i was raised too but now i fish to much to be keeping all my catch
Caught my first small mouth today at pyramid Lake California didn’t know what to do with it. Until I Found your video thanks buddy
Man idk what people are talking about my boys mom used to catch bass and blue hill and fry sammiches for us every Friday before the high school football games they were so fire. I want to catch my own and make some
Lol, glad you gave it a second chance! I still think you should retry the fried method.
Oh I definitely will. I like trying some unique recipes thought. Hard to go wrong if anything is fried! 😂
Great video, love what you said about 'the best fly rod' being one you can afford and that is in your hand. I am new to flyfishing and last fall I purchased that same combo but in a 5/6 wt. Budget friendly and I somehow managed to catch two bluegill and a crappy on my first two trips out to the water. 🤣
I live on the East Branch and I've caught 100's of smallmouths on both fly and spinning gear and I've never even thought of eating one...lol! I do like Brookies and Salmon from certain areas, though. Towards Millinocket, they die of old age first and they get MASSIVE!
🤫
Great video! Nnnnaaaaahhhhh... The one 2 years ago wasn't bad! Lol!! I like smallies. No issues having one if I so decide.
Thanks! Lol it makes me cringe but it also makes me realize how far ive come over the years. Thats why I'll never take it down
Really enjoyed this! Recent sub. " I caught you a delicious bass."
Napolitano Dynamite
😂 🤣 I would have added that in there if i would have thought of it !
Oh and thanks for the sub! glad you liked the video
Headed to GLS this Sunday for a few days. Hopefully I get lucky!
@@josephdisselkamp2586 good luck the water is still probably a bit warm for salmon but the bass should be biting
Bass are delicious and are considered a nuisance salmon/steelhead smolt killer on our local rivers. Your encouraged to take’em all home
Okay, I'm the fourth poster here. What the hell is wrong with eating bass?!!! I grew up up in B.C. ; there bass are an invasive, introduced species. Shunned by most as they're not silver and shiny like trout or salmon.
Currently reside in Ontario where most people think largemouth taste like mud. I'll generally target smallies , to eat, but have a few, cooler lakes, where the largemouth are quite tasty.
All the negative attitude comes from "tournament anglers". Again my background, on bass, were they are a junk fish.
I do enjoy fishing for them but they certainly don't need to be placed on a pedestal.
Loving the new logo Jesse!
Thanks I'll have some new merchandise and a website coming soon!
Do you have a link to the lure you was using? looks delicious
Tied by your truly 😂 I can tie some up for you if you want. you can submit an order on my new website www.mainelyoutdoorsproductions.com/custom-fly-orders
The only fish I haven't eaten are Chain Pickerel, Carp, eel, and other boney fish. Bream, catfish, bass of all types, trout, yellow perch, crappie, and other freshwater fish are amazing.
If by "pickerel" you mean "northern pike," you can learn how to clean them to make boneless fillets that taste great! Lots of explainer videos on TH-cam! 😋✌️😎
@@gus473 Chain Pickerel and Northern Pike a similar. They have a slightly different pattern, and they are smaller than Northern Pike. In order to fillet one it has to be bigger than the ones I have caught.
They are brutal on a balsa crankbait. I have one I keep in my tackle bag that has a nice dimple in it from pickerel teeth. They are a great fighting fish and a lot of fun.
Man, this is such a tough one, because I really try to eat what I catch, or I'm soft-hand catch and release, but I cant tell you how many times that a small mouth or even a few large mouths have swallowed my rig and I've had to cut off and release questioning whether it will survive. My problem is, I just don't like the taste of bass, it's pretty gross, tastes like concentrated pond scum and is extremely freshwater-fishy. I've tried multiple times with multiple preparations (grilled, broiled/baked, pan fried, deep fried) and I just can't convince myself that it's palatable. I love eating most of the gamefish I target and even most bycatch. I can eat Yellow Perch, Chain Pickerel (even with the bones), stripers, pike, but bass is a real struggle for me. If someone has a secret to make bass not taste like concentrated pond scum, I'd love to find a way to eat them if I don't have any other choice.
I find that if you scrape off the fatty darker tissue between the skin and meat, the flavor is much better and you get less of the contaminants that are fat soluable. Same goes for trout, salmon, mackeral and other fatty fish
@@RnRMonster yeah, I would normally think that, but in the bass I've cleaned, there wasn't much darker fatty tissue to remove.
Odd thing is, trout can be pretty strong tasting, as can salmon, no problem there. I live in New England, we have a ton of mackerel up here, and with maybe the exception of bluefish, they're about as oily and fishy as we get up here, and I like mackerel, especially smoked mackerel. I don't get it.
I don’t know if it helps but I find they have different taste breaded and deep fried with French fries
Good stuff, I am not a fan of eating them myself, but all the power to you if enjoy doing so! I'd rather eat fried perch or bluegill if I am eating warm water fish.
i've never have blue gull or perch maybe that need to be on my list this year
Imo bass taste just as good as perch/bluegill
They're considered invasive up in Maine, but here, in the Missouri Ozarks where they are native, they grow VERY slowly. Even following regulations, if everyone who bass fishes kept 3 smallmouth a year, in less than a decade they would all but be wiped out or they would all be so small that bluegill could nearly put up a better fight. So my vote is absolutely not. I do not keep smallmouth and nobody I know keeps smallmouth. At least locally. I have eaten them in the past and they are delicious, but i cant bring myself to eat the best fishing fish in fresh water from my home waters.
Another epic video brother!!!
Thanks! Guessing your back home now?
@@MainelyOutDoors and could not be happier to be back!!!
@@JeremyTGrant welcome back! Hope everything went well!!
Bass is one of the best tasting fish out there. They also have a lot of meat on them.
They definitely don't have a bad taste! but they dont have the oils that a trout or salmon have. I enjoy that taste, however, I know many people who hate the oil of them so this would be a great species for them.
@@MainelyOutDoors I do love some trout. Bass is definitely on the other end of the spectrum as far as fish flavor goes though. They're a clean taste like a walleye but not for deep frying.. their fillets are simply too thick for that in my opinion.
you obviously dont eat too many types of fish....they do not taste good at all.
I’m fine with you eating the fish. I personally love catching and releasing all the fish I catch. The only exception would be ice fishing for bluegills. Love bluegills through the ice
I completely agree with keeping bass. Like you said stay with in the laws and there is nothing wrong with it
I’m baffled that someone would object to keeping bass to eat. They reproduce prolifically, so as long as you follow fisheries regulations, there is zero chance of depleting the population.
I hope you notice what one commentor said about bass being large near Millinockett. Just be sure you don’t keep any below town due to pollution from the former paper mills.
Very true I would never eat anything from there. Thats why they are found all thought Maine anyway. The state originally stocked them as a food source for farmers
Solid fishing and master chef!!!
Thanks 👍
Should I eat them, when i was young i was strictly catch and release but now as i approach the big five zero i am strictly catch and eat. I still release them but only into some nice hot oil. 👍🏾
I’ve never eaten it but I would try it
what lb is your line? looks heavy for these waters
love this spot
Not a huge catch and keep guy myself, but I’d much rather see you keep a bass than a native species like that pickerel
They were actually originally from Africa and stocked for the purpose of eating, mid to late 1800s
I've thought about trying bass a few times but I haven't ever done it because I'd probably waste it and throw up. I'll stick with my native brookies in butter lol
Nothing wrong with that! Small brookies are the best!
I really don’t know that I’ve ever caught a smallie. I’d be interested to know the flavor difference between a large and small mouth.
Thanks for the comment I might have to make that a video soon I would be interested to find out myself! if you ever get the chance to catch small mouth do it. They put up a great fight for there size! The big ones will definitely give you a run for your money !!
@@MainelyOutDoors oh for sure! Just need to find a lake close enough that has them and actually find them
I've eaten Bass early in the season and they are great, they tend to get a lot of worms in the flesh in the summer months is what I've heard.
Very true if you look at the meat on this one it was full of cysts.. Personally I dont mind meats meat so long as its cooked well. Although I didn't tell Maren 🤫 😂
@@MainelyOutDoors lol, let's hope she doesn't read this😂 I find the fish in southern Maine tend to have more cyst/parasites than fish in Northern Maine. Just my experience.
@@myoutdoorlife3833 I hope not too! ive foudn the same little more clean water up there
Fishing for Food!!!
A lot of folks will not eat bass mid-late summer because of worms. Are you finding the river fish are less prone to this?
And I might as well weigh in on the controversy……we feast on smallies early in the season on the Penobscot above Ambajejus.
Smelt fed small mouth!!!!
No not at all if you go look at the meat when I do a close-up of it. you'll see all kinds of black cysts.. these are a parasite that only infects birds called diplopstomiasis. I've been told they are. Not as prevalent in the spring because of their life cycle but I'm not sure if that's true. My understanding is they say in the fish until it gets eaten by a bird then infects their esophagus. Anyway, I'm personally not worried about them, meats meat, so long as it's cooked well. I decided not to tell Maren because I didn't want to ruin it for her. Clearly, it doesn’t affect the taste she didn't even notice
I bet those are much cleaner.
@@MainelyOutDoors interesting. Great intel. Thanks.
Do you have a video of how to fly fish?
Dude I don’t care what fish u cook u make it look good haha
Preparation and freshness are definitely key factors in taste. Thanks for watching glad you enjoyed it!
Love bass,far, better , then Atlantic, salmon, , just my midwest preference, walleye, my favorite, over all , other then , steelhead, or choho
Its funny there is alway two major prefrances the oily fish lovers and the while fish lovers. I think both is great. I find the oily fish have more of that "fishie taste" personly, I like that as long as its not from old fish. But white meat has its place too like chowders or frying
Nice 👍
I've never heard anyone say you shouldn't eat bass. Having said that, hardly anyone I know does because they're not very good to eat. I don't fish for bass, but I occasionally catch them when I'm fishing for crappie. I release the bass and keep the crappie, which are very good to eat. Personally, I've never understood why people are so into bass fishing when very few people actually eat them. I guess I just don't understand the appeal of catch and release in general. Seems kind of pointless to me since cooking and eating my catch is a key part of the whole experience of fishing for me. But whatever. To each his own.
The controversy I see here is, screwing around with small bass for eating. If your going to eat a bass, catch a man size one like a 5 pounder. Get a decent meal out if it!!
The bass it's really nice to catch because they fight hard even though they are not super large. However,when it comes to eating them, the bass has one of the most disgusting flavours I have ever tasted in a fish. I tried to eat one but it was impossible.
Jess God Bless You
I tried eating small mouth like two weeks ago only to find like white worms in its body really gross
Try the spring and late fall the summer it happens with almost every single species of fish anyways
There is nothing wrong with eating bass. They fall into the same category as perch. I have never done it that way. I always batter and deep fry.
They seem like they would be great for frying!
@@MainelyOutDoors They are! They are soft and flakey. Great for a fish and chips type of meal. A little homemade tarter sauce with a squeeze of lemon and you will love it.
@@rustydaley4302 That description already made me hungry 😂
@@MainelyOutDoors Simple prep, but give it a try and let me know what you think.
Never heard of them in the perch category but Sunfish family yeah
Did you barf on that plate
I eat bass as much as I catch legal sized ones. Delicious if drained blood and cooked in a skillet
Did I see grubs in that meat?
Why can't you eat bigger bass??
I like big bass
Ate one today ( 1 pounder ) as was gut hooked and wold have died. Its ok, but NOT a tasty fish at all.
Rather eat that slime rocket.
Honestly I agree! Those are really good!
Me too!
I've done a fair bit of catch and release but I think if your not gonna eat the fish why are you fishing?
I feel the same sometimes. starts to turn into fish harassment 😂 but im sure they would prefer that over the dinner table
It seems to me that the whole catch and release of bass or you are an evil person comes from pro fisherman that want to have more and bigger bass around for their tournaments, at least in the south anyway.
They don't realize they are screwing with the ecosystem the more bass= less food and they eventually will die out until it's stable again which means seeing 0.20lb bass only and the rare 1lb bass after 1000 small bass
Eat
#flys
I eat bass no problem
WHAT,, IS THAT ROD MADE IN CHINA ALSO
It is but so are most fly rods
Woodland,WA has not 1, but 3 rod making companies. Lamiglas, G.Loomis and Composite Ventures
@@RnRMonster Wow thats impressive i didnt know that! they make the blanks there and all? I wish I had the money for a loomis! I always steel my buddies when we go out fishing
Yes, and there are the Lewis, Colombia and Kalama Rivers that they field test them on
I don't care for the taste of bass. I'm a salmon guy.
I eat bass a lot.
idk what yall talking about, smallmouth are delicious. really flavourful. largemouth though, i hear from everybody their pretty bad.
Somebody thinks this is "Controversial"? Sorry, I dont give a shit, we're free
What does that mean? I think you might have a different definition of "controversial" than I do. All controversial means is that the topic is likely to result in public disagreement, has nothing to do with what we are / are not free to do.
I've never understood the issue with eating bass. I eaten quite a few in the past. They're not the tastiest fish out there (I prefer white perch and crappie), but I wouldn't throw em back if I was hungry and that was what was biting at the time.