Does anybody eat smallies?

[MPT]

I would never even think about it unless they were caught from from crystal clear water and I was starving to death! I am more curious about trying shad. Smallies are one of my favorite C&R for fun fish. :twocents:

[blacktail519]

Heavens yes i eat small mouth!They are a great eating fish. Not as scrumptious as Crappies, but I'll eat smallmouth more than i do Salmon. And you can eat all the shad you you want :eek: I had to try shad at least once, and i did several years ago, and wont even think about eating it again. Ive heard that there are ways to cook it that are better than others, but i guess my first meal preety much ruined it for me for life. But Smallies are a tasty fish. We went out today and had too keep a couple to bring home for dinner. Too each his own i suppose. I'd be willing to bet im not the only one on here that enjoys a good bass dinner :smirk:

[Knot in leader]

:sick:

[hrbassin]

Fillet 'em, roll 'em in flour and cornmeal, and fry 'em in vegetable oil.
Believe me, you'll change your mind about eating smallies real fast!

Mark

[Knot in leader]

:sick: :sick:

[portlandstatekid]

i'm allergic to all fish/seafood so it's hard to remeber what shad tastes like. i do know that my family loves to eat them. they are a bit bonier fish, but not too hard to pick them out.

[Okie]

I believe there is one way to fix shad that hasn't been explored to much. It is to grind it up and make fish sausage out of it. there are many ways this could be done.
There is a area around the Great Lakes in Canada where smoked fish sausage is a big thing.

As for small mouth bass they are excellent eating. I'm surprised there was any question about it.

Good Luck;

[alanmikkelsen]

Fillet 'em, roll 'em in flour and cornmeal, and fry 'em in vegetable oil.
Believe me, you'll change your mind about eating smallies real fast!

Mark

:yeahthat:

Sorry, but if my eating smallmout offends any sensibilities I have this to say: Get a life! Smallmouth are one of my favorite eating fish, right up there next to walleye. I filled my freezer with chinook, love catching steelhead and trout, but when it comes to eating, everyone always hauls in the smallmouth, walleye, or even whitefish from the freezer. Long live smallmouth, especially in my frying pan! :dance: :dance: :dance:

[BassinFever]

Were are we going with this, are we not to eat wild game at all, I mean lets not shoot Bambi, lets not eat native fish! I should think that we should be more concerned as to where the fish come from than if we should eat a few or not. Have you ever tasted the difference between farm fish and wild fish, I won`t even think about farm salmon, steelhead or trout. I buy my beef from small farms and butcher shops too.

Be selective, don`t kill everything you catch, leave the brood stock. Be happy, eat fish, deer, elk, bear, and I even know people that eat Cougar!

[alanmikkelsen]

I grew up in an era where we could keep a mess of trout and not feel guilty about having a fish fry. I was a fly fisherman before "A River Runs Through It". I tie my own flies and build my own rods. I guided on the Madison, Jefferson, Yellowstone and Missouri. But in the last couple decades I've pretty much quit fly fishing, simply because of the 'holier than thou' attitude that has come to permeate the sport. Give me smallmouth above trout any day. I can selectively take my limit (5)of 12-14" smallies and not have to deal with someone looking down their nose at me (and it helps that I'm missing the hordes of crowds that fly fishing now draws). And they're better eating than trout. I fish for chinook (kings) in Alaska for sport and to fill the freezer, for steelhead for sport and to keep one or two a season, but I fish for smallies for pure fun and a delicious snack!

[Striper Club]

Yes, most freshwater predators are excellent table fare, especially ones that you can fillet. I think crappie is superior, but the NW usually does not kick out large numbers of large crappie.

I would suggest not eating any resident fish out of the Big C and especially the Willie due to the high levels of mercury and PCBs. Regs say you can have a little, but if they need to have a warning, that is good enough for me not to eat 'em! :wink:

Not so sure about shad though...would seem akin to eating bait.

[Pescadote]

I would suggest not eating any resident fish out of the Big C and especially the Willie due to the high levels of mercury and PCBs. Regs say you can have a little, but if they need to have a warning, that is good enough for me not to eat 'em! :wink:



That is where I am at with it as well. I am not opposed to eating bass, I am just afraid to eat anything that lives in the Williamette.

[alanmikkelsen]

Y'all need to come to Montana! We're the headwaters of the system and there's some great smallmouth in Western Montana.

[Hunt'nFish]

Keeping a couple eaters and releasing the breeders will not harm our fishery. I keep very few fish anymore, but I've been known to brown a couple now and then. But I have to say I've seen some pretty deformed smallies come out of the upper Willey that have me throwing all them back for health reasons. Just not worth it when you have young kids.

As for shad....I throw all my shad back with hooks attached, and trade them in for something bigger.
Hunt'nFish

[MPT]

Great replies!
Now I'm more curious than ever to try eating a smally. It seems to me though that I would feel safer to eat one from a safer water system than the Big C or Willy. BTW, This post was not intended for conservation but for culinary curiousity.
Thanks again for the "feed" back! :grin:

[topwaterfly]

I remember when I lived in NYC years ago, all the better seafood restaurants served female shad when the run was on, sautéed shad roe was considered a delicacy. Personally....they are better as crab or sturgeon bait.

Geo



:food: <font color="blue"> </font>

[topwaterfly]

I remember when I lived in NYC years ago, all the better seafood restaurants served female shad when the run was on. Sautéed shad roe was considered a delicacy. Personally....they are better as crab or sturgeon bait.

Geo



:food: <font color="blue"> </font>

[LCFisherlady]

MPT,

Smallmouth Bass are very similar to all the other stickle-back
fish.... white, mild flavored flesh. Especially good early in the year when the water is cold and clean.

Best eating size is the medium sized fish 8-14 inches. Fillet and fry.... Leave the big brooders. Another point, these are long lived fish so the larger ones could have the potential for chemical contamination ...just another reason to take only the smaller fish.

[thehunt]

Nope, I ate a large mouth once, other than that, I prefer not to kill bass. If I were going to eat one, I would make it a small fish. Save those fat females......

[Sublime]

...what Hunt/Fish said... :yeahthat: