Eating smallies

[chromeseeker]

This will be my first season chasing smallies after years of going after steelies and salmon, so I'm looking forward to it.

I've heard smallies are pretty tasty (never tried one), but I've also heard that the Columbia R./Willamette smallies have so many chemicals in them that they may glow.

Does anyone eat smallies from the "Big C" or any other bodies of water around here?


Cheers,
CS

[MXRacer105]

Not me... always practice catch are release

[bassin]

[quote=chromeseeker;1893654]This will be my first season chasing smallies after years of going after steelies and salmon, so I'm looking forward to it.

I've heard smallies are pretty tasty (never tried one), but I've also heard that the Columbia R./Willamette smallies have so many chemicals in them that they may glow.

Does anyone eat smallies from the "Big C" or any other bodies of water around here?

You will fine that most BASS guy treat C&R almost like a religion. They don't even think about keeping bass to eat. There really is nothing wrong with taking a few SM for a dinner. Just don't kill the large females.
Large mouth are another story. There just are not the numbers of fish. and each one IMHO should be released.
I don't think I would kill Small mouth in the willie. Any super fund site can't have good eats.

[1bigfish]

I would not even think about eating a smallie from the Willy.:sick:

The CR... maybe, but I would tend to head up river if I were looking for smallies for food.

Now if you want some nice clean smallies for the table then head for the Johnday River. You will always get your limit and the smaller ones need to be thinned out on the JD.

But just like it has already been said on here, C&R all the larger smallies please.:flowered:

[Ingraham]

I always catch and release as well and I agree with what the other guys said about larger fish (which is a relative term depending on the river) and never large mouth.

If you did want dinner however, I wouldn't eat a smallie from the Valley. Even the "Cleaner" rivers and ponds are typically full of run off from the chemicals on the farms which gets sprayed in abundance during the Spring. :twocents:

[Hunt'nFish]

All things in moderation. I hear the tuna offshore have as much mercury as bass do, but I'll not eat anything from the Willey or lower CR. Besides the main reason the bass fishery is so good is because everybody tosses'em back and won't eat'em.

But hey, nothing like some fresh upper river bass or walleye for dinner.:D
The 1-2 lb'rs are the best but the larger breeders go back. Particularly during the spring spawn.
Practice "Selective Harvest"
Hunt'nFish

[chromeseeker]

Good info. I was planning on releasing pretty much everything I catch especially the big breeder smallies and especially the bucketmouths.

I may harvest a couple 1-2 pound upper-river smallies occasionally....

CS

[ploftis]

smoked bass is one of my favorites

[TooDrunkToFish]

when I used to keep bass for the table, I preferred the ones that were 10-12 inches. They are a bit more tender and flavorful than the bigger ones over 17 inches. (No legal retention for fish between 12-17 inches in my bodies of water).

I usually pan fried them.

They taste like any normal white-meated fish. Maybe a cross between halibut and rock cod.

[lor]

I've never eaten Oregon Bass, but from my days living in WI and Tx, any bass deep fried with a nice beer batter is pretty good. If its a legal bass, and I have an hankering for fish dinner, I will not hesitate to cook one, regardless of size.

[Dan360]

The Washington DFW Fishing Book recommends that small children and pregnant women only eat 2 meals per month of these fish out of the Columbia. It says adult males can eat without restrictions.

I'm sure you couldn't eat enough smallies to make a scratch in the local population. Just remember your deadly sins :)

Even with that, I'd ask anyone not to go after fish on beds or keep females with eggs. Especially with largemouth. Its so tempting to throw something at a fish you can plainly see on its bed. You just have to remember that the fish is guarding the fish you'll catch later.

[Poindexter]

We eat them a few times a month out of Roosevelt. Same warnings there from Fisheries guys -- two times a month for kids. They're not as good as walleye, but still pretty decent.

[dragon67]

Back to the subject at hand. I like my bass from the Snake and JD river. A good beer batter is hard to beat, but isn't good for my waist line. lol. I would think up above troutdale would not be bad for you either.

[dragon67]

Anything you cook with bacon grease is good. lol

Lol.. I ate one once, gill hooked so wasn't gonna make it. Pan fried in the campfire in bacon grease, flaky and delicious.

[Stowaway]

The only way I've had smallies, which was once, was in Ceviche and it's excellent! I have only C&R'd bass except for stripers and sea bass. But I'll eat them if you keep it and prepare it.

[STGRule]

From THIS (http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=183204) thread:


We realize and respect your right to any opinion. However, at ifish, we insist that you discuss things without insults against any opposite thinking party.

Please take the time to please delete any name calling or other statement that might be considered offensive or rude and not conducive to healthy debate.

At ifish we steer clear of demeaning remarks about people or groups when disagreeing. We don't want everything sanitized, but a good discussion is trading ideas, not calling names.

One thing I really pride ifish in is our ability to discuss things without name calling, or insults. It really helps us to be heard and respected in our fishing community. Your cooperation and compliance not only really appreciated, but it is part of our acceptable use policy.

Besides, and you may want to seriously consider this, -We find that people are more apt to listen and even change their tune if they aren't being insulted along with being disagreed with.

We are going to be doing some house cleaning, but before we do... we'd like to give you some time to do this yourself. We would rather have the person(s) who wrote the remarks edit, rather than have us editing for you. If you would avoid group or personal insults in the future, we'd appreciate that, too!

It would save us several personal PM's if you'd take the time to review your opinions on ifish, and delete any remarks that only serve to anger, insult, or degrade.

There are many hot topics going on right now, and although this was written regarding a certain topic on ifish, I thought I'd make it global, and remind everyone, this evening.

In appreciation,

Jen


Time to bump this back up to the top. Over the last few weeks more than a few people have forgotten how to be civil. We are now informing those individuals that if we find instances where you have decided not to discuss the issue, but to instead insult, berate, and generally be <petunias>, you will find your posting privileges revoked for a minimum of 3 months.

We will not discriminate between those that have been here forever and those that are brand new members. This is likely to be the only warning you will receive.

Please understand that we have reached our limit and I'm sure the limit of many members.

[JustCallMeDave]

*cough*

[sealgal2008]

Ive caught aTON of bass in Missouri and we deep fry most everything there - boy are they good! I'll be catching Smalies around Stevenson soon - I hope.

Betty

[catfishman89]

I eat bass out of the columbia but not the willamette. I always practice catch and release on larger bass and always follow the limit guidlines. It kind of concerns me that no one ever checks me for a fishing licence or how much i caught. I dont think odfw care about warm water fish.

[cavdad45]

If you want to taste a bass get one from Hagg Lake or the Umpqua River. Anything else I would not feel is safe. Following the government's consumption guidelines doesn't guarantee food safety, look at all the stuff they used to say was ok and ended up killing thousands of Americans.

Best bet, practice Catch, Photograph, Release.

[Cask of '43]

People eat sturgeon from the rivers around Portland (including downstream from the Willamette) without having health problems, don't they? And sturgeon eat right off the bottom, so why would bass, crappie, or perch be different?

[Seansquatch]

I dont think odfw care about warm water fish.

Well thats a good thing no offense to bass guys but bass are a horrid invasive species that have ruined a lot of lakes here in Oregon with the help of humans and bullfrogs and ODFW should not care about them.

I love to catch bass but i normally bonk them in areas were native fish and amphibians occur. But if im fishing for them in a all ready ruined body of water all bass go back.

[Cask of '43]

I love to catch bass but i normally bonk them in areas were native fish and amphibians occur.

Not only is that selfish and a waste of a quality sportfish / food source, it is illegal.

[boblag]

People eat sturgeon from the rivers around Portland (including downstream from the Willamette) without having health problems, don't they? And sturgeon eat right off the bottom, so why would bass, crappie, or perch be different?

Sturgeon are anadromous (like salmon); they are not a resident species.

[flippinbaits]

Well thats a good thing no offense to bass guys but bass are a horrid invasive species that have ruined a lot of lakes here in Oregon with the help of humans and bullfrogs and ODFW should not care about them.

I love to catch bass but i normally bonk them in areas were native fish and amphibians occur. But if im fishing for them in a all ready ruined body of water all bass go back.

dude, wrong thing to say on a bass forum. show respect to fish. show respect to the body of water, and show respect to other fishermen.

[BassMan]

Well thats a good thing no offense to bass guys but bass are a horrid invasive species that have ruined a lot of lakes here in Oregon with the help of humans and bullfrogs and ODFW should not care about them.

I love to catch bass but i normally bonk them in areas were native fish and amphibians occur. But if im fishing for them in a all ready ruined body of water all bass go back.

It's funny we all seemed to be playing nice and then 2 posts from the mods showed up for what ever reason. Now we get another "bass basher" and the mods are no where around even when "squatch" has clearly posted that he has broken the law by wasting sport fish. I bet anything this guy has the poacher line on speed dial for anyone who looks at a salmon or steelhead wrong. We all know you purists are ticked because the rivers are full of bass now but that's how it is. If you want to gripe and whine do it in the other forum and not here. Leave us be to enjoy the fish we like to catch and we will give you the same respect.

[Pete]

The mods are just an alert away. Click the http://www.ifish.net/board/images/buttons/report.gif button and let us know when there's a problem, ok?

A reminder, also, that it is against the rules on Ifish to promote, advocate or encourage illegal actions.

As for this thread, It's now closed. If people can't treat each other with respect and courtesy, then the topic is finished.