Thread: smallmouth bass

Anyone ever eat them? I float a stretch of the river where its not uncommon for me to land 50-75 smallmouth in a day but I always throw them back just like I do largemouth. Anyone eat them? How do you prepare them?

fillet and fry

Caught a few growing up in PA, just fry them up like a bream, perch or crappie.
Where are you fishing?

Tastes just like LM or spotted bass. It's a pretty versatile fish for cooking.

Originally Posted by CarlF

Caught a few growing up in PA, just fry them up like a bream, perch or crappie.
Where are you fishing?

I float a stretch of the Elk river in Missouri. About 20mins away from my house in Bentonville Ar. Depending on how high the water is we usually do a 6hr float in the kayaks. It's one of the nicest stretches of water I've seen around here. Tons of bluffs and deep holes along the way

Just like other posts, fillet and deep fry. After filleting them i let them set overnite in the fridge in salt water, rinse thoroughly then batter, or rinse and put in freezer bag, fill bag with beer and will be amazing when ready to fry. Really good eating. I prepare all freshwater bass this way.

Smallmouth are excellent, we do not have many on my part of the Tennessee River, so I always release any I catch. Btw, smallies are true Bass, whereas all other bass are actually members of the Bream family.

Originally Posted by bodebum

. Btw, smallies are true Bass, whereas all other bass are actually members of the Bream family.

Actually, Smallmouths are in the same genus as largemouth, spots, etc..: Micropterus sp

Bream are Lepomis sp.

White perch, white bass, yellow bass and Stripers (and hybrids) are the "true basses", Morone sp.



Either way, they are all tasty when fried up!

I love catching smallies, that being said I don't know if I ever actually eaten one. Up here, we have a lot of trout and salmon, not to mention walleyes...some of the best eating fish, fresh or saltwater.

Originally Posted by BDL1969

I love catching smallies, that being said I don't know if I ever actually eaten one. Up here, we have a lot of trout and salmon, not to mention walleyes...some of the best eating fish, fresh or saltwater.

I love yellow perch. One of my favorite fresh water fish only crappie an flathead rank higher on my list.