Smokin Largemouth

[Steve J]

My winter home lake we troll for crappie and at times a LM Bass gets caught and thrown back.
Just read an article that said the LM smoke up pretty good. Apparently the smoke gets the 'fishey' taste out.
Anyone share their thoughts on this?

[WALLEYE WACKER]

Can't be much help. I generally let them go unless I'm fishing in a clear water lake and still only have kept a few. But it is something that would be worth a try.

[andrewlamberson]

Yes....

*Put the fillets on a large cedar board.
*Season with salt, pepper, lemon and steak seasonings
*Cook in the smoker for a minimum of 8 hours
*Drink as much beer as possible
*Throw away the fish....and eat the board!


Works well with Carp also!

 

[Partycrasher]

LOL, Andrews recipe works for Canadian Geese as well.

[Lamar]

  I guess I've bass fished for so many years that it's always been drilled in my head to always take care of them and set them free. I just couldn't eat a bass no matter how you cooked it. Not preaching just saying how I am.

[Mike J]

I'm gonna guess when eating a large mouth bass a lot is gonna depend on where you caught it and when.  I can't say I've eaten many. I don't even want to catch them. I have eaten a couple caught threw the ice and they were ok.  I recall catching some as a kid from a marsh and wanting to eat them. They tasted exactly like I imagine the moss they were living in would taste. 

In my opinion it wouldn't hurt for some to be kept but I don't really want to be the one to eat them so I release them when I accidentally catch one.

[Steve J]

That has been my thought Mike J.
The bass will be caught in clear mountain lakes.
The article I read dealt with LM caught in Lake Powell and the writer said "smoking covers the fishey taste".

[Apdriver]

Some times I keep a few small bass for the pan. We fry them and they are dang good! These are southern bass, though. May be a different specie! :-)

Put this stuff on them before frying. Dang tasty!

http://www.basspro.com/shop/en/uncle-bucks-light-n-krispy-fish-batter-mix-original

[Apdriver]

These are best smoked, IMO.

[efishnc]

I've eaten some of most every freshwater fish available in North America and I found the water the fish come from makes all the difference (and as MikeJ alluded to, a flowing water LMB is substantially more palatable than a stagnant water one)... but to focus on the question posed, I would say yes because smoking makes a difference on other fishy/gamey tasting meats including snow geese (which can have a pretty substantial swamp taste otherwise).

[ctom]

I always consider the moving water aspect and the fat content of the fish being smoked along with the temperature of the water the fish were caught in. I'll keep a carp occasionally in the very early spring caught while jigging walleyes in the super cold water because their fat content is lowest then. Another example of the fat aspect is Lake Trout. Sissowet Lake Trout are oiler than heck regardless of size of age all year long, but the Red Fin variety are pretty darned good big or small all year.

Crappies and sunfish smoke up real nice too. I've had good smoked lm bass and I've had some that wasn't real flavorful, but the one thing that has come into play has been the water quality of where the bass were taken and whether or not the water was moving or sat currentless.

I won't smoke any fish taken from summertime warm water, only those taken while the water temps are under 50 degrees or so.

[efishnc]

I don't think the water temperature our fish are caught from plays as much of a part as the preparation water temp (or brine).  I've smoked summer walleyes with fantastic results, my neighbor's favorite smoked fish is a summer white bass (which is also my favorite fish for grilling), and dear ol' Dad used to smoke dogfish from the late summer into early fall... going back to the difference between flowing water or stagnant water, however, can be a MEGA-difference in flavor.

[Paneltruck.lures]

LOL, Andrews recipe works for Canadian Geese as well.

Or duck.... I love to duck hunt but eating them not so much

[efishnc]

I love to duck hunt but eating them not so much

I used to have the same issue until I started cooking (grilling) them only to medium-rare.  Now the whole family sees them as a treat.

[Mike J]

I agree with efishnc. Ducks geese and deer are great medium rare not so great when over cooked though.  I do have a croc pot recipe for Swiss steak that both goose and deer are great with.