MCTFisher9120 Posted June 4, 2008 Report Posted June 4, 2008 I always catch really big rock bass but never tried them. Has anybody ate these fish before. Good?Bad?
Big Cliff Posted June 4, 2008 Report Posted June 4, 2008 I have a friend that swears they are the best eating fish out there. A bit of work to clean but he said that with practice, it is quite easy.
jdmls Posted June 4, 2008 Report Posted June 4, 2008 I wouldn't attempt it with all those bones..just not worth the time
pikehunter Posted June 4, 2008 Report Posted June 4, 2008 Yep, tried one once, a rather large one, tasted just fine and dandy. Hey they're panfish! All panfish are tasty.
kickingfrog Posted June 4, 2008 Report Posted June 4, 2008 More about the quality of the water than the species. Cut the heads off, skin 'em and gut 'em. Pull the bones out after you cook 'em. Good eats.
Zubris21 Posted June 4, 2008 Report Posted June 4, 2008 They are tasty enough. A lot of bones in them for their size so they can be tricky to clean, thats why I don't eat them often.
ozaibak1 Posted June 4, 2008 Report Posted June 4, 2008 To be honest, I find rockbass to be extremely tasty, maybe even more so than bass. I like that you can get them nice and crispy quicker. As for bones, they actually aren't that bad... unlike sunfish. I throw back sunfish but keep rockbass for the bbq, I recommend you do the same!
JohnF Posted June 4, 2008 Report Posted June 4, 2008 I always catch really big rock bass but never tried them. Has anybody ate these fish before. Good?Bad? I know a guy who swears they're great eating. He often saves a mess of 'em when we're hunting real bass on the river. Sometimes he just wraps 'em in tinfoil and buries them in the embers of the campfire to eat crusty for breakfast. Bear in mind this guy would probably eat a snake if he caught it with a fishing pole. JF
Headhunter Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 WGSP are fine table fair, under the right conditions. As mentioned, it has mainly to do with the water they are coming from. They are also, one of the first fish to become parasite hosts, with many having those little black specks in them, that so many of us find so appetizing! I usually scale them, fillet and into the grease they go... clean Rockies are great eating! HH
Stoty Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 To be honest, I find rockbass to be extremely tasty, maybe even more so than bass. Maybe its just me, but I much prefer fishing for bass, rather than eating them. Therefore ALL my bass go back!
TJQ Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 (edited) Heres a story for you... when Avery was 3 years old I took him quite far in the bush, camping on this little lake trout lake I had heard about, and we camped out on an island.... we fished lakers for a couple hours before dark, and not a bite... Back to the island we go, and as its getting darker we notice that along the rock shore there are HUNDREDS of small rock bass milling about, I had a few worms and we put a small hook on his line and a piece of worm and he starts hauling in the 2-4 inch rock bass with little problem.. and he was DETERMINED we were gonna eat them... we kept a dozen or so and I was trying to figure out how to eat them... to small to fillet... so I tried a trick I used on small brook trout before... I gutted them, l cleaned out the cavity well.. and put them on a stick like a hot dog, going through the mouth then the cavity, finally sticking the pointy end of sick into the tail.... Due to gravity the fish will hang upside down and you can cook it over the open fire with the scales on the outside.... OK this is the neat part.... as the fish cooks, the cavity opens up and curls back, so once done you can just pick the meat outta the fish, bone free... finger licking good. I was TOTALLY surprised at how good the fish was... it was a nice clean clear trout lake, and we must have spent an hour cooking these fish over the fire... I have to say its one of the fondest memories I have with him fishing. I do also remember how he got me up as the sun came up to go get some more........ uhhggg (any one who knows me, knows I'm not a particularly happy early riser, which explains my tendency to love to troll for pike midday... lol). Edited June 6, 2008 by T.J. Quesnel I'm a moron.....
capt bruce Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 Remember a trip when my dad and uncle took me and my brother pickerel fishing , and between pics we caught some fair size WGSF , my uncle kept all the larger WGSF as well as some pics .When luch time came ,it was the WGSF that he filleted and said we would save the pics for a BBQ with mom when we got home but the WGSF would be lunch ?? WAS I EVER surprised at how good they tasted . Ever since whenever my son and I caught some big ones into the pan they went , but as headhunter said ,the water must be clean and cold ,as too many times in shallow places like the bog we get the black spots and just let them be .Maybe one day at lakeair or such we can put together a mixed bag lunch of different fish and do a taste off ???? I think rockies and crappie will more than hold their own on the palate against their Pickerel and trout brothers.
TJQ Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 Maybe one day at lakeair or such we can put together a mixed bag lunch of different fish and do a taste off ???? I think rockies and crappie will more than hold their own on the palate against their Pickerel and trout brothers. Thats a good idea!!! Ive got some muskie in the freezer I can bring.... Just kidding... settle down......
Stoty Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 I think rockies and crappie will more than hold their own on the palate against their Pickerel and trout Amen to that! Crappie, in my opinion are tied for the best tasting fish (with perch). 1 - Crappie/Perch 2 - Walleye 3 - Sunfish Mind you, I never eat sunfish because I cant be bothered to put that much effort into cleaning them!
Black_Blade Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 No mention of the good ole barbut, we used to get together on nights back home and throw out worms or pcs of weiner etc, then bring a mess of them back for a good old feast. Only knew them by the name of barbut back home, but I think they really are black bullshead (mini catfish..lol). Only ate rockies once back in high school when on an ice fishing trip...but recall them being pretty tasty...just roasted them in tin foil on the open fire.
misfish Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 Maybe its just me, but I much prefer fishing for bass, rather than eating them.Therefore ALL my bass go back! Think we just found our next debate post.LOL As kids when camping,pop would cook up a mess of them rocks along with a good feed of small mouth out of GBay, when we went on our camping trips. It,s all good. I wouldnt eat a bigg,n Stoty,but do consume the odd 2 pounder when Im fishing with my pop.
ecmilley Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 all panfish are pretty tasty as already mentioned, i eat crappies and perch but don't bother much with rockys they tend to bio-accumulate mercury quicker than other panfish(or they just live longer)
Hooked Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 I wouldn't hesitate to say that they are my favourite freshwater fish to eat. Very sweet tasting and I don't have any trouble cleaning them, especially if they are the bigger ones nor had I had issues with bones with them. If you don't want em, I"ll take em. ; )
fishinggeek Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 Heres a story for you... when Avery was 3 years old I took him quite far in the bush, camping on this little lake trout lake I had heard about, and we camped out on an island.... we fished lakers for a couple hours before dark, and not a bite... Back to the island we go, and as its getting darker we notice that along the rock shore there are HUNDREDS of small rock bass milling about, I had a few worms and we put a small hook on his line and a piece of worm and he starts hauling in the 2-4 inch rock bass with little problem.. and he was DETERMINED we were gonna eat them... we kept a dozen or so and I was trying to figure out how to eat them... to small to fillet... so I tried a trick I used on small brook trout before... I gutted them, l cleaned out the cavity well.. and put them on a stick like a hot dog, going through the mouth then the cavity, finally sticking the pointy end of sick into the head.... Due to gravity the fish will hang upside down and you can cook it over the open fire with the scales on the outside.... OK this is the neat part.... as the fish cooks, the cavity opens up and curls back, so once done you can just pick the meat outta the fish, bone free... finger licking good. I was TOTALLY surprised at how good the fish was... it was a nice clean clear trout lake, and we must have spent an hour cooking these fish over the fire... I have to say its one of the fondest memories I have with him fishing. I do also remember how he got me up as the sun came up to go get some more........ uhhggg (any one who knows me, knows I'm not a particularly happy early riser, which explains my tendency to love to troll for pike midday... lol). That sounds amazing, but I can't visualize a stick going in the mouth, through the cavity, and back into the head. Can you give more details or maybe a picture? I'm dying to try it out over an open fire.
jwl Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 that's funny what TJ said, as a kid me and a couple friends would fish a local creek and catch little fish there all day, a couple times we would cook the odd crappie and catfsih up like that just to try it..we thought it was pretty fun at the time, also learned that some fish don't taste all that good with nothing on them except for some smoke from the fire ...but that's pretty much just how we did it on a stick
ozaibak1 Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 That sounds amazing, but I can't visualize a stick going in the mouth, through the cavity, and back into the head. Can you give more details or maybe a picture? I'm dying to try it out over an open fire. I think he may of meant in the mouth, through the cavity, and out the tail? That's how I cook fish on an open fire if there is no grill around.
crappieperchhunter Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 Catch alot in the spring fishing for perch/crappie. A buddy I took asked me to start throwing the bigger RB in the basket. That night I did a taste test. Perch/Crappie and Rockbass all filleted and fried up separately. Perch was #1, Rock Bass was #2 and crappie was #3. I was very surprised, and have kept a few rockies every year since. However these are fish from cold spring or cold fall water. RB I have had that where caught in the heat of the summer where not as good.
packrat Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 Have eaten RB over the years----used to get some with my Dad in the spring. Took them home fried them up, Mom made french fries and if we were lucky had some wild asparagus to go with it all. Didnt get any better then that.
TJQ Posted June 5, 2008 Report Posted June 5, 2008 Ya sorry about that!!!! through the mouth and the open cavity and stick it in the tail.... my mistake..... it hangs upside down on the stick.
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