killing

[peggy]

OK, so I have this thing I need to do and I really don't know the best way to do it. Our pond is way over populated with large mouth bass. Really, they breed like rabbits. We, and friends do occasionally fish, but it's almost always catch and release, so that needs to stop. Every year I put in minnows and shiners but now it seems I'm just feeding the fish and not really establishing these smaller fish. There are some out there, along with some bluegill and crappie, and catfish (although I don't know if bass eat catfish) but what I really need to do is remove some of the bass. About 35 pounds according to my research.

So my problem is, how? I mean, I know how to fish, but I've never killed them just to toss away, you know? Sure we will keep the larger ones, but we don't want to fiddle with the little ones. So two issues really.
How do i kill a fish? and has anyone ever eaten a bass? i haven't. Don't have a clue how they taste. Any good recipes/methods?
As far as killing, I want to do it quickly and with as little mess as possible. I'l then toss in the woods for the little woodland critters to enjoy. 35+pounds of fish is a lot of fish. Especially since we will be aiming for the small to medium small to leave the larger ones.

[bae]

Large mouth bass are great eating.

As to killing them, you can bonk them on the head, or gill them to bleed them out (which some old-timers say improves the taste of the meat.).

I usually just throw them into the ice cooler, then fillet a whole mess at once.

[Zoe Girl]

i grew up with the whack on the back of the head. My grandpa said we couldn't fish unless we could kill them and clean them, he helped me cook and eat however

i am totally having a flashback of an old Saturday Night Live skit, the bass-o-magic. all you need is a blender, :)

[peggy]

Actually, My thoughts went to the bass-o-matic too.. :D

I know I can bonk them on the head, but is that the quickest way? And with what? A hammer? We always just threw them in a cooler or put them on the stringer too, them being dead when we went to deal with them. But I will have to deal with some smallish fish (8-10 inches) that we really won't want to bother scaling, cleaning, etc for just a bite or two. Really i just want to end their lives quickly and then toss.
So you all think the bonk with the hammer is the best? It really kills me to think of killing these fish for no other reason except over population, but there it is. I'd offer them to the local pet rescue, who has tons of cats, but folks are so silly these days about feeding pets bones! heaven forbid, or anything natural that isn't 'made safe', whatever. (of course we are talking about cats that would happily tuck into a dead opossum like a Christmas pudding) so, the local wildlife will enjoy.

bae, do you have some good recipes/methods for cooking large mouth bass? I anticipate catching some big ones too if we are doing all this fishing, and I would really like to cook some since I haven't eaten this fish before. I usually eat catfish or ocean fish. I've tried trout and I found it much too fishy. Every year i say to my husband we need to cook some of these fish since we have so many but every year we don't. We just catch and release. Thus our problem.
To be honest, this pond is more 'mine' than his. I probably think way more about it than I should but I love my pond and all the critters that live in and around it. I just want to be a good steward, and that means taking out some bass.

[Zoe Girl]

what i learned from my former FIL is that if a population (he was talking deer) gets too large than the entire population is at risk so culling out the numbers protects the larger group. i understood that for deer, they had a specific number that needed to be hunted so the herd would survive winter. i don't know if that applies to fish however, but as a tree hugging hippy vegetarian i can't think of a better way to handle this.

[Float On]

We just always used the back side of our big filet knife, the wood end, to boink them on the head. Bass have a strong ribcage so prepare for a little work when cutting and filleting it. Bass is one of the most popular fish for tournaments and lake fishing. It's mild unless you leave the skin on. I don't like catfish that is way too "fishy" for me but I love trout. I went to youtube and found this video on filleting bass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT7GoW65c2E

[peggy]

Thanks for the vid. yeah, I don't see any other way around it either. This needs to be done for the health of the pond life, so I'll just do it. today looks like it might be nice. I might as well start.

[Gregg]

Possibilities for some help... A Boy Scout troop fishing day. Same with a biology field trip from the local school. Invite friends who fish or a church youth group. Someone building a new pond or re-stocking an old one. The state fish and wildlife service might have the names of someone looking to stock fish.

I'm also a toss them in a cooler of ice and filet them all at once kind of guy. A 10" bass will actually have a decent filet. And they taste great. Dip the filets in beer batter and drop them in 360* peanut oil until golden brown. Mmmmmmm.

[Packy]

See if you can get ahold of some Tannerite---and then put a charge in a waterproof container of the pond, & detonate it, using a high-powered rifle. The resulting shock wave will kill many if not all of the fish, almost instantly. At least, that is what I have heard. You want to be sure that you are a safe distance away, when the charge goes off, of course. And, wear hearing protection. Hope that helps you some.

[Teacher Terry]

Bass taste really good. I grew up on a lake & ate them all the time. My Mom would fry them. Sometimes she would bread them & sometimes not. Good either way. Catfish is way too strong for me too.

[peggy]

sounds good y'all. We have invited some folks out to fish. Problem is, they all just want to catch the 'big one' and then release it. I actually thought of the boy scout thing. They need to take them away though. That's the thing. No one wants to take them away. Some friends last year did get some for their lake, but only about a dozen. maybe I'll check with them again. I did get one suggestion which I think is brilliant. There is a wildlife sanctuary nearby and this person suggested calling them to see if they want some fish for their raptors/raccoons/skunks, etc...
Thanks everyone.:)

[The Storyteller]

A drought was convenient for ridding my over stocked pond of large mouth bass.

But if can't order one of those you could try using them for fish meal on your lawn and/or garden.

[Float On]

I did get one suggestion which I think is brilliant. There is a wildlife sanctuary nearby and this person suggested calling them to see if they want some fish for their raptors/raccoons/skunks, etc...
Thanks everyone.:)

That is a great idea. I know our local tiger sanctuary is always looking for fresh chicken and other locally raised meat donations. Takes a lot of lbs of meat to feed them every day.

[peggy]

A drought was convenient for ridding my over stocked pond of large mouth bass.

But if can't order one of those you could try using them for fish meal on your lawn and/or garden.

Actually we did have a terrible drought a few years ago, maybe that's the one your talking about. The back fen did dry up to about 1/8 acre. The fish pond, however, didn't come near drying up. It did go down several feet but it's quite deep and about an acre so not really affected. That was an awful drought!

[peggy]

That is a great idea. I know our local tiger sanctuary is always looking for fresh chicken and other locally raised meat donations. Takes a lot of lbs of meat to feed them every day.

This place has some big cats too but I'm not sure they would eat fish. maybe. Who knows!

[Float On]

My little porch cat sure goes crazy over tuna so I think big cats would eat fish if given the opportunity.