# White Bass Limit



## C J Hughes (Jan 24, 2006)

SAVE THE WHITE BASS The great state of Ohio has deemed it fit to put a limit on white bass . The limit is 30 . All I can do is shake my head and drool , just like what i picture our DNR people who come up with these new laws !


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## Nightcrawler666 (Apr 17, 2014)

Yea, because foresight is a bad thing? Smh. Especially pertaining to environmental resources...c'mon man.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

IMO 30 is very liberal. In the past I've seen people fill up trashcans and put hundreds on rope stringers, I doubt most made there way to the table and many were wasted
That limit will also protect some small Hybrids, surrounding states have this rule Ohio is just behind the times.
Besides, Fish with stripes aren't fit for human consumption ( at least That's what I tell people )


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

garhtr said:


> IMO 30 is very liberal.
> Besides, *Fish with stripes aren't fit for human consumption* ( at least That's what I tell people )


That's funny. I was thinking the same thing.


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## Flannel_Carp (Apr 7, 2014)

That's a daily limit, not possession. What the heck would you do with 31 white bass every day?


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## polebender (Oct 29, 2011)

It also raises the limit on pure strain stripers to 4 on inland lakes. No more than 4 over 15" for stripers, hybrids and white bass.


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## C J Hughes (Jan 24, 2006)

polebender said:


> It also raises the limit on pure strain stripers to 4 on inland lakes. No more than 4 over 15" for stripers, hybrids and white bass.


IMO White bass will and have ruin lakes . They use to have white bass tourneys at CJ Brown to try to keep there numbers down. The first one was won with 368 pounds the second tourney was about the same weight . The local walleye club held the white bass tourneys to try to give the stocked walleye fry a better chance of making it. I know most people will not eat them. I do eat them I like the taste they have a mild fishy taste. JMO


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## jetboatbass (Dec 5, 2014)

What's next from the odnr 1 winged ratt i mean 1 Canadian goose a year.


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

I am all about keeping fish but I am not about wasting them. I have seen people keep tons of them and then decide they don't want to clean them so just dump them in a trash can. Not everyone does this obviously but some do. I fish in KY a decent amount and they have a 15 fish daily limit with 4 over 15 inches and I think its a good limit. Makes the fishery more of a quality fishery in my mind with more bigger fish. In the past 6 years fishing at CJ I have only caught maybe a dozen white bass and most of these came from ice fishing. Only picked up 2 or 3 while crappie or eye fishing there. I know they are in there though as have seen people catch stringerfuls at the right time of year but I don't think that lake is over-run with them. If anything they are over run with the small channel cats.


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## Flannel_Carp (Apr 7, 2014)

jetboatbass said:


> What's next from the odnr 1 winged ratt i mean 1 Canadian goose a year.


Skycarp!


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## strongto (Apr 1, 2013)

Last year I hit the white bass run on a local lake and I watched people filling up basket after basket. I personally saw over a thousand fish pulled out and kept that day. People were catching fish so fast that they were just throwing them in piles on the bank and when they got to about 50 they would then put them in their basket. It was so ridiculous the amount of fish people were keeping


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## sharp33 (Mar 30, 2015)

I keep a few each year and honestly I can always tell which fillets are white bass because they totally suck ! They are not good table fare at all but are fun to catch . I would say the confusion between them and the hybrids is the reason for limits . I would rather see the state stock more saugeye in my opinion.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Im not in total agreement with the new regulations, I'm not crazy about anglers keeping small Hybrids (under 15")"but It is nice to see Odnr actually trying to address some problems. One good thing, these regulations aren't written in stone and if they don't achieve the correct results they can (hopefully) be changed in years to come.
Good luck and Good Fishing.


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## fishingful (Apr 5, 2004)

If I keep some to eat its 2 or 3 fish and eat them when they are fresh. Once you freeze them they taste horrible. Not too bad fresh.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

fishingful said:


> If I keep some to eat its 2 or 3 fish and eat them when they are fresh. Once you freeze them they taste horrible. Not too bad fresh.


 I agree, two or three times a year I keep 5-6, get them on ice immediately and eat them fresh and they are delicious.


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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

Lot of talk about how bad they are to eat. If you fillet them properly what you end up with is what looks like a big fish stick, off one side. 
I cut all the red meat off side and trim it to lateral one. One pc of white meat left. If the fish are kept on ice and taken care of they are just as good to eat as anything else. All the red meat must come off.


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## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

How dare they put a limit on a native species!!! Our unnatural lakes should only have the species I want to catch, stocked, 37,000,000 annually. Anything I don't like to catch is ruining the lake. Science be damned! Kill the musky, kill the white bass, Kill the catfish. Never mind that in these (unnatural) lakes they have never been shown to effect walleye or bass numbers.

...since largemouth bass have been shown in some studies to be more than 50% of young of the year smallmouth bass, why don't we have a largemouth limit of 30 a day? I mean I like smallmouth more, so let's only manage for them.


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## BuzzBait Brad (Oct 17, 2014)

Anyone have the current water temperature of CJ Brown by chance?


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

strongto said:


> Last year I hit the white bass run on a local lake and I watched people filling up basket after basket. I personally saw over a thousand fish pulled out and kept that day. People were catching fish so fast that they were just throwing them in piles on the bank and when they got to about 50 they would then put them in their basket. It was so ridiculous the amount of fish people were keeping


So I guess that means that the white bass were there in ridiculous numbers! One might wonder what those numbers of fish might do to the forage base. When the walleye, crappie, LMB or SMB aren't doing very well, you might think of that. 

I tried eating them several times over the years. Hey, they're plentiful, and willing biters, but I can't really recommend them too highly for the table. I've seen guys eat some God awful stuff just to preserve their "honor" because they said it was good! I suppose they're OK if you have nothing else.


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## Meldahl Jesus (Dec 2, 2008)

White bass are delicious. Buy a cookbook or learn how to prepare fish if you intend on eating them. Just as good as anything as stated above.


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

It's all about how you take care of them. Keep them fresh and on ice. When you clean them trim all of the red meat off. No they don't compare with walleye or perch or crappie but they aren't bad eating.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

buckeyebowman said:


> *So I guess that means that the white bass were there in ridiculous numbers!* One might wonder what those numbers of fish might do to the forage base. When the walleye, crappie, LMB or SMB aren't doing very well, you might think of that.
> .


 Would you like to see people filling trash cans with walleye from the Maumee River ? 
Not necessarily ridiculous high numbers, at times ( spawning) they are highly concentrated and vulnerable, much like lake Erie walleye.
I'm certain some lakes can become over populated and that's were site specific regulations Should come into play. Imo
As far as table fare, I prefer W/Bss over crappie


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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

fishdealer04 said:


> It's all about how you take care of them. Keep them fresh and on ice. When you clean them trim all of the red meat off. No they don't compare with walleye or perch or crappie but they aren't bad eating.


This is what I learned twenty years ago. I think if they are taken care of and ALL the red meat taken off they are just as good eating as walleye or anything else.


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

Eat em that day or throw em away. 30 WB is a lot of fish.


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## used2expedite (Feb 26, 2009)

fishdealer04 said:


> It's all about how you take care of them. Keep them fresh and on ice. When you clean them trim all of the red meat off. No they don't compare with walleye or perch or crappie but they aren't bad eating.


Agreed.. They aren't bad. Take care of em, ice em ASAP, heavier than usual salt bath, maybe a dash of lemon juice in your batter when frying. Not bad in freezer,def better fresh by far..but to me they lose all fish taste after you freeze em. Taste like nothing/batter/whatev u season your batter with. They make great fishfry for family that I have that comes into town annually that only consume long John silvers as their fish intake. They love em!!!


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## polebender (Oct 29, 2011)

If you like a stronger, fishier taste you'll like white bass. It's true if you cut the bloody red meat out they will taste much better. But IMO when your catching 10-14" fish on average, there's not much of a fillet left after trimming the red out. It's just not worth it to me. Now if you get into some bigger stripers or hybrids, then it would be worthwhile. Whether you like to eat white bass or not, there's no denying that they are a blast to catch!


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

glasseyes said:


> Lot of talk about how bad they are to eat. If you fillet them properly what you end up with is what looks like a big fish stick, off one side.
> I cut all the red meat off side and trim it to lateral one. One pc of white meat left. If the fish are kept on ice and taken care of they are just as good to eat as anything else. All the red meat must come off.


X 10! 
Like the awful tasting fat on deer meat, the red meat must be trimmed from white bass! It's easy to remove the Red Meat with the skin(albeit not easy to explain!) if you have a good(Sharp) fileting knife. Lay the skin side of the filet flat down on your board, hold the tail end skin firmly with your thumbnail or a fork, don't aim your blade edge-down at an angle, keep the sharp edge slightly UP abt an eighth to a quarter of an inch and carefully slice the skin off the filet with that red meat still attached! Might take a bit of extra effort/time but "well worth" it on the table! Yes, they are terrible With the red meat left on! Try it, you Will like it....


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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

old thread brought to life. Yes all red meat off and i end up with what looks like a large fish stick. there is some meat that gets discarded but whats left will compare to any other good eating fish. I vacuum pack the dry meat fillets and freeze right away, i do not soak them. And I have thawed and deep fried 6 months later and they are just as good.


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

"White bass are delicious. Buy a cookbook or learn how to prepare fish if you intend on eating them. Just as good as anything as stated above."



LOL,,,, & there's guys on here that DIE for a PA TROUT!!!? 

Like I said many times before,,,,,, 
SMOKE 'EM! No need to 're-move' anything.
Brine & smoke those White Bass or White Perch, or CATS!

I'll take as many as I can get! (within the law) 

Before;









Cooking;










After;









*I don't know about you 'PURISTS' (sissies) ,,,,, But the last pic makes me DROOL! ;>)*


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

white bass are great to eat if you keep them on ice or alive until you head home. then when you fillet them trim the red meat off the back side. i've fished for white bass yrs ago but didnt really like eating them but I did. then one yr at eastport dock on dale hollow we kept our fish in a basket behind the dock to keep them alive. we came in and most of our fish was missing. it turns out a 5 yr old had seen us get dying fish out and clean them. so when nobody was watching (should have had better supervision on a floating dock) he took a net and dipped out our fish and let them go. so the owner gave us 2 packs of filleted white bass, and it tasted great. so we asked him what he did differently. and he told us how to keep and clean white bass.
sherman


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## Redhunter1012 (Feb 6, 2006)

They are the best smoked fish IMO. We smoke salmon, trout, catfish, etc... Literally very fish the lives in Ohio, and by far, white bass always get the best remarks from all our friends


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## C J Hughes (Jan 24, 2006)

Redhunter1012 said:


> They are the best smoked fish IMO. We smoke salmon, trout, catfish, etc... Literally very fish the lives in Ohio, and by far, white bass always get the best remarks from all our friends


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## C J Hughes (Jan 24, 2006)

I always BLEED out all of my fish by cutting their throats while they are alive . You have to keep all fish on ice after the water temp of the lake u r fishing reaches above 70 . I still stand by my statement about a 30 fish limit .I am not talking about hybrids or strippers just whitebass . I do believe our DNR has done a great job with our lakes . But as u can tell most people don’t keep whitebass so they do have the opportunity to over populate a lake .


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## G-Patt (Sep 3, 2013)

Damn, I'll try smoking them. That looks delicious! I've heard doing an overnight soak in 7-Up does the trick taking away the fishy flavor. Anyone else hear of this?


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

G-Patt said:


> overnight soak in 7-Up does the trick taking away the fishy flavor. Anyone else hear of this?


 I've heard of that, even milk but if you kill-em n ice them I don't think it's necessary.
I'm gonna smoke some and try it but I like them breaded and deep fried-- tasted fine.








Let us know if you try the 7up trick.
Good luck and good fishing


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## TheKing (Apr 15, 2004)

Crappies, Bluegill, Walleye, Yellow Perch - our kids preferred the White Bass over all. Yes, like has been said, the secret is to keep them cold after caught. 30 is a whole bunch of fish. But we took a couple of 5 gallon bucket loads iced down from the run at CC years ago. Saw a guy with a hundred or more large ones over his shoulder one morning.


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## zaqxsw (Jul 19, 2009)

Any kind of limit is stupid. Especially the limit of no more than 4 over 15"! I've caught a livewell full over 15" at Cowan. We like to eat them, filleted!


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## ShaneMC (Nov 27, 2012)

zaqxsw said:


> Any kind of limit is stupid. Especially the limit of no more than 4 over 15"! I've caught a livewell full over 15" at Cowan. We like to eat them, filleted!



Are you kidding me? " any kind of limit is stupid" So your pro depleting natural resources and animals? 

Anything over 15 allows for more chances of reproducing


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## zaqxsw (Jul 19, 2009)

ShaneMC said:


> Are you kidding me? " any kind of limit is stupid" So your pro depleting natural resources and animals?
> 
> Anything over 15 allows for more chances of reproducing


You'll never have to worry about white bass... Worry about the lake's forage fish! Why in the world would you want to promote >15" white bass??? Isn't that what hybrids are for?

Worry about the guy I talked to last week at Cowan, taking 110 crappie out regardless of size...…. . I never keep more than 20 of anything because that is all I want to clean.

White bass are considered trash fish in Lake Erie by most anglers I know. But, not by me.


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