How To Clean Large mouth Bass - Getting Off The Grid

How To Clean Large mouth Bass - Getting Off The Grid

I was presented with a couple of largemouth bass and one crappie but the catch to getting their catch of the day was that I had to clean the fish myself.  I learned how to clean largemouth bass by watching the men doing it for years and years. Being off the grid and a woman alone, you should know how to catch and clean your fish.

If they were just going to be eaten by me I would not have fillet any, but since I do and they do not like picking bones I did fillet the largemouth bass and left the crappie whole and all for me.

To clean a large mouth bass you`ll need a fork and a very sharp knife and water to clean up with.

First you`ll want to scrap the scales off, you can do this by scraping from the tail up toward the head. This will be messy.

Next you will remove the fishes head. Place the knife just behind the gill and at a slanted angle cut the fish on one side and then flip over and do the same on the other side. Pick up the fish and "pop" the bone in half.

Most of the guts will come out with the head, but take the knife and split from the lower fin up to where you removed the head now you can check for any that was left behind.

Now lets fillet the bass. Place the knife at the top of the fishes back, as close as possible to the top fin bones, make the cut keeping it flush with the fin bones, slowly work your way into the fish with the knife and pulling the fillet back as you go to see what you are doing.

When you get passed the rib cage stick the knife all the way through to the other side and slowly cut to the tail, keeping flush with the bone.

Once you have the fillet off the bone you will need to remove the rib cage section, it still has bones.

AND that is how to clean a large mouth bass!

Now lets go inside and fry this nice mess of fish.

Wash the fish thoroughly with cold water and keep the fish in the water till you are about to bread them.

Get the good old number 8 iron skillet out and add enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom about 1/2 inch and put on the stove top at medium high.

Place around a cup of flour into a deep bowl, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and mix together.

Dip the fish into the  flour coating well and drop into the hot oil. cook a few minutes on each side, or till golden brown.

I do not feel you need any more seasonings because the large mouth bass, and crappie, will make your mouth beg for more!

NOTE: Nothing is wasted when taking a fishes life to feed us, I use the guys and heads as fertilizer. Just dig a hole and plant them, nature will do the rest.

By Andria Perry

Photos by Andria Perry