Very informative and provocative article in most recent issue of In-Fisherman. At the same time smallmouth fishing is better than ever, there is a significant amount of pressure to reduce populations. Some (most?) of the latter not based on science. Very good read.

Can’t happen soon enough!

Obviously tongue and cheek. The other side of the issue is on many lakes smallmouth are not natural, it is just annoying to work a reef and catch 50 10-12 inch smallies and 2 walleye, because those little bastards keep attacking your bait before it can get to the walleye, when 15-20 years ago smallies did not exist in that lake. Or read on here or other forums how people, caught many small smallies...let them all go...and kept the 2-3 20-24 inch breeding stock walleyes or more for dinner.

With that said I did not agree with the change to liberal smally harvest limits on Mille Lacs. It is a great trophy fishery, don’t mess with it.

I agree with the article...just see the frustration on the other side.

T

There is a lot of fishermen up there that hate these water rats. Smallmouth Bass are about last on my list to catch up there. But they are fun to catch the big ones on a top water plug in the spring. They were introduced because the fishing lodges were complaining about their customers not catching fish. Invasive species to a Walleye fisherman.

I fall into the "can't happen soon enough" and "hate these water rats". Yes, they can be fun to catch. But they taste like $#:+… even if Quetico Park employees think they are great. SMB are a good alternative for fishermen who can't catch walleyes and lake trout. Invasive species, YES, otherwise, I'm encouraging catch and keep.

i don't have any issue eating bass, especially the small ones

unlike a walleye that you can drag around on a stringer all day, smallmouth bass need to be killed and filleted quickly, fillets rinsed a few times to draw the blood out, then cooked.

small mouth bass chunks simmered in a noodle yellow curry with powdered cocunut milk broth is one of my favorite canoe meals.

At risk? Of what? Taking over the ecosystem? We call ‘em Quetico carp. Keep all ya want.

tyh: "


i don't have any issue eating bass, especially the small ones


unlike a walleye that you can drag around on a stringer all day, smallmouth bass need to be killed and filleted quickly, fillets rinsed a few times to draw the blood out, then cooked.


small mouth bass chunks simmered in a noodle yellow curry with powdered cocunut milk broth is one of my favorite canoe meals.



"

Anything would taste good in all those ingredients. I'm sorry, but smallmouth are terrible to eat!

Zwater: "

tyh: "



i don't have any issue eating bass, especially the small ones



unlike a walleye that you can drag around on a stringer all day, smallmouth bass need to be killed and filleted quickly, fillets rinsed a few times to draw the blood out, then cooked.



small mouth bass chunks simmered in a noodle yellow curry with powdered cocunut milk broth is one of my favorite canoe meals.



"

Anything would taste good in all those ingredients. I'm sorry, but smallmouth are terrible to eat!"

ZW there you go again , 1 small mouth at the table and you condemn them all , but i would never take coconut milk on a BW trip , and small mouth will live on a stringer forever JS.
Zwater do you even use salt and pepper ?

No matter how much you hate smallmouth they aren't going anywhere. They will still be swimming in the BW and Quetico when you are dead and gone. There is nothing you can do to remove them totally from the lakes, so you should enjoy the hardest fighting fish, oz. for oz., pound for pound that swims in these lakes. I can catch walleye, trout, and pike without any problem, but I would much rather catch smallmouth bass. I'm not going to bad mouth any of these other fish, I like catching them all, but nothing is as much fun to me as fighting a monster bronzeback that slams a topwater lure and proceeds to give an aerial display unlike no other, cavorting all over the surface of one the pristine lakes. Nothing gives me more joy in Quetico than that scenario. To each his own, good luck on your next fishing excursion in the Boundary Waters.

In reality on Mille lacs lake fishermen with or without regulations keep very few smallmouth to effect the fishery. That shows in the creel dating back to the 1970's. It never had to have a stricker(sp) regulation than the statewide regulation.
Their are many reasons why bass grew big there. One it was a expanding population and walleye population was down so growth rate is great. Mille lacs lake in the late 60's had smallmouth bass mainly in the southeast end of the lake. Early 90's like lake statewide the population took off. Also around 1990 the crayfish
Creel surveys on Mille lacs never showed that fishermen keep smallmouth much. By over protection in the long run smallmouth bass size may shrink.
population also just exploded in super abundance. Thereby creating for a time a endless food source.

Yes I could comment on the walleye population also. It is over restrictive and could have a 4 fish limit with like one over 18 inches. The 1960's had walleye population lower than now and it recovered with a 6 fish limit.

Reason for short term forage problem-too many top predators. Walleye ,northern pike muskie,smallmouth bass and the good old burbot. Yes some of their population may be down now.

QueticoMike: "No matter how much you hate smallmouth they aren't going anywhere. They will still be swimming in the BW and Quetico when you are dead and gone. There is nothing you can do to remove them totally from the lakes, so you should enjoy the hardest fighting fish, oz. for oz., pound for pound that swims in these lakes. I can catch walleye, trout, and pike without any problem, but I would much rather catch smallmouth bass. I'm not going to bad mouth any of these other fish, I like catching them all, but nothing is as much fun to me as fighting a monster bronzeback that slams a topwater lure and proceeds to give an aerial display unlike no other, cavorting all over the surface of one the pristine lakes. Nothing gives me more joy in Quetico than that scenario. To each his own, good luck on your next fishing excursion in the Boundary Waters. "

I love 'em too, Mike. When it comes to a fish that's easy to catch, it's the pike. Those guys are everywhere and hit everything.

Ive kept a few smallies for a shore lunch. Honestly, if they’re fresh filleted and cooked within the hour they taste pretty dang good. Walleye will keep better though even after in the freezer. They’re a little too prominent in most the lakes, I say keep your limit if you’d like. Not gonna hurt them

^^^ +1

TheMadPaddler: "Ive kept a few smallies for a shore lunch. Honestly, if they’re fresh filleted and cooked within the hour they taste pretty dang good. Walleye will keep better though even after in the freezer. They’re a little too prominent in most the lakes, I say keep your limit if you’d like. Not gonna hurt them "

I think they are very sweet tasting,especially in the spring when the water is cooler. Just throw back like the 17 inch plus fish. We will be fine.

fall seagull 2016 , Adam's first trip , he loved the taste of smallies and we've ate some tasty fish together. and some lakes in the BW are a bit overrun with 10" smallies that need harvesting , take your limit and think of 10" crappies on steroids ;) we keep some 12" LMB on my local lake Waconia and there as good as crappie in a blind taste test , WORD Z-water ;)
if we happen to catch a bass that day on Waconia , we'll fry it up ;)

I’ve done blind taste testing with bass and walleye. People can’t tell the difference. I can tell, but then again I know which fillets are which...the human brain is a wonderful thing.

T

Shock,
Some people like Brussel sprouts, some don't:)
Smallies are just too fishy tasting for me. My actual favorite is a 22" northern with the y-bones removed.

^^^ delicious bass

There is no fish in the BWCA that I would rather fish for. I'm with QM, I love the way a sm bass will smash a top water lure and the fight that follows.

shock: "^^^ delicious bass "

I love that moment in the movie.

At this point, it's clear that we all agree that smallmouth are the best fish and let us rededicate ourselves to portaging them ever deeper into BWWCA and beyond.

missmolly: "

shock: "^^^ delicious bass "

I love that moment in the movie. "

So good. GOSH!

I can't weigh in on smallies as I've never tasted one.

However, white bass from the St. Croix river, if properly bled and cleaned, are top notch table fare in my book.

I've always thought walleye is for people who don't actually like the taste of fish. "Clean" is a word I often hear used, but a better one might be, well, "bland." A nice white walleye fillet essentially takes on the flavor of whatever seasoning or breading you use. There are other factors that go into enjoying food, like texture, and it's hard to beat that flaky walleye texture. I love a good shore lunch but if I'm honest with myself, it's all about the texture and the seasoning. My 2 cents at least.

Agree walleye takes on flavor of what ingrediants you use. Smallmouth actually are sweet tasting in the spring.

Northerns y-boned are the best! Then sunfish and crappies, then walleyes and perch, then a piece of charcoal, then smallmouth:) Its fun to catch a big one, but not fun to eat. Again, just my opinion.

Waiting for a comment from Shock or miss molly:)

old_salt: "At risk? Of what? Taking over the ecosystem? We call ‘em Quetico carp. Keep all ya want."

Could not agree more

I like Pike, but mostly eat delicious bass. Invasive, easy to clean and I don't have a refined palate.

Now if my float plane were to crash or I was a contestant on Alone I would want the lake to have smallies for sure.

I can remember the first walleye I ate from the BWCA. It was good, but I remember thinking "What's the big deal?" The same shore lunch we also had Smallmouth and Pike. You could have put a plate of either fish in front of me and I would have been happy. I feel the same today as I did then. I do live 1400 miles away (one way) and the primary reason I make the trip is to fish for smallmouth, then Pike, and least of all, Walleye. I chuckle as I write this because I know some who read this will think I've lost my mind. As it was said earlier …… to each their own.

There was a time growing up in the 60's just about everyone liked northern pike. Than people got finicky and it had to be walleye.

Gadfly: "

old_salt: "At risk? Of what? Taking over the ecosystem? We call ‘em Quetico carp. Keep all ya want."

Could not agree more"

I think that whole article was much aimed at Mille lacs lake. Even there creel data shows anglers never have kept many smallmouth and with the increase of abundance being 10 fold sine about 1970 it wouldn't hurt the lake to harvest fish even up to 17 inches.

Gadfly: "

old_salt: "At risk? Of what? Taking over the ecosystem? We call ‘em Quetico carp. Keep all ya want."

Could not agree more"

I think that whole article was much aimed at Mille lacs lake. Even there creel data shows anglers never have kept many smallmouth and with the increase of abundance being 10 fold since about 1970 it wouldn't hurt the lake to harvest fish even up to 17 inches.

A big sunfish is a better fight, pound for pound over a smallmouth. Better eating, too,)

Zwater: "Northerns y-boned are the best! Then sunfish and crappies, then walleyes and perch, then a piece of charcoal, then smallmouth:) Its fun to catch a big one, but not fun to eat. Again, just my opinion.


Waiting for a comment from Shock or miss molly:)"

sorry getting off the O.P. but yes i love boneless pike but i prefer #4-#7 range

Pinetree: "

Gadfly: "

old_salt: "At risk? Of what? Taking over the ecosystem? We call ‘em Quetico carp. Keep all ya want."

Could not agree more"

I think that whole article was much aimed at Mille lacs lake. Even there creel data shows anglers never have kept many smallmouth and with the increase of abundance being 10 fold sine about 1970 it wouldn't hurt the lake to harvest fish even up to 17 inches."

That’s my take too, not really applicable to the BWCAW/Quetico.

T

Zwater: "A big sunfish is a better fight, pound for pound over a smallmouth. Better eating, too,)"

Bass are a member of the sunfish family . JS ,

Zwater: "A big sunfish is a better fight, pound for pound over a smallmouth. Better eating, too,)"

I've never caught a 5 pound sunfish in Quetico. Which Quetico lakes have sunfish? :) All kidding aside, a smallmouth bass is a fish in the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) of the order Perciformes. Sunfish and bluegills are some very spunky fish, they just don't average the size of it's bass cousin. They do taste better than walleye.

shock: "

Zwater: "A big sunfish is a better fight, pound for pound over a smallmouth. Better eating, too,)"

Bass are a member of the sunfish family . JS , "

I should read the comments first before I made mine, you beat me to the sunfish family comment :)

Pinetree: "There was a time growing up in the 60's just about everyone liked northern pike. Than people got finicky and it had to be walleye. "

I'm guessing it has a lot to do with the bones as I always hear people complain about them. I do prefer the taste of pike fillets over those of walleye however I believe the best tasting fish caught in MN is brook trout and for me its not close. No breading or added flavors needed just delicious.

It's all good.......I love catching, and yes eating, smallmouth bass.

What may explain the variety of comments regarding the eating qualities of bass may have much to do with their forage. Bass, largemouth and smallmouth, which have a primary forage of crawfish will almost always be an excellent eating fish. But bass which have an oily fish as a forage bass, ciscos etc. are much more likely to be strong tasting.

This is very notable when comparing lake trout caught in the Great Lakes vs those caught in inland lakes. Lakers which eat alewives can be rather unpleasant to eat as compared to the excellent table qualities of canoe country lakers.

Bottom line, there is more to it than just the species of fish.

Just watched Napaleon dynamite again just recently. Never gets old. Odd, the first time i watched it I thought it was stupid........now I think it's hilarious.

Zwater: "Northerns y-boned are the best! Then sunfish and crappies, then walleyes and perch, then a piece of charcoal, then smallmouth:) Its fun to catch a big one, but not fun to eat. Again, just my opinion.


Waiting for a comment from Shock or miss molly:)"

LOL
I was waiting for the cedar plank joke but this is good also.

Gadfly: "

Pinetree: "There was a time growing up in the 60's just about everyone liked northern pike. Than people got finicky and it had to be walleye. "

I'm guessing it has a lot to do with the bones as I always hear people complain about them. I do prefer the taste of pike fillets over those of walleye however I believe the best tasting fish caught in MN is brook trout and for me its not close. No breading or added flavors needed just delicious. "

I agree,people are too LAZY to pick the bones out of northern pike. I also believe fish take on the taste of their surroundings. As summer warms the water the fish being cold blooded, they warm up to the same temp as their surroundings. More important the water because of the changing plant growth etc. water often takes on a smell in the summer. Fish often take on that same smell-taste.
Even like crappies taste better in the winter coming out of cold water. More firm etc..

We have an over abundance of large mouths on our lake here. My nephews come up and catch, clean and eat some good sized ones. In the early summer they aren’t as bad as I’ve had. But come August?... mushy and almost bitter... walleye are preferred mostly for ease of preparing and always tastes good. Northern are more tasty... bass? You’d think they’d be better being in the sunfish catagory. Not right in quetico, but just west there was the best crappie fishing I ever had. But the native Americans netted them out to where they haven’t come back in a long long time. Crappies and sunfish can be good. But I agree with zwater a bit here. Bass is an acquired taste... I haven’t got there yet. If you can’t taste the difference your doctoring all your fish up too much. At that point your eating seasoning not fish... haha!
Oh, and smallies? Can be fun, can be annoying... best kept off some lakes as they take over and mess up good fishing lakes.

Agree nctry- I love smallmouth but they don't belong in all lakes. They can become so prolific and native species like lake trout and walleye may suffer. They compete for the same food at certain times of year and smallmouth will prey of whatever is available at times. Including lake trout-my favorite. Probably because you don't find it everywhere and usually in wild and pristine areas.

Pinetree: "Agree nctry- I love smallmouth but they don't belong in all lakes. They can become so prolific and native species like lake trout and walleye may suffer. They compete for the same food at certain times of year and smallmouth will prey of whatever is available at times. Including lake trout-my favorite. Probably because you don't find it everywhere and usually in wild and pristine areas."

You've zeroed in on a key point of the In-Fisherman article I referenced to start this thread when you said, "walleye may suffer". The fisheries science question is, "Did the introduction of smallmouth cause the walleye populations to suffer OR did other factors adversely affect walleye populations and the smallmouth just moved into that 'vacated' niche?

The tone of the In-Fisherman article, as I read it, was that little evidence exists to show smallmouth are the cause of reduced walleye populations. So....'harvest smallmouth so that walleye will increase' is not based on solid science.

And so the discussion continues. A lot more research to be done.

In more sterile water like the BWCA there will be overlap and competition for food. Also in lakes with limited lake trout production it has been shown smallmouth bass will eat young of the year lake trout and compete for food when water temp is favorable to use the same area. Yes each lake is different.
That said, smallmouth bass have been in Mille lacs since at least 1960 in very very low numbers until like 1990 with warmer and longer summers spawning and living conditions improved dramatically. The crayfish population hit probably a all time high in the mid to late 90's providing a very great food resource. Smallmouth became abundant even on the north end of the lake and reefs, hatching success increased.
Those warm summers tullibee or called cisco population crashed(yes last year cisco numbers rebounded some) to all time lows dying because of the warm water. One forage food source almost wiped out. Shortly there after perch populations go to or close to all time lows also. Why? Good question? Perch spawning success was low and maybe with tighter walleye regulations the walleye population to high for existing forage food,thus cropped the perch down for many years. Maybe too many adult walleyes left for existing forage food base. Bottom line to many predators going to the dinner table for perch.

What many studies have shown fish species may have their own niche,but for a certain percent of the year they overlap and will compete for food,also a smallmouth being a opportunist will and does eat small walleye if both are present in the same area. They also will eat perch as a main fish forage species.

One food study followed walleyes stocked in a lake as fingerling. You could follow the fingerling walleye spreading around the lake by stomach contents of largemouth bass containing walleye.
Mille lacs with the low perch population I believe adult walleye population turned onto young of the year walleye for food,thus that is one problem on Mille lacs. Over restriction on walleye limits.

Mille lacs had and has many variables effecting a population, a expanding northern pike population for awhile which has settled down,zebra mussels tying up much of food chain,spiney water fleas etc..

A lake can only have so many top predators and pounds per acre. So many variables and thus each situation is a little different.


A side note it has been shown time and time again in many lakes when walleye populations increase,crappie populations decrease. When walleye populations decrease crappies increase. Why?

whom eats who?

Look at the crappie boom in Red lake in the early 2000's. You could catch an easy limit of big crappies, no problem, and couldn't keep any walleyes. Then word got out, and the crappie population decreased significantly, and now Red lake is a booming walleye resource.

Pinetree, I agree with you.

By the way, I still won't eat a smallmouth:)

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that waldos and smallies compete for the same forage base.

old_salt: "It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that waldos and smallies compete for the same forage base. "

And it doesn't take a gourmet chef to say that a smallie is terrible to eat:)

a couple points , IMO and facts LOL
red lake : crappies exploded because the lake got netted dry of walleyes and it was our tax dollars that brought the walleye back , and as we see now the walleyes have made a come back and crappies have decreased , YEs the word got out on the crappies , and fishing pressure hit big time as Z stated , i've seen lakes in my local area not fished for years then somebody fishes it and does great aND the word gets out , simple lesson loose lips sinks ships , now this did happen to red but also so did the balance of the lake with walleyes being more abundant now , and when crappies spawn a lot of small forage every where well into august''''
2nd point when walleye catches were down on certain lakes , the musky was to blame , now some on this thread/post are saying it's because of the smallmouth bass competing for there food ,
but nobody brings up the netting , politically correct or not (and they do have there rights)but that doesn't have a factor/impact in the mille lacs situation ? JS
My last point LOL i did say a couple ;) ;) ;) Z_MAN if i brought you into seagull lake opener or late fall and we fried up a walleye and a smally , i believe you would know the difference but you would never say this smally taste nasty. lets meet up the day of the snowmobiles .

I don't like to eat smallmouth because they're hard to clean. Their backbones are bumpy and I lose meat when my knife hops along those vertebrae.

I eat pike, not because I like them best, but because I like fresh fish best and I don't like fish banging against the canoe. I've told the story of fishing with a guy who'd want to keep every walleye we caught to eat for lunch. I'd always release them because I didn't want to drag a fish around the rest of the morning. When it was time to paddle back to camp, that was typically a mile or two, so I'd wait until we could see the tents and then troll. That's the fish we'd eat and it was typically a pike. When it's ten minutes from hook set to skillet, that's both convenient and tasty.

shock: "nobody brings up the netting , politically correct or not (and they do have there rights)but that doesn't have a factor/impact in the mille lacs situation ? JS"

Of course it's a factor. But I've seen so many discussions like this one go down a road where the majority of people want to cite this as the single/primary explanation, which is a total crock.

It's good to see we can have a somewhat nuanced discussion here, with a healthy amount of question asking and not so much armchair biology.

Zwater: "

old_salt: "It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that waldos and smallies compete for the same forage base. "

And it doesn't take a gourmet chef to say that a smallie is terrible to eat:)"

I’ve heard that they can be cooked with wood, such as hickory, mesquite, or alder. When done, throw out the fish, and eat the wood...

Only one fish I won't eat Lutefisk.

C'mon Pinetree, Lutefisk is delicious!

Lutefisk is better than eating a smallie!:)

anybody actually eat that stuff-lutefisk

Lutefisk is actually really good if is prepared the right way. Maybe smallies would be good with a lot of lye:)
For sure Shock, let's meet up at the Waconia snowmobile show. We may do a vintage ride from Prior Lake. 40 plus sleds.

If someone says they like lutefisk, it’s the big lye.

old_salt: "If someone says they like lutefisk, it’s the big lye."

Wit from a wag like you wags my tail.

mastertangler: "It's all good.......I love catching, and yes eating, smallmouth bass. ........
.........Just watched Napaleon dynamite again just recently. Never gets old. Odd, the first time i watched it I thought it was stupid........now I think it's hilarious. "

"i have caught you a delicious bass"

Zwater: "Lutefisk is actually really good if is prepared the right way. Maybe smallies would be good with a lot of lye:)
For sure Shock, let's meet up at the Waconia snowmobile show. We may do a vintage ride from Prior Lake. 40 plus sleds. "

your invited too QM & BP ;)

Maybe we need a separate small mouth bass forum for all this?

Its amazing I have seen lakes when temp is just right I have litrally(sp) seen milllions of fry hatch at one time.
I believe Pointe lake in Quetico was the first lake up there stocked with smallmouth. The legacy of smallmouth and the long term effect on other species is still happening.
Also I still can't figure in recent years how they are managing to get into certain remote lakes. Nature amazes me all the time.

What many people don't realize walleye is also not natural to many of the lakes in eastern BWCA-Like Saganaga and Sea Gull.

barehook: "Very informative and provocative article in most recent issue of In-Fisherman. At the same time smallmouth fishing is better than ever, there is a significant amount of pressure to reduce populations. Some (most?) of the latter not based on science. Very good read."

They do a good job and many of them have a Fisheries Biological degree. I know many of them personally for they are based in my home town. Personally they are good people. I like it when they try to insert some biological info that is scientifically based.

bobbernumber3: "Maybe we need a separate small mouth bass forum for all this?"

Nah , it's all good , i enjoy reading everyone's opinion even if it gets side tracked from the O.P.