Are Rock Bass Good to Eat?

While currently rock bass isn’t too high in demand among anglers these are still among the fascinating groups of fishes to catch. A lot of anglers don’t know that four species currently exist for rock bass fishes. Members of genus ambloplites - most closely these relate to different species of sunfish such as spotted sunfish, green sunfish and warmouth.

Perhaps due to down turning of the economy it has also been asked are rock bass good to eat or not? While this might not sound something usual, but the answer here is a complete yes as the rock bass’s white colored flesh is quite flaky and appears somewhat similar to the sunfish.

However, the downside of consuming rock bass would be that their size is somewhat opposite of the available amount of meat from them. This is most particular when you’re filleting these. Primary cut back-strap and above you can find the ribs as they’ve got wide sides with small amount of flesh at the outer stout ribs. As an outcome, you require great amount of whole fish compared to perch or crappies. However, often these can be sufficient for voiding the issue, and also creel is in generous limits in almost all areas.

Eating your catch after cooking it tender is a wholesome rewarding experience. However a major concern in this freshwater catch is that such wild foods have potential risk of parasites and wild bugs as well.

Although it is quite rare but there are some chances that you might notice even worms inside the bass meat. The question here is that are these worms harmful for health?

Do Rock Bass Fishes Have Worms?

Most if not all of them, wild fishes would most likely catch some or other parasites that reside in on or within the body of the fish itself. However, a lot of times, these remain completely harmless for humans, as long as you’re able to cook fishes before consuming this.

Smallmouth, largemouth and rock bass often remain prone to bass tapeworms (these are flat white worms living inside the fish). Also these affect other fish species such as perches and trouts.

Also you get various other worms and parasites that are found in living and freshwater fishes, such as bass. These are also quite susceptible to other parasites as well.

Before consuming your rock bass you need to consider the following:

Look for Outer Signs

A few basses such as rock bass have parasites on outer bodies. Sometimes this becomes a sign that also there are parasites that live within the fish.

Flukes found both outside and inside fish, often as yellow grub such as creatures around tail or inside meat.

However, larvae also forms white cysts, sometimes this is around the tail base but this is also present inside internal organs.

Any black spots on fish exterior can also be a parasite sign. While this would sound unappealing, all these parasites generally aren’t harmful for humans when these get eaten.

The Fish Must Always be Cooked

Cooking is among best ways of killing parasites and bacteria inside your fish. While a lot of worms and parasites that are present in bass typically aren’t harmful, it would still be recommended that you’re cooking and cleaning the fish before eating it.

Some worms are found within the guts or fish gills so it would be great idea for removing these before cooking this after firstly filleting bass.

However, a lot of worms would be still inside flesh but cooking the fish properly for a minimum of 15 seconds while keeping heat at about 140 degree Fahrenheit simply kills them.

Killing all these worms wouldn’t meant that they’ll be removed from inside the fish, so it would be recommended to manually remove worms with the help of tweezers.

Make sure to Freeze the Catch

A lot of worms and parasites get killed if you’re freezing fish inside the freezer for about a week. This process is mostly done for preserving fishes for sushi.

However, after even freezing bass, it would be recommended that you’re cooking fish thoroughly before serving this up, as freshwater fishes most likely also have various other bacteria and generally it would not be recommended for eating this in raw state.

Not only in rock bass but in general parasites and worms are present in all wild fish types but most of these aren’t harmful for human consumption. However, still it is strictly recommended to cook the bass as it is among the best possible ways for killing bacteria and parasites and for prevention of any illnesses.

Ensure proper cleaning and you should also fillet the bass before cooking.