Rock Bass - Nuisance?

[SHaRPS]

Question -

Would you consider the rock bass a nuisance fish in Winnipesaukee? I have been taking a weeks worth of vacation just about every summer on Winni and the last few years I have been catching more rock bass than ever before. My trip is coming up yet again and I am just wondering how the locals feel about the rock bass. Does anyone eat them?

[ishoot308]

As a "local" who lives on the lake, they are definitely a nuisance and invasive fish that has taken over in many areas of the lake. It wasn't that long ago where smallies were prevalent around my dock, now the rock bass have taken over and I have caught 40 - 50 at a whack without making a dent in them!  Please, if you catch one and if your not going to eat it, please use it as fertilizer on shore! While they are edible, They are rather small and I personally do not like them at all....

[SHaRPS]

ishoot308,

In all honesty this was kind of the response I was hoping for. You nailed it. We rented the same house for almost 10 years and it always held smallies and the last 3 or 4 years its been mostly rock bass, non stop action. I am hoping to locate a few white perch for a nights worth of dinner but I have not been able to find them on Winni in the last 5 years. I think I may bring up the electric fillet knife and keep a ton of rock bass and have a fish fry when I get back home with a bunch of friends and family. From the looks of it there is no size limit or daily creel limit on them. Pretty easy work with a electric fillet knife.

[zwiggles]

ishoot pretty much covered it. Definitely a nuisance. I hate it when I get them trolling, and they ruin a nice fly. I usually try to “release” the ones I catch to the eagles, or bring them home for chicken food/fertilizer. They have definitely had a negative effect on the lake.

[jibbs]

winni they tend to be brutal in the shallows around docks and shallow shore lines...you move off you do not catch them as much as you would on Sunapee...they are everywhere there...deep rockpiles or places you think only smallies would hang...I have a tourney there Saturday and not too pumped about it

[zwiggles]

winni they tend to be brutal in the shallows around docks and shallow shore lines...you move off you do not catch them as much as you would on Sunapee...they are everywhere there...deep rockpiles or places you think only smallies would hang...I have a tourney there Saturday and not too pumped about it

Sunnapee and pleasant lake up in that area are brutal for the rock bass. When I was a kid we fished pleasant lake often, and always caught great smallmouth and pickerel (I know but as a kid I loved the slime darts). The last several trips I have taken there I haven’t caught anything but rock bass.

Last I heard one of the local stores had a bounty on them. Another friend up there puts a few thousand in his fertilizer pile every summer.

It’s a shame those two lakes used to have an awesome fishery for cold and warm water fish. They’re just not the same anymore.

[SHaRPS]

So it sounds like I would do no harm if I harvested 10lbs of rock bass fillets. lol

I would prefer some white perch for a fresh dinner but unless someone wants to PM me with some sort of location for Whites the second week of June, Rocks Bass may be in trouble.

[taxid]

They are good to eat filleted. Sounds like it's time for a fish fry.

[Jethro]

I have a tourney there Saturday and not too pumped about it

Where the heck do they park you all for a tournament on Sunapee? Total PITA lake for a tourney I would imagine.

[jibbs]

We use the harbor launch ..there is a parking area down the street

[lowaccord66]

They are good to eat filleted. Sounds like it's time for a fish fry.

Yup.  Preferably when the water is cold. 

[SHaRPS]

Well sounds like the rock bass may end up on the dinner plate. Letting the fillets soak in ice water will firm them up a bit. I know we were catching some rock bass well over 1 lb so the fillets must be the size of large crappie.

[zwiggles]

I have only cleaned a few, but I remember them having a lot of bones and not the biggest filets. They tatsted great however, and I don’t think you will have an issue catching a pile of them.

[SHaRPS]

If i knew that they did not have worms at all like most panfish do, i would actually just gut them and scale them and grill them whole. Love white perch like this. put a few slits in the meat to cook even and then season with olive oil and blackened seasoning. One way or another I know i can catch 30 of them right from my dock.

[Jethro]

We use the harbor launch ..there is a parking area down the street

Oh the dirt lot? Have fun with the huge pile of dirt and road construction equipment that is directly in the middle of it right now. Room for maybe 5 or 6 trucks and trailers.