What are some tasty fresh water fish?

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Spotted Bass will be better than anything above. No size limit on most lakes ( small ones are best), easy to catch, pretty white meat, no fishy taste.
I've ate a lot of them. They're good, but not as good as walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth, wild trout, or crappie.
 

Buckman18

Senior Member
I agree with what was said about the body of water having an impact on flavor. I live on the upper Chattahoochee River between Helen and Lake Lanier. Bass, stripers, catfish, perch, gar, etc. caught from the river are much better eating than from the lake. The lake fish are still great, but you can definitely tell a difference.
 

blt152

Senior Member
I'm originally from northeast Ohio and have to say that walleye, yellow perch and crappie can't be beat. You have not lived until you've eaten a platter of walleye caught through the ice on Lake Erie.
 

greg_n_clayton

Senior Member
you are right about walleye and yellow perch. Crappie would be my next choice, wild trout, a hand sized bluegill, small channel cat, then stocked trout
Time to go get a mess of perch ! Maybe a few skwerls at the same time !
 

the Lackster

Senior Member
Quite a wide scale here i see. I would have to put crappie at the top of my list followed by flathead. After that everything else just runs together. Apart from carp its all good to me.
 

krizia829

Senior Member
Not sure what you got up there but down here in Miami, I've had largemouth bass, crappie, mayan cichlid, peacock bass, bluegills, etc. They're all great tasting fish if prepared properly.
 

HossBog

Senior Member
Since the first letter in this forum is “G,” I’ll skip walleye and say yellow perch. The perch family are great. Y’all boys know what I mean about G. Not many walleyes here.
 

AceOfTheBase

Senior Member
Yah, walleye gets my vote - if you can find one !!
Neighbor has caught a few bellow the dam on Carter.

Thing about catfish is wild vs farm raised, ie good vs not good.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Since the first letter in this forum is “G,” I’ll skip walleye and say yellow perch. The perch family are great. Y’all boys know what I mean about G. Not many walleyes here.
Most bodies of water in northern G have walleyes. G isn't just the Coastal Plain. It's a big state with a lot of different ecological zones. They are native there in the mountain drainages, and stocking has increased their range. Clayton is just as G as Hahira.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Yah, walleye gets my vote - if you can find one !!
Neighbor has caught a few bellow the dam on Carter.

Thing about catfish is wild vs farm raised, ie good vs not good.
Agree 100%. Farm raised catfish tastes nothing like wild catfish.
 

Teh Wicked

Senior Member
Coming from a Salt commercial background...Here is a list of fish I say rival saltwater fish, in order of tastyness.

1. Walleye, hands down without a doubt the best freshwater fish you can get in GA. Anyone who says different hasn't had one or they cooked it wrong. I don't know why this species is so much better, they primarily eat other small shad and fish which usually means they are much more gamey tasting and oily. But for Walleye, not the case, fine dining of freshwater.
2. Toss up between Crappie, Yellow perch, bream and maybe white bass. all are good, usually because their diet is mostly insect and other very small prey.
3. Catfish, Striper and Hybrids. stick to smaller fish for keeper sizes. Anything over 10lbs and your going to have wasted fillets in the freezer. a 10lb cat will feed a family of four for two nights at the dinner table.
5. Bass, ultra gamey tasting, much like Catfish, because their primary prey is other fish and bottom feeders that filter feed fish poop. Mercury content will be higher in these types of fish because of their diet, which leads to Gout when you get older. You don't want gout in your toe...

Trout will fall in there around 2 or 3 on my list. Very edible, but just not my favorite to consume, typically the 10-12" ones are best eating and big enough to easily fillet.

Be smart, enjoy
 

Dialer

Senior Member
I'm originally from northeast Ohio and have to say that walleye, yellow perch and crappie can't be beat. You have not lived until you've eaten a platter of walleye caught through the ice on Lake Erie.
MAN! That DOES sound good!
 

GONoob

Senior Member
I cant stand a catfish's after taste. Tastes like sewage. I find that the smaller ones are better, though.
 

SouthGa Fisher

Senior Member
Not the first mention of jackfish - the best tasting freshwater fish there is. Next would be red horse sucker but they're usually caught in a net.
Most people don't know how to clean/cook a jack or a sucker...I was brought up running nets for suckers. Nothing beats them cooked on the bank of the river by a fire. I've had every fish mentioned above except paddlefish, **including walleye from the north GA mountain lakes**, and none compare.

Walleye is easily next on the list though.
 
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