I have caught many a fish in the past as many of you have and when filleting them I have run across some that have softer, cloudy flesh while most are nice denser fillets. What is your opinion as to why that is the case. I believe the fishing guides probably run across a lot of these fish and would like to know if there is a particular reason for this. There is no sign from one fish to the other until you cut them open. Should I not eat those with the softer meat? I haven't notices a difference in taste once you fry them up and I can't recall a time I've gotten sick after eating them. Hope to find a reasonable answer so I can share that knowledge with the next generation of fishermen (grand kids). Thanks in advance for your reply's.

Got to catch your fish on a sunny day. J/K I have no idea but have had some soft spots in the past also.

I run across a few. Mostly sand bass. I don�t eat them.

Same here. Usually skinny ones and ones with some problem in one eye. I use to see quite a few of them around the Grapevine aerator

Anything I see when cleaning a fish that is questionable and not the norm, I reject it and move on.
Would it hurt me or someone else from eating it, or just have a funky taste?
I don't know so I just don't chance it!

My first thought would be spawned out females.
I would assume nothing wrong with the meat. Maybe the texture is altered a bit due to loss of density.

I have seen it several times and its usually under the same circumstances involving fish that have died in the livewell and temps above 80 degrees. I believe what is happening in these cases is the fish dies in the livewell and begins to spoil much quicker in the warmer air and water tempatures. Since I have started throwing the fish on ice in the warmer months I have never encountered the cloudy soft meat. I have also never encountered it in the cold months or with fish that have only been dead just a few minutes. That's why I believe its the early stages of the meat starting to spoil. The cloudy meat will also have more of a oily feel to it as well.

I theorized the same thing, JFB. I still run into them now that I have been throwing them on ice as i catch them. I caught my limit last Monday and nothing smaller that 13" sandies (not bragging) all good fighting fish looking thick and healthy yet when I cleaned them iI still ran into 3 that were soft meat. I haven't been able to find anything online about it either. I thought about what Jimbo said about eating them. maybe just discard and move on. Maybe its just like people who are prone to be fattier than others genetically or maybe they are really old fish and their meat is softer just like older folks. IDK, I'm still looking for an answer, but it wont stop me from fishing, or rather like I tell my grand kids "catching".Thanks for all the replies. Keep those lines tight.

Hopefully someone with marine biology working knowledge will chime in and dispel any and all wrongful intel. The fish hast to be real funky for me to toss. Spending over ten years in South Louisiana influenced me to eat just about anything, as long as the gravy is good.

During the channel cat spawn some males will have that type of meat. I don�t keep eat either. Maybe they are stressed from spawning too.