What is a "Magnum" sandbass? I've never heard it referred to that way.

I soak the fillets in milk for about an hour before cooking. No need to cut out the red meat. This gets rid of the real fishy taste if you don't really like it.

Oh yeah! Don't drink the milk.

I soak mine overnight, Catch em saturday, put em on ice a while to firm up the meat, fillet, remove skin then put in a bowl of lactaid milk. Ok, so we're lactose intolerant and thats all we buy but it adds a certain sweetness. Cook em up Sunday for lunch/dinner. then leftovers to work for lunch and sharing. Taste just like crappie to me prepared this way. My co-workers hit me up every Monday hoping for more. Catfish the same way.

Magnum refers to a really big sandbass thats all

they taste like Magnums

Sandbass is good eatin! But I pretty much like any kind of game fish.

Take a 1 x 8 cedar board, soak it in your favorite dark beer (not lite beer) for 2 hours. add salt - pepper garlic, lay fillets on board and bake at 350 degrees for 20 miniutes, take board out of the oven, disard the fillets and eat the board.

I like to bleed the whitebass I catch before I get them to the fillet table. That way, the blood line(red tissue) along the fillet is minimized.
I catch more whitebass these days, so there's no reason not to cut out the blood line.
The fillets come out much cleaner and prettier that way.
Compared to crappie, my wife can smell the difference when they are cooked...a bit fishier tasting fish.

But, if you don't like the fishy taste, don't eat fish!

And as someone suggested, much better when soaked in milk before breading and dropping in that 360 degree peanut oil.

MMMMMMM.

R

Unless it is a magnum--there isnt enough of a bloodline to even mess with--just my experience

Magnum or not I do not think I have ever cut the blood line out of a sandbass but I do soak them in a brine (Kosher salt) solution for 20-30 minutes before I fry them. We have a friend who claimed to eat only cold water fish, well until she had sand bass... She will eat 2-3 pounds of fried sand bass now. No secret recipe just dip it in a water/milk/egg mix then corn meal salt and pepper. I cut a fillet into two or three pieces at a horizontal angle to get crispy edges.

I used to use peanut oil but it is heavy on my innards so I use cottonseed oil now. It seems to last longer, it gets a strange smell but once it heats up it is fine and does not transfer or hold the taste of previous frying. I called the mfg about the smell and they told me it is a characteristic of the cottonseed oil.

I use to use peanut oil but am now using canola. I switched because some people are allergic to it, so to avoid contributing to an episode, I just switched.

I'll have to check up on using cottonseed. Maybe I'm missing something.

how do you bleed fish

I'm with Fishtex on this minus the bbq sause. It's called on the half shell. It started with red fish along the coast and it is darn good when done right. It takes less time to clean the fish and there's no mess or smell from frying, it's also better for you to eat.

I have my own seasoning recipe but you can get a seafood marinade at any grocery store (Cajun is good)and see if you like it. Just brush the scales with a thin coat of oil place on a med. heat grill, season the top and when it's done the skin peels right off in one piece.

Tips- Don't over season the fillet go lite on sause or dry rub
Use wood chips for smoke on a gas grill with a foil pouch
or chip box.
Use foil for catfish (no scales)
And don't over cook

Just my 2 cents, it's fun to watch someone who likes fish but has to cut down on fried foods ask for 2nds and 3rds.

Slice thier throats at the bootom of the gills and let them bleed out at least 15 minutes before you clean 'em.