That's how we care for our catch up here in Oregon. Bonk, bleed and bag.

Larger fish need to be tapped on the head to keep them from beating ya to death. No reason to kill them, just knock them out. Then run a rope through the gills and cut the gill arch. This allows the fish to sit in the water and bleed out. Then into the ice cold kill bag.

I'll be doing the same thing with the few fish I keep once I move to Texas. Just hoping I can pick my kill bag up before I make the move.

SW, you will like Texas!!!

Did an experiment fried half with red stripe in and half cut out. These were sandbass and everyone said they could not tell any difference. I did this to my family and they said I was crazy they were nothing different.
I have always felt it did not matter on sandbass and I still believe that.
Johnny

I think Sid, the head cook for the LTSA fish fry likes to remove all of the red. His fish are the best sand bass that I have ever eaten.

Soak the filets in lemon water or beer for an hour

Better yet, soak your guests in beer for an hour before serving them.

Now that's funny

I really think it depends on the size, I remove the red for larger fish, but I don't bother for anything up to 12"

I have a friend that does not particularly like white bass to eat. He has been busy with work and I caught and cleaned several pounds for him. I call my fish fillets double filleted because I spend so much time removing the red meat. I did not tell him or his wife what they were and asked that they only enjoy them. Later the next week I overheard his wife tell a friend that the had been absolutely loving the crappie fillets that they had been eating. I have to admit that I never give away crappie fillets. At least some people can't tell the difference between twice filleted white bass and crappie. I strongly feel that the red meat detracts from the taste of the cooked fish and will never serve whites or hybrids with the red meat on them.

The same message goes doubly for catfish. I love fried fish, but have gone to the salad and hush puppies at other peoples fish fries when the red meat is still on the fillet. Everyone has their own personal preferences and I can never find fault with anyone who enjoys food that is not as good as it can be. I tend to work a little harder and get it just the way I like it.

Agree 100%

A little tip i'm done for years. Lay the meat out and use lemon on it with in a min it will start to turn white'ish. I only do this with Sand bass. Works great.

Yuck, cut those red stripes out, they make the fish taste like the river.... I used to hate to eat sandbass and quit eating them until I learned how to clean them, now I can eat them....

I always cut it out. If you're still curious, try cutting out the red strip and cooking it by itself. Then compare it to the white filet only.

+1 same here

Soak the fish overnight in Sprite instead of water. The citrus removes all the fish taste and makes yellow bellies taste like crappie!