HOW TO FILLET A BASS 

I'm from Louisiana and anybody you ask would tell you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with eating bass. Down here we respect the way other sportsman deal with their catch wether it is by releasing them or taking them home for dinner. I think some of yall need to learn some respect especially for a man who takes the time out of his day to educate yall on how to clean the fish that yall catch.

I always release my bass. In a skillet of hot grease.

to all the people saying you shouldnt keep a bass cause its a sport fish. im a avid bass fisherman and down here in florida the bass are everywhere its nice to have a fish fry every once in awhile

Thank you for the video! It helped me tons I'm 14 and just getting back into fishing since my dad passed 5 years ago. He always skinned the fish for me so I never had to do it so it's nice to learn!

That was a fat ass bass. My mouth watered.

Thanks for posting this video. I've started fishing again after 25+ years of being away from it and we brought home our first keeper bass of the season. Everything else came back to me pretty quickly but as I looked at the fish and tried to remember how to fillet it I realized this was one thing that was not coming back to be. Your video allowed me to get two pretty nice fillets out of my bass. Not perfect but better than I would have done if I had not watched this. Hopefully I'll keep catching more so I have a chance to practice. I'm definitely "hooked" on fishing again.

The fish was a payed actor everyone no who was hurt during the making of the video

if you take that filet and dont cut it all the way through the tail, once you separate it from the rib cage/stomach you can simply flip the filet over with it still attached to the tail and skin it much easier. You have the whole fish to grab onto for support. Great video keep it up!

catch and release into the grease ; )

Thanks for this video "How to filet a bass"! My son used it as a guide tonight on his first "catch and keep" bass!

Hey I know I’m late to the party but thanks for the video. My dad and i usually filet catfish and find them the easiest but today we decided to try bass we filleted them (huge pain in the bass) and found this is truly an art form, in other words thank you for the help .

I cut the tail/ bleed out all my fish before filleting. makes the meat a lot whiter/ cleaner tasting IMO.

You make it look easy enough. I don't have a LOT of practice doing this but I'll need to know this for my Boundry Waters trip next week. Thanks for the video.

Thanks Phil. I've watched many videos on how to fillet a bass and this is definitely the best! Appreciate it!

New to the culture of fishing and cleaning fish so this video has definitely come in handy. Thanks Phil

I'm going camping by myself for the first time this weekend and this video really helped. Thank you!!

will this work with a plastic butter knife?

Great video...reading through the comments, from some who claim to be "fishermen" no less, all I can do is smh. I searched this video out so I could filet 3 nice 3-4 lb'ers more efficiently. Perfect size for keeping in my opinion. Here in Tennessee, most of our lakes have a 5/day, 15 inch min. People, why do you think that wildlife management services have put such controls in place?? It is because they are needed to manage a strong, healthy environment for wildlife to truly flourish. Harvesting is a CRUCIAL part of CONSERVATION. Also, largemouth bass has a texture and flavor that is reminiscent of healthy bluegill...excellent meat. Personally, I like walleye, white bass and crappie a bit more...but black bass, in general, are very good...not to mention a very healthy food source. While I practice catch and release most of the time with the black bass family (large/smallmouth, etc.), it's only because my wife and I don't have the time to prepare them. Thanks for the help Phil!

One of the best fillet vids on RU-vid. Thanks for posting!

being a direct relative of Bluegill.... LMB are absolutely delicous!! responsible, and i again say responsible, keeping of any fish is healthy for the entire fish population. The system will thrive with healthier fish if you harvest what is responsible in your area. It is simple fact yall. This is a great video and a lot of great comments and responses to read as well! almost like a forum of sorts LOL

Thanks for posting! I was never good at filleting bass.

I filleted my first fish based on what I learned from your video. Thanks!

Great video. Have not cleaned fish in a long time just the refresher I needed. Great job.

Great tutorial. For skinning fillets I use salt poured on the tip of the tail to grip the skin

even though I have never tried bass, I outta try this new technique that you happen to give me! Thank you so much!

I ´m here in Brazil - You showed all his knowledge and skill doing this work - this is art - congratulations !!!

Great video, just caught my first 3 bass and 3 sunfish earlier today, this video was very informative on fileting the fish and is great for learning to filet sunfish as well, wonderful video would recommend

Thanks for this! Just did my first with your help! Turned out amazing!

Hey, thanks for the video, I just caught and filleted my first bass! Used your video as a tutorial and it came out pretty well 😊

Thanks I tried it and it was very good.🍴

Nice to see someone doing this who is also a leftie. Finally got it. So thank you!

This video helped me to filet my first batch of bass. Thanks!!

I've never seen it done that way before, I'll try it sometime

when i take fillets off the skin i prefer to leave the skin attached at the tail end.then proceed to fillet the meat from the skin...its just easier for me.also keep that knife stupid sharp.no sawing through meat but nice knife work overall i enjoyed the video.

That was a very well done video. The technique for filleting a fish was always sort of a mystery to me. My Dad always just cut the heads off and Mom cooked them. Now I can give my hand a try at it and maybe enjoy some nice battered and fried bass. Thanks!

Thanks for posting this! First time fishing, very informative and useful!

I never used to fillet bass I watched this video I can fillet them in under 1:30 now, thanks a lot!

man the skins the best part haha man great video I've never seen it done that way you learn something new every day

I've seen many different options and been there and gut a few This is the best way

Thank you me and my dad recently went fishing and I wanted to fillet the fish that I caught and this really helped

Coming from someone whose never filleted a fish alone in their life this video is a great explanation. Thank you

I love eating bass and am also a tournament fisherman.. we caught an 18 pound sack 2 weeks ago got 3rd place. Put them back in the livewelll after weighing. took them home and not only enjoyed the $280 I won but also eating them the following night.

Who else already knows how to do this but wanted to see it explained? Great video. I can totally tell thats a sweet knife.

Great video. Very descriptive and to the point. Perfect!

I was looking for videos on how to clean bass (guitar) and this is the first video that showed up 😂

Just got my first proper fillet knife. Going fishing in a few days, gonna give this a go. Good vid.

Great video It helped me alot. And cool tip for you if you fry or bake the fillet Leave the scales on, the heat will burn the membrane that connecting the scales to the meat and causes it to separate very easily, kinda like when you cook chicken that fatty skin on the chicken is a pain in the but to peel off but once its cooked it comes off real easy, i found that this also happens with fish fellets and pluss youll get every single ounce of meat separated from the scales.

My neighbor fillet's fish just like you. I have tried to fillet fish with this method. But I have yet to get it right and or keep from hacking up the fillet. My method I use is a little quicker and dirtier, but between my neighbor and myself when we come back home with a cooler of fish, we have both stated that it doesn't matter how the fish gets fillet'd, so long as they get done. We usually have way too many fish to worry about who is faster or slower or more neat about it. We just get'r done!! But overall Thumbs up for the video!! Cheers!!

I just love a good piece of bass!

I live in Ohio and on my home lake as long as they are 12 inches you can keep a hundred if you wanted too, in Ohio it goes by inches. Like a keep saugeye from alum creek has to be 15" and the crappie have to be 9" to keep

Hi phil I fillet lots of bass but a different way and when I am at the stage where I just have the fillet my friends dad who is a very good angler says that you should remove the lateral line because of strong taste do you agree or do you just cook the entire fillet at once. With my technique I cut beside the line on both sides and peel down like a zipper so I have two fillets instead of one. Thanks

This is a great video on it. Good job. Easy to follow and done perfectly. Might wanna sharpen that knife.

been catching em all my life but just recently discovered how tasty they are in some Louisiana fish fry.

Are there any bones in the filet? I've seen the "zipper" method used on other fish, does this not apply to Bass?

Good video. one difference between your method and mine, I was taught to pull the fillet through the knife, rather than pushing the knife through the fillet. But you were able to do your method cleanly, so hats off to you.

I appreciate that you still to this day take the time to reply to people’s comments

Never really had largemouth bass before. I've never really thought to try it as I tend to release whatever I catch simply because I don't really fish for food. Maybe I'll give it a try someday. Also, to all the anglers getting up in arms, chill out the fish is legal and they are plentiful all through the US. Great video!

If you bleed the fish out before it dies, the filets will be white instead of red when you clean them. Also much less messy on your filet table. Nice video

Gonna give this a try this weekend. Have some homemade breaded bass fillets. Hope they are as good as I imagine them being.

this video was really helpful. thanks mister

Great video

I don't think he survived;(

Great video. I've never eaten bass before. I live in Canada and unless you live in the province of Ontario, which I don't, bass is hard to come by here. The only place here in the province of Saskatchewan you can fish for them is Boundary Reservoir near the US border and the city of Estevan. I hope to go back there one of these years. If I catch one I'll remember this technique. Thanks a lot.

Thanks for the vid. Do anyone bleed their fish before starting the fillet process?

anyone else take time to salute this guy for not mounting that freaking toad

i gut mines first before fillet it. is that ok

Awesome video straight to the point. Other RU-vidrs should take note. ... Awesome Video! I'm 38 years old and I've always been interested in fishing (Yet afraid of the unknown). I bought The Abu Garcia Vandetta rod 4-5 years ago then a black max open faced reel to pair it with. I always purchase a fishing liscense every year yet I never do anything but casting out with a weight into the water as far as I could for practice (I've done that for years) until today. My casts were great, slowly reeling my nonlive/"Plastic" bait and I cought 6 bass today. I Released 3 of them because they were either to short or too skinny. One is a behemoth and the others are a pretty darn good size. Because of your video I know what to do. Thank You! LoL! I have bitten the bug!

I pay for a fishing license and bought gear. My local lake has a limit of 6 bass daily. What’s the issue with me catching and cooking one every once in a while?

Are using regular fillet knife

Good job 👍

Thank you! Your method provided the most meat without waste.

What knife are you using because I was looking for a good quality one

All the dislikes are from uncaught bass!

What's the difference from eating a walleye vs bass they're both fish. People get weird about bass for some reason.

Awesome video! You make it look so easy.

Thank you for making this video. I haven't fillet a fish since I was a little girl. My son and I caught a largemouth tonight and this helped so much. God bless.

phil, carp not the same, I dont eat that fish, but I see people eat it, they smoke it, seem a good thing, wonder if bass or pike will taste good like that, it is going to be my next experiment.

plus à week ago will camping, I try with clay, I just stuff them and cover everything with clay, dig a hole under the fire and cover, that was with pike too, super, happy fishing :)

Nice to see someone who knows how to clean a fish finally

What about the guts and stuff do you gut it first I'm still learning

no fish were harmed in the making of this video

The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, and he was buried, and he rose again the third day, and he is offering everlasting life to all who will believe in him.

Thanks for the tutorial. Now I need a bass.

Outstanding! Thank you for this video sir.

It was like someone was recording me filet my bass.

I just imagined it saying "fishy fishayyy~~"

Thanks for the video never thought about eating Bass, plenty around these parts and hey great last name

Kudos for the Awesome Job.Its okay to keep bass every once in a while , as long as they aren't full of eggs.

Do a lot of bass fishing up north here in Mn and love eating them. My go to is 3/4 cornmeal & 1/4 chef Paul's seafood magic. Simple & light & delicious! Anyone else have some good coating/breading recipes?!

No problem with eating pond bass(they taste great) but a bass out of the lake goes back for me because I fish tournaments and a bass is a money fish. Great vid though

Thank you for this video. I wish to start fishing again soon and never learned to fillet. I hope to take some catfish and Bass in my Beautiful State of WA.

+Phil Crockett yea they are sure fun to catch and If I did go I would buy more gear because right now I just got into bass fishing it's great my personal best is a 4 1/2 pounder

I like to wear the skin as sandles then I continue on to fillet the meat

Didn't mean to offend you a lot of people eat bass I guess I kinda just treat them as a sport fish catch and release

Great video perfect demonstration.

I am from Baton Rouge and I fish as often as I can in all types of water. I do not keep the fish I catch, not that I don't like fish, but I am in it for the fun and not to survive. great video very informative.

Nice video...I will probably never it a bass though.

Bro it’s a fish! If you gonna catch a big fish then eat it!! Bass taste amazing and if I caught a bass that big or even close to that size I would eat it. Down where I live if you catch a bass you gone eat it tf throwing it back

Great video! 8 bass in the freezer at the moment! I have been eating bass and bullhead since I was a kid!

Question do you de-scale 1st?