I’ve tried many fresh-caught fish usually cooked on the grill after a long day on the boat or surf and among the best tasting if not the best tasting is Striper on the grill with little or no seasoning the taste and texture are absolutely different than any other fish although a slimy outer coating well worth the effort to bring one home. Are Striped Bass Good to Eat?
As far as an ocean fish goes, Striped Bass tastes absolutely delicious, the flesh is white & flaky with enough fat to make it seem buttery even when no butter has been added & not so much to make it seem oily, the primary flavors from a Striped bass are sweet and briny, without a hint of fishiness.
Striped bass has been one of the most popular recreational fish species on the East Coast, their size and fighting ability make them a top sportfish, and their delicious taste makes them a favorite item on local restaurant menus.
Are Striped Bass Good to Eat
The saying goes, you are what you eat, and if that’s the case maybe that’s why a Striper taste so good. Striper has a diet of a wide variety of prey fish including alewife, anchovy, croakers, channel bass, eels, flounders, herring, menhaden, mummichogs, mullet, rock eels, launce, sculpins, shad, silver hake, silversides, smelt, tomcod, weakfish, white perch, lobsters, crabs of various kinds, shrimps, isopods, gammarid crustaceans, various worms, squid, soft clams and small mussels to name a few.
Striped bass are considered Fatty fish, that are high in omega-3. According to Gone Outdoors, striped bass is found along both coasts of the United States, are high in protein, low in calories, and contain natural, healthy fats. Striped Bass is not only high in omega-3 fatty acids but is rich in vitamin B12 and selenium.
The flavor of a striper fillet easily described is mild and sweet without the strong fishy flavor of a salmon or anchovy. When a striper is cooked correctly, it’s white, firm, and flaky, making it a popular fish for the grill.
From an eating standpoint, stripers are at their best tasting between 18 inches―the legal minimum―and 36 inches. Larger bass becomes ruffer in meat texture and, because they are a top predator where they live and live longer, they can accumulate higher levels of heavy metals.
If you cook it on the grill with the skin down, you just slide a spatula between the fillet and the skin when it’s done and lift off the fillet leaving the skin on the grill. Unless you like to eat the skin lots of people enjoy the crispy skin of a grilled striper.
How Do You Catch Striped Bass In Rivers?
To catch Stripers in a Freshwater river:
Fish overnight 10 pm-4 am
On new moon
55-68° H2O temps.
Use a Planer or a Float technique
Jigging technique on a boat
Use Fresh Bait from the River-Alewife, Herring, Shad, or eels
Lures that simulate baitfish on the surface or just below
Near bridge lights or Pier .……………………………………………………………………………………. Read more
Are Striped Bass Safe to Eat
Striped bass is a delicious fish that should be eaten in moderation. Know the recommendations for the area where the fish was raised or caught, and avoid it if you fall into a high-risk category for toxins. Mature tapeworm makes the bass unappealing for food even though the eating quality of the fish is not affected and there is no human danger if the fillets are cooked thoroughly.
The recommendation for consuming striped bass is that males over the age of 15 and women over the age of 50 can safely consume one-half pound of this fish once per month. Women who are of the age to become pregnant and children should not consume striped bass because of the possibility of toxins.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) North Carolina health officials formally recommended this past week that limits on eating certain fish.
The state Department of Health and Human Services issued a consumption advisory for species of freshwater fish from the middle and lower Cape Fear River south of Fayetteville to north of Wilmington because of exposure to what’s called perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, of PFOS.
| Freshwater Fish Species | Advisory for Women of Childbearing Age (15 to 44 years), Pregnant Women, Nursing Mothers, and Children |
| American Shad, Blue Catfish, Channel Catfish | No more than 1 meal per year, combined across all species. |
| Bluegill, Flathead Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Striped Bass, Redear | Do Not Eat |
*A striped bass (rockfish) with red or inflamed skin may be suffering from a bacterial disease called mycobacteriosis. Mycobacteria are widespread in the natural world, particularly in aquatic environments. A small fraction of mycobacterial species causes disease in animals and humans.
Mycobacteriosis of Chesapeake Bay striped bass is predominantly a visceral disease, infecting organs such as the spleen and kidneys. Internal signs of the disease typically include small grayish white nodules called granulomas in these organs. A small percentage of the infected fish also exhibit unsightly shallow, rough-surfaced, reddened, or darkly pigmented skin ulcers.
How Do You Catch Striped Bass From Shore?
You’ll need to know:
- The Water Temperature
- The Time of High & Low Tides
- The right kind of Surf Equipment to Use
- The right Bait, the Striped Bass, is hitting on that Day
- The right colored lure they’re hitting on .………………………………………………………………………….. Read more
Be sure to check with your area Health and Human Services and the Department and the Consumption Website for updated information on what the conditions are for Striped Bass but if they are deemed safe treat yourself to the best-tasting grilled fish taken from the ocean.
- Learn to read the low tide beach formations-Humps, Cuts & Dips
- Learn to Find and Identify Water Structures-Sandbar-Troughs-Holes-Cuts-Points
- Know the differences in-Wave Sizes-Cresting Waves, Spilling Breakers & Plunging Breakers
- Learn To “Walk The Dog” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Read more
JimGalloway Author/Editor
*References:
VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE
