Is there a myth stating that bass have a toxin in them so you can't eat th

[Tina Harper]

My son in law said that your not supposed to eat bass because they have toxins that will make you sick or worse . I however have never heard that and enjoy them

[Treestand]

*Sorry* Double post.

[Treestand]

I'm in Florida and No known problem with our Bass. We are the Bass Fishing Capitol of the South. You don't say what state your in or the state of the Toxin Bass could be in??

[Pmacc60]

Never heard that one, I know many who eat the heck out of them ! Just a myth unless maybe they are caught in polluted waters. There are several rivers in MD and Delaware that have signs posted not to eat the fish.

[Guest]

I am sure if that was true, that there would be one heck of a lot of sick people. Bass are one of the heaviest fished species and I am sure they are not all thrown back after being caught. It is amazing how some myths are started. They may not be the best eating fish, but I have eaten many that were smoked and I certainly would not discontinue to do so ! Sometimes it is best to discount a “few” things that are heard in life !!

[Dougfir]

There are many waterways with their own health advisories on eating fish. I'd check with your state agency. As a larger predatory fish, bass are going to pick up a fair amount of mercury across much of their range, but I think that's just a good reason to release the big ones and keep a few of the smaller ones.

[Pray- hunt-work]

What species of bass? Large saltwater striped bass are known to have high levels of mercury and are advised against eating.

[jhjimbo]

Check with local Game Wardens for the body of water you are fishing. Most have restrictions on the frequency of eating fish and pregnant women can not eat any fish from many areas.

[Solitario Lupo]

Never heard of it the only toxic thing in bass would be pollution. Check your waterways on the internet they should tell you the pollution level in th waters. Mostly you look for mercury or how much lead is in the waters. The new one I'm hearing is that bass are changing sex due to birth control pills being flushed down the toilet. So you never know what pollution is in your waterways. Never really heard of a poisonous fish. Might be a couple out there like the puffer but it's got be some kind of exotic fish.

[jhjimbo]

Never heard of it the only toxic thing in bass would be pollution. Check your waterways on the internet they should tell you the pollution level in th waters. Mostly you look for mercury or how much lead is in the waters. The new one I'm hearing is that bass are changing sex due to birth control pills being flushed down the toilet. So you never know what pollution is in your waterways. Never really heard of a poisonous fish. Might be a couple out there like the puffer but it's got be some kind of exotic fish.

Perch are affected by the high levels of birth control estrogen. There are other chemicals in water like PCB's and other hydrocarbons and organic chemicals that can be a concern- the heavy metals tend to eventually sink below the muck on the bottom out of the reach of even the bottom feeders.

[jcarlin]

If that's a myth, it's not even a widely circulated one.
My personal thought, I don't often keep or eat bass, but on the occasions where I have, just legal fish(12"-14" in my part of the world) tend to be light tasting with firm white flesh. Fish over 15" tend to taste like a dumpster and have a loose consistency.

[country road]

There are areas with advisories about how many bass you should eat over a given time period. It has to do with heavy metals accumulating in the apex predators.

[Buckshott00]

Apex predators like Bass get all of the pollutants that each of the lesser levels of the food pyramid take in. That's true for all animals not just bass. The biggest concerns are typically heavy metals / mercury. There are advisory limits on how much you should eat, especially with mercury as it is a bio-accumulator but it's not a "don't ever eat" this fish type thing.

If that were case we should all stop eating rice because of the trace amounts of arsenic in it.

Growing up downstream of Dow, I never ate the fish, but I know lots of people that did. I don't know if any of that Dioxin or Furan claims actually played out but I would eat fish caught in from the Bay.