In my unscientific survey, people's favorite fish to CATCH was clearly bass (collectively), but smallmouth was a minsucule bit higher overall. Actually the highest number of people chose Largemouth as their 1st choice, however Smallmouth was higher for 2nd choice and others down the line, so that's why overall, it edged out LM. Crappie came in next with catfish a little behind crappie. Bluegill came along next and so on down the line. FYI, I was chastised by some for not including drum among my choices, But I was limited to ten possible answers.
Now for folks favorite fish to EAT. Crappie was by far the leader among my survey. However I honestly suspect it is skewed because that is what most people in my network here can catch and have the opportunity to eat.
In my humble opinion, if more people had the opportunity to catch and/or eat walleye/sauger (or yellow perch), those fish would have scored much higher. As the survey turned out, bluegill came in second place in the favorite to eat, followed by walleye/sauger. The BIGGEST SHOCKER for me in this entire survey is how many people considered largemouth bass their favorite fish to eat. More than 22 percent of respondents said largemouth bass is their first choice among favorite fish to eat. That is more than one out of five anglers. Among folks who called it their first choice, largemouth was actually second only to crappie (33.3%).
We all know that in most bass fishing circles, it is completely taboo to kill/eat a largemouth. But it appears a lot more people are eating them than we might gather from social media or discussion forums. Who knew?
Behind largemouth came smallmouth, however I am SURE those numbers are skewed greatly since I lumped them with spotted bass. Personally I have never eaten a smallmouth in my 69-year life, but I LOVE to eat spots.
The tables showing the complete results tables are below. Thanks to everyone who took part. I look forward to your reactions.
TABLE OF "FAVORITE FISH TO CATCH" RESPONSES
TABLE OF "FAVORITE FISH TO EAT" RESPONSES
