Easy Largemouth Bass Recipe

I’ve already posted an article about getting free food for survival from oceans, but freshwater lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams shouldn’t be overlooked. Many of these waters are teeming with great-tasting fish like bream, catfish, crappie, and largemouth bass, and here in the South, the largemouth bass is king! If you need a largemouth bass recipe, click the link. There’s one posted below, too.

The following largemouth bass recipe is one I came up with several years ago when hubby and I were spending a few days at Lake Blackshear. I got bored one afternoon and decided to flip a plastic worm around some cypress trees next to the bank. I was surprised when I pulled in a largemouth bass that weighed three or four pounds. I decided to cook the fish for our dinner.

We were stating at a friend’s lake house, so I didn’t have my own supply of groceries. There was, however, a large BBQ grill outside – one of the old-fashioned brick numbers. We had brought along some charcoal, and I searched the fridge and cabinets for some appropriate ingredients. This is what I came up with, and it was really good:

Easy Grilled Largemouth Bass recipe

Ingredients:

1 dressed bass

salt

1 cup bottled Italian salad dressing

Grated parmesan cheese

Directions: Clean fish by removing entrails, scales, head, and gills. Salt liberally – inside and out.

Place bass in a shallow dish and cover with Italian dressing. Marinate in the refrigerator for an hour, turning after 30 minutes.

Remove fish from marinade and grill over medium-low heat. Cook both sides, but try to turn as little as possible. When fish is almost done, sprinkle liberally with parmesan cheese and grill five more minutes.

How to Catch Fish with a Cast Net

If you're serious about using fish as survival food, you have to learn to throw a cast net. Not only will casting a net provide you with free bait for catching larger fish on a hook and line, you can also catch eating-size fish with a cast net - even a small net. I throw just a six-foot net, yet I've caught lots of large mullet with in, in addition to thousands of small mullet and other fish I used for bait.

You won't just pick up a cast net and throw it perfectly the first time. It takes practice to learn to get the net to fully open. After you've mastered that, you'll need to perfect your aim a bit. It's best to start learning with a small cast net and work your way up to larger nets. I suggest using a five-foot cast net to start out with. This video shows you how to throw a small cast net:

After mastering a small castnet, you can move on to a larger net. Obviously, a larger net has more fish-catching properties because it covers more area. The best thing to do is to practice with the net untill you discover a style that you're the most comfortable with. This won't take as long as you think!

Watch this video of cast netting for sheepshead:

If survival depended on fishing, I'd rather have a cast net than a rod and reel or fishing pole. Why? Because it doesn't require bait, it's very portable, and you can catch more than one fish at a time with a cast net. You can also catch shrimp and crabs with cast nets!

Free or Cheap Storage for Your Survival Food

If you’re planning or working on storing food for survival, you’ll need lots of appropriate containers. Survival food like dried beans, dried peas, lentils, pasta, rice, flour, cornmeal, and sugar can be kept in such containers. The problem is that these food storage containers can get pretty expensive. Don’t spend a lot of money when you don’t have to!

Glass Jars

Glass jars with lids make great storage containers for survival food. These range in sizes from small jelly jars to very large jars. What comes in such big jars? Restaurants, bars, delis, and convenience stores often buy items in bulk that are packaged in big glass jars, including maraschino cherries, dill pickles, pickled eggs, pickled pigs’ feet, and pickled sausages. The same types of establishments often buy mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, salad dressing, and other products in 5-gallon plastic jars. Ask around at some of these places about getting some of these containers for free or for a cheap price.

Smaller glass jars can often be found at yard sales or at thrift stores for just pennies apiece. The type of jars I’m talking about here are usually made by Ball or Mason and are used for home canning and pickling. If you can find some cheap jars, but they don’t have the lids and rings with them, no problem – you can buy new rings and lids by themselves.

Plastic Buckets

Another good option is large plastic buckets with lids. Large delis and bakeries, along with restaurants, go through a lot of these. They get all sorts of food in them, including potato salad, frosting, shortening, lard, and sour cream. The establishments usually toss the containers out when empty, so most will give them to you for free.

How to Get the Containers for Free

The best places to ask for free containers are the ones where you’re a regular customer. It might also help if you know someone who works there. Explain why you want the containers and agree on a pickup date. For example, you might agree to pick up the containers every Monday afternoon. Once you make an agreement, keep up your end. If you don’t, and the empty containers are getting in the way of business, you might lose your source of freebies.

Once You Get the Containers for Your Survival Food

Once you get your survival containers home, wash them well with soap and water. Depending on what was stored in them, this might take several washings. Dry the survival food containers well and allow them to air dry in a clean place before actually placing your survival food in them.