libbyami:

This recipe works equally well with any fish with a moderate to low oil content. When frying fish, make certain that your fish and batter are both very cold before beginning the process. Cold batters and seasonings adhere to cold fish more readily than to warm or room temperature fish.
Hot and Crusty Bass
4 – 6 servings

2 pounds bass fillets, cut into chunks
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
Tabasco
1/4 cup red onion, minced
2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
canola or peanut oil for frying

Lightly whisk together milk, eggs and several dashes of Tabasco. It’s your funeral, so use as much of the hot stuff as you think you can handle. In a wide bowl, combine remaining ingredients except oil. Heat oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking.

Dip fish in milk mixture and then cornmeal mixture. Drop carefully into hot oil with tongs, one piece at a time. Remove and place on paper towels to drain when fish is golden brown.

julie m:

My mother would always pan-fry the bass filets after having dredged it in egg and then saltine cracker crumbs. Not cornmeal, not batter, but saltine cracker crumbs. She would pulverize saltine crackers in the blender, then dip it in the egg and then the crumbs to get them to stick. Next, she would drop a little crisco solid shortening into the pan, and fry it in that. Not a lot, just enough to fry up the crust and cook the fish.

It was so good, I’d take the leftover fish to school the next day and eat it cold. Large mouth bass are some of the very best fresh water fish to eat, IMHO…which is probably why it is such a popular gaming fish.