That's why no one eats them - they're common in any pond and mudhole, even in retention ponds in industrial areas. These fish are full of toxins and are almost as bad for you as a McDonalds Big Mac combo with large fries and chocolate shake. And they taste like crap.
Farther north, there are a number of glacial lakes that are spring fed and the bottoms are sand instead of clay. The shores are "buffered" with natural vegetation, and access to the lakes is limited.
Bass from these waters are virtually pristine and are almost toxin free. They also taste like clean fish should taste.
Having said that. My brother and I have gone 100% "catch and release" for every fish we catch, regardless of circumstances, even bluegills, and other panfish. On Memorial Day weekend in 2017, the crappies were all biting like mad in the 35 acre (60 ft deep) lake where we've fished so many weekends. I was catching crappies at will, but throwing them all back.
There were about a dozen boats on the lake at any given time. It doesn't seem like much, but there were probably 50 anglers, all fishing for crappies, and all of them maxing out their limit every day for three days straight. I'm guessing they took at least 2,000 crappies out of that one small lake during a single weekend.
It devastated the population. I haven't seen a single crappie in that lake for the past two years. Fools.
I've been taking my granddaughter to fish and she now knows how to catch fish without harming them and to quickly release them to live another day.
