are these fish edible? or are they worth eating.... if so how should i cook them? would fried be good?.....any info asap would be apreciated i dont want to freeze them. thanks!

Save a wave, Ride a surfer.

Breaded and panfried.

I call them Buttermouth but regardless they are good eating. The little ones have alot of bones but thats part of the fun! :7 Anyway., the way I cook them is:

(1) Dip them in egg.

(2) Roll them in yellow corn meal.

(3) Pan fry them in butter till golden brown.

(4) Serve them with rice pilaf and your favorite veggie. Mine is steamed broccoli.

Pretty good chewin! :9

Aztecwin

I almost grew up on Buttermouth Perch. My folks split when I was a kid, I lived in Seal Beach and spent my young and teen age years fishing.
Buttermouth Perch were THE CATCH to get. Good fight and Great to eat. Fried like the post above. If you filet them you can avoid most of the bones, but in my oppinion, you are waisting alot of meat. Gut them, take off the head, and fry em the way you like em. ERIK

Buttermouths are actually named black perch. Rubberlipped is another species. I don't know which one he was asking about now. Both are good fried.

OK,

Now I'm confused. The Buttermouth that I used to catch were a medium brown with very light vertical strips down their back of light yellow. The lips were very pronounced in that they were very yellow hence the name Buttermouth.

I used to catch them around pilings and rocky areas while primarily fishing for Opaleye and Sargo. I used mussels, and little black crabs as bait. For Opaleye, green peas worked really well. Piling Perch were a really nice treat as they fought like hell and were good pan fry as well.

If my memory is somewhat correct, I used very small hooks. Size #10 with a small split shot that I would let drift between the pilings.

My basic rig was a light spinner outfit loaded with 8 # test. It was a blast.

Speed on the retrieve was important because if you hesitated,they would wrap around the pilings and that was it.

Sorry to ramble. Happy Labor Day!!

Aztecwin

That sounds like the actual buttermouth (black perch). Rubberlips are silvery pink and can grow much larger.

I remember "rubberlips" being purple and yellow. That was in Pacifica.

So many perch, so many names. And gender differences too. :D They all taste great.