People find all sorts of reasons to hate or troll. If you are going to do videos on YouTube or post on any social media, have tough skin and do it cause you love it and ignore those who have nothing to do with their time but spew their crap. Or don’t do it cause its will happen, frequently. Plus its perfectly legal to keep and eat what the DWR allows in the regs. Do it with pride. On a personal note, I have never loved to eat bass 
Foot-long largemouth are very good and I have no stones to throw if anyone keeps some. Smallmouth are even better, IMO, and I keep a lot of those for the table. There is no biological reason I know of to not keep a few fish for the table. The experts set limits that will support a fishery, and if things change on a given body of water, they’ll alter that limit accordingly.
I’ve never liked the flavor so I don’t. There is also the “pet” factor. I’ve had pet bass that I have caught several times in the course of a summer. Same stump, same presentation, I assume same bass.
Don’t let the haters get to you. Remember, on You Tube you are showing the whole world. There are bound to be some who disagree with you and others that support you 100%. Keep doing what you are doing, if it makes YOU happy.
I do what I want with my legally caught fish. I follow the regulations of what, where, how many and so forth. I love to eat fish and so does my family. I grew up fishing for trout, but not liking all the small bones to sift through. Warm water species are much easier to fillet and they also taste good. So bass are on my menu, along with all panfish species, catfish, wipers, walleye, etc. You get the picture. I am not a meat hunter, so I don’t keep everything. Trophy fish get turned loose unless mortally hooked. Small trout are off the menu due to bones. Nice trout and kokanee get to visit the smoker.
I post pictures occasionally on other forums. I am careful about the details I provide just to try and keep the haters away. I will show picture of smallmouths I have caught, but not that I kept them for dinner. I feel good enough about this site that I do post that I keep fish, even bass. The moderators are great and will lock down anyone that is hating on another member.
Long reply, but in the end it is not going to hurt a fishery if you keep a single fish or a limit of bass to eat. If bass are stunted, removing fish will only help the fishery. Keep a limit next time and don’t let the haters get you down. You did nothing wrong.
I rather enjoy eating Bass. A nice 10-11" bass is as good of an eating fish as there is. Every bit as good as Walleye IMHO. Some waters seem to produce better tasting fish. For example I think SMB from the Gorge are phenomenal. Super light and sweet tasting. The ones from PV just aren’t as tasty in my experience. Let the haters hate. Always gonna be haters. Those folks hating you are hated on by wacky environmentalist types who think its cruel to ever catch a fish at all, release or no. For whatever reason people always want to push their opinions upon others and too often get obnoxious about it. If your within set limits, I say “brush ya shoulders off” and do you.
I keep bass from 10-12 inches all the time from our reservoirs. Always let the big ones go unless their gut hooked bad. I mainly keep smallmouth cause they tend to stunt in our waters. People can keep any fish they want within the legal limits but some limits just aren’t right. For instance, largemouth due really well in our low elevation ponds but having a limit of 4 fish just isn’t right. The fishing in these ponds could be so much better if people practiced catch and release but their not forced to and so the populations suffers. Then we end up with very mediocre bass fishing in these ponds.
I personally don’t like the taste of bass. Lots of people do.
It’s the internet, people are tough. Whether its because they have no other outlet for their anger, or are just unhappy in their life.
I get a little hot under the collar what I see people positing egg filled walleyes, but have never been compelled enough to tell another person how to live their life.
If you wanna eat it, and it’s legal to keep. Keep it.
Thank you everyone! I agree with all of you 100%
I keep a lot of small bass in the lakes that want you to, especially in the spring. Bass are no more sacred than any other fish or other living thing.
Releasing mature sportfish, especially spawners is usually good practice.
I hook and cook everything i catch and don’t give a crap what any one thinks.
You are not going to hurt the SMB population by keeping a limit of 8-10 inch fish, infact you will be helping it. Our SMB populations are stunted in many waters, Lake Powell, Rockport, Echo, etc. so keeping those smaller ones will not hurt the population. It is keeping the 2-3 lb fish that hurts the recruitment. Jordanelle is a case in point. It was producing 5-6lb SMB in it’s early years, but people would keep all those large females and the size of the average fish is small now. Remember, those large fish have the genetics to produce big fish, so if you take em out of the system, you are left with genetics that produce smaller fish.
LMB are a different case. We have lost so many LMB fisheries and the recruitment is so bad in most that catch and release is almost a necessity in our LMB waters. Deer Creek used to have a great LMB fishery, but removal of the big spawners and the competition from the SMB have pretty much wiped it out. You hardly even catch one anymore. Even Lake Powell LMB are not what they used to be, so I would release all LMB, keep a limit of 8-10inch SMB, and have fun out there !!!