Nobody fishing?

DeepCMark58A

Captain
Joined
Aug 17, 2015
Messages
3,163
Won't be long till the lake rapers come out from the public landing, catch the spawning bluegills and wonder where all the bigger fish went.
 

Jeff J

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 23, 2021
Messages
527
Dad skins his catfish and I seem to recall watching him scale fish when I was a kid but I have never scaled or skinned a fish. Just fillets for the 45+ years I have been allowed to play with knives.

Bluegill taste good but not much meat on them. Bass give good fillets but you never hear of anyone eating them. Walleye are pretty good eats. My favorite is blue catfish which is followed closely by crappie.
 

Jeff J

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 23, 2021
Messages
527
I used to do some fillets on the grill. Raw fish wrapped in foil with the seasoning you like. Can be done in the oven that way too. Really, I don’t see how it is cut has much to do with how it is cooked. Wife breads and bakes some.

I do prefer fried but nearly everything tastes better fried.
 

redneck joe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
14,865
dad taught me how to filet, grampa taught me to scale. Both are goor.

On the last lake we lived on when i was a young man (100 acres) the lake was overstocked with bass so they rarely got past 15", usually 8 to 12. Perfect young meat for a filet - private lake btw so no rules and actually the MO conservation department recommended keeping all the small bass. I've had big bass meat and the difference is like lamb and mutton.

What that did is if a bluegill made it past a certain size not getting eaten by the bass then nothing else would eat it save the occasional blue cat. it would then just keep growing. I got spoiled from 1981 to 1987 with a one lb bluegill as an average.
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
17,131
I like to do 1 batch of bluegill a year the old fashioned way, scale them, gut them cut off the head and fins and cook them whole, reminds we of weekends at the lake with my grandparents.
Does your memory include picking the bones out while trying not to swallow them as well?
Took me 20 years to even think about eating a fish again.

Don't eat a freshwater fish to this day because of it. Nothing but saltwater "steak" fish for me. Raw, broiled or grilled
 

Mc Tool

Lieutenant
Joined
Aug 7, 2024
Messages
1,348
Does your memory include picking the bones out while trying not to swallow them as well?
Took me 20 years to even think about eating a fish again.

Don't eat a freshwater fish to this day because of it. Nothing but saltwater "steak" fish for me. Raw, broiled or grilled
Aw man ,thats a shame ....its all about technique . To be fair the fresh water fish we have here are not great eating , apart from Flounders but they mostly hang out in estuaries so they can go either way. I smoke the odd trout but mostly I either give them away or put them back. 😁
 

redneck joe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
14,865
Does your memory include picking the bones out while trying not to swallow them as well?
Took me 20 years to even think about eating a fish again.

Don't eat a freshwater fish to this day because of it. Nothing but saltwater "steak" fish for me. Raw, broiled or grilled
thats why bones absolutely do not bother me. Its a part of eating fish. Just work them to the front of the mouth and put them on the side of the plate.

Its like bone in chicken
 
Top