Fresh Fish....

[Tom W.]

I went crappie fishing Friday and my buddy and I got a few. I took the fillets home, and Saturday my wife made hushpuppies and fried the French fries I had cut up, while I handled the fish. I dipped them in a wash of eggs and water, then put them in a bowl of a mixture of flour and cornmeal and put them into the cast iron pan.... If I can figure out how to post a picture I will....

Delicious!
Attachment 0271

[CraigOK]

While the contents of the picture looks good, I hope you didnt eat it. Glad to hear someone is catching and frying some fish!

[Tom W.]

Just can't send pictures from my I phone... I dunno why. Or how.....

[gwpercle]

In Louisiana they are called Sac-A-lait , they are the white crappie species,
A day fishing , cane pole , quill float and a bucket of shiners at Old River would produce the best tasting fish on the planet. Cornflour battered and fried whole,
it doesn't get any better than that.
Gary

[Wayne Smith]

I might argue that Bluegill are just as good! Fresh caught, of course.

[Hogtamer]

We killed 'em the week before the full moon, already on the banks with the 80* weather we had. Everything gets filleted here now. Some of these were 2 lbs and better.

[MaryB]

Fresg caught northern pike, filleted, wash the fillets under running water by folding in half and rubbing against itself to get blood out. Salt, pepper, flour, fry, pig out... I can eat over a pound made this way!

[lightman]

Got into a mess of them last week myself. It don't get much better!

[GhostHawk]

Well I will agree with Mary that Northern pike from iced over water taste mighty fine.

But my personal favorites are slab crappie 1-2 lbs or big bull bluegill.

Grandma always just rolled them in cornmeal.

I have come to prefer a beaten egg dip followed by a mixture of cracker flour, good old premium saltine crackers (oyster crackers are often dirt cheap up here) half and half with cornmeal.

Makes a nice light coating that lets the flavor of the fish through. Still has enough of the corn flavor to bring back those old memories of eating fresh caught bluegills still jumping when they were cleaned, and in the pan less than an hour after they came out of the water.

But then I do go along with Mr Twain's ideas on corn on the cob. First build your fire, boil the water next to the corn field. Then pick, husk the ears and instantly drop them into the boiling water.

Fresher is better colder water is better.

Take a pike caught in 35 degree water with a foot of ice on top. Knock him on the head, bury him in a snowbank at 32 degrees. He'll hold there till you are ready to leave for home without freezing.

Clean the fish before doing anything else.

Spring Crappie and Bluegills can be mighty fine eating.

[AllanD]

My Maternal grandfather was a commercial "truck farmer" who specialized in Corn and Tomatoes, and It was his unshakable opinion that corn should be steamed, NOT boiled, because when you boil it you leave all the flavor in the water.
Another unshakable opinion was that Corn Picked for lunch, should be fed to the pigs and fresh corn should be picked for dinner.
AND GOD HAVE MERCY if anyone tried to feed him lunchtime corn (picked around 10am) for dinner (picked about 3pm!)

He typically had 250acres planted in sweet corn so a couple dozen ears one way or the other.

But his preferred corn cooking method was to cook it on the grille, over hardwood coals.
To do this Soak the un-shucked ears in water held down by something heavy for an hour or two then place it right over the heat.
when the outermost layer of the hush starts to burn the corn is usually done and the Kernels are Carmelized!

[MaryB]

Northern pike is good year round IF you clean it properly. Key is getting the slime off the fillets and getting the blood out. Taste is very close to walleye at that point.

[PbHurler]

I haven't had walleye since I lived in So. St. Paul about 45 years ago Mary, that makes me sad....

(Could you overnight me a few lbs. ?)

[trapper9260]

If you looking to freeze some of the fish.Just put them in water after you clean and what ever you like to do and freeze them in water in a freezer bag or what ever you like and after they will be almost as good as you just caught them.

[gwpercle]

I might argue that Bluegill are just as good! Fresh caught, of course.

Yes that's a good argument....I will have to agree , Sac A lait are the second best tasting fish but because they tend to run larger they are easier to eat than bluegill. Daddy always put three slits on each side , bluegill got two slits) and fried them whole. I was grown and married before I ever saw a boneless fillet.
The closest thing we had to filleted fish was Fish Sticks...they didn't have any bones !
Gary

[trapper9260]

We use to eat the blue gills and perch on the bone and also when my mom had deep fried them when they are put in batter we had fillet them.As for catfish all we did is skin and cut the head off and bake after you coat them in mayo and salt and pepper. Bass is bake with and with out the bone after you skin them and cut off the head ,chain pikeral was done on them is cut the head off and slit the belly and bake.I was the only one that would eat them.They where good with mash potatoes.

[MaryB]

Go catch some http://okiefish.com/TheWalleye.htm I am out of fish and ice is not safe any longer... so no fish until ice out.

I haven't had walleye since I lived in So. St. Paul about 45 years ago Mary, that makes me sad....

(Could you overnight me a few lbs. ?)

[Lloyd Smale]

in my opinion its better then walleye if its caught in cold water. Nice thing to about pike is even the big ones are great eating where walleye taste best if there on the smaller side. Best thing about winter up here is pike fishing through the ice. Id personaly take northern pike over ANY fresh water fish.

Northern pike is good year round IF you clean it properly. Key is getting the slime off the fillets and getting the blood out. Taste is very close to walleye at that point.

[dale2242]

We have been bottom fishing and crabbing quite a bit lately.
So we are laying in a good stock of rock fish, ling cod, and Dungeness crab.
Fish are filleted and the crab are shelled then vacuum packed and frozen.
Mighty good eating there....dale

[Lloyd Smale]

sure wish I could go out here and catch Dungeness crab!!!