The Bluegill, Start to Finish

The bluegill is probably the most common warm water fish caught throughout the United States. A lot of us started fishing as youngsters fishing for the bluegill. These fish will hit almost anything that moves in the water. I remember catching this fish as a boy fishing from the bank in our pond near our house. The first fish my grandchildren landed when they started fishing was the bluegill. Any size bluegill will produce a bend in the light fishing rod. The excitement on the face of a small child landing bluegill is priceless. I know I have witnessed that excitement. 

Bluegill and Crappie are the only fish I keep to dress for table fare. Both these fish are excellent to eat if they are dressed and prepared right. I'm not a fan of the so-called tried and true method of cleaning these fish. Scraping the scales off their sides and cutting their heads off is how we prepared them for the skillet years ago. My family and I thought they were delicious to eat at the time. 

It took years for me to discover that a filleted fish has a much better taste than a fish fried whole with the skin and bones. You eliminate the fishy taste when the skin and bones are removed from the fish. I filleted my first bluegill 45 years ago one afternoon on the back porch of my school Principals house, dressing bluegill we had landed that afternoon. The first fish I filleted on my own wasn't perfect but over time I mastered the process. 

This little Rapala 8" fillet knife is all one needs to fillet bluegill and crappie. The knife needs to be razor-sharp. A dull knife will not get the job done properly!

Both these beauties were taken off the rock walls on Smith Lake using the Boogle Bug poppers this past Thursday. A meal for two can be prepared from the meat taken from 5 or 6 bluegills this size.  

I created this video some time ago explaining exactly how to fillet quality-size bluegill. The same technique can be used on the crappie as well. 

The Receipt for delicious bluegill and crappie

Take all fillets and place in a pan with water and add 3 to 4 tablespoons of salt and stir until all the salt is dissolved into the fillets---let sit overnight in the frig--the salt removes all the blood from the fillets

Remove the fillets the next day and wash all the salt off the fillets

Spray a cookie sheet with pam and coat all the fillets with cornmeal mixed with lemon pepper, salt, and black pepper

Bake all the fillets on 450 in the oven and turn the fillets over in about ten minutes and continue to bake until done. The process of baking the fillets takes about 20 minutes or less. You want the fillets to be tender and not overly baked which will make them tuff.

For those of you who like the fillets fried use a fry daddy adding Crisco, or Coconut oil to fry the fillets until they are golden brown--remove the fillets and let set on a paper towel to drain the oil 

French fries, coleslaw, and hushpuppies are all sides dishes that are delicious to eat with the fillets. Don't forget the tartar sauce and catsup---almost forgot a cold beer to top the meal off!!

Enjoy the meal!

How to Fillet an Average Size Bluegill



The following video will explain how I fillet all the bluegills I keep for meals throughout the year. Sorry for the angle on the video, I forgot to check the lens rim before I started filming. It was turned slightly and caused the video to show up with an angle. You can hear the video much better if you use a headset or earplugs; aside from my technical problems, I think I got the message across.

This is the recipe my wife uses to prepare the fillets for a fantastic meal.

1. Mix fillets in yellow mustard. Roll in Zatarain Fish Seasoning mix.
2. Place fillets on a cooking sheet that is sprayed with PAM. Spray the top of fillets with PAM; bake on 450 for about 6-7 minutes. Turn fillets over and spray again with PAM, bake for another 6-7 minutes. Time will vary as to how brown or crispy you want the fish.

How to prepare French Fries
1. Cut up fries and place them on a cookie sheet that is sprayed with PAM. Spray the top of fries with PAM and sprinkle seasoning salt and lemon pepper seasoning. Bake 450 for about 20 minutes. Turn fries over half-way through the cooking and spray again with PAM.

How to prepare Slaw
1. Use a blender to chop the cabbage and carrots. Drain and add mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and a little honey mustard mix and chill before serving.

2. Slice fresh garden tomatoes and slice can elope or banana pepper—all of these items are optional, but they help add a zest to the meal. Of course all fillets can be touched with tartar sauce and fries with ketchup.

The bluegills or crappie fillets have no bones left in them. One thing I like to do with the fillets before they are either frozen or baked is to let them set in saltwater overnight. I have found that this will soak all the blood out of the meat and it gives the fillets a fresher taste. The fillets the next day are snow white. At this time you can either freeze the fillets in a ziplock bag with water or prepare for a meal. The water is added to the fillets to give them a fresh taste.

Fishing  for me would not be nearly as much fun if my wife and I didn’t enjoy eating some of the fish I catch. Give the fillets a try I think you will be surprised how well you will like the baked versus the fried. By the way for an added kick add a Coors Light to wash them down.

What's for supper Grandpa???