How do you guys clean panfish

[FireTigers]

Just wondering what some different ways to clean and cook up some crappies. I typically fillet them and fry um with some shore lunch. And I'm tired of filleting them.

[fishersofmen]

Yep im tired of it too, but its the only way to go for me. Tried to train in the wife but she wouldn't go for it.

[bassNspear]

this is what we do when we are at the cabin in the summer, still the best way to do it.

[jigginjim]

I thought of buying a scaler, but after seeing the cost of some units i stay with filleting.

[FireTigers]

I heard of people removing the scales,cutting off the head, and baking the whole fish. Then picking the meat off with a fork. Anybody do this technique, if so, what kind of oven temps and how long?

[BigWadeS]

my father-in-law does this with panfish and doesn't bake them, though, he cooks them in a skillet in a little oil and season them up over medium heat, turn out okay, but for me I fillet them out, can be a pain but so much better IMO

[Kyle Sandberg]

I just fillet them and cook em on the stove.

If your tired of filleting them, try using an electric knife once and see how you like it. Using one for me has cut my time of cleaning in half. Cut the ribcage right out of the fish and remove it when you remove the skin.

[glenn57]

i have the scaling pale and is great. only use it on sunfish. i do clean some sunfish whole but filet more. there really isnt any other real way to clean pannies but to filet them. by the way i think that scaling pail is worth every cent it costs.

[DOOM]

Electric knife is the only way to go! tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, hold on!!

[Craig34]

Couldn't agree more...an electric is a god send.

IF the crappies are big enough here's a good recipe.

Remove the head and tail fin. Slit the belly from the anus to head and pull out all the good stuff. Rinse it out well. Put a little salt, pepper, lemon juice and italian dressing in the cavity. Cook up some wild rice and stuff that in too. Tie it off w/ poulty string and bake for about 6-8 minutes per side at about 450 degrees (depending on the size you may want to place each fish in tinfoil and vent it. steams them up real well). The skin will peel right off. It's a little tougher for crappies, like i said unless they're big. But we use this for Lakers and 'Eyes all the time. It's hard to beat.

[tonyjor]

I fillet the bigger fish but for sunnies I first scale them with a spoon. Then I cut the dorsal fin, tail, then the head off(head last because it makes a nice "handle" while you do the rest). I then just stick my finger in the ribcage and pull out the innards in one quick swoop. Wash them all and when you fry/bake them if you put your fork on the spine and slowly lift up, it separates the two halves. You can then just grab the spine and lift it off the fillet and it takes most of the bones with it. All that leaves is the ribs and the sharp bones where the dorsal fin was. Brush the fork across that area to swipe them away and stick the edge of the fork under the large ends of the ribs and pull them all out at once. It sounds like a tedious process but it really only takes seconds and you're left with all the meat. So all in all, 3 sunnies this way fills you up as opposed to maybe 6 or 7 filleted(sp?)out.

[anyfishwilldo]

I fillet and cut the skin from the meat. I have 3 kids, and there is nothing worse than kids trying to deal with fish bones.

[CARDFAN]

I USUALLY FILLET THEN COAT WITH FLOUR AND FRY IN BUTTER. LATELY HAVE BEEN EXPERIMENTING WITH DIFFERNET COATINGS. POTATO FLAKES, CRUSHED RITZ CRACKERS, CRUSHED CORN FLAKES. SO FAR THE ONE THAT TURNED OUT BEST IS THE LEFTOVERS OF ALL OF THESE COMBINDED. FRYING WITH THE BONES IN IS THE BEST, BUT A HASSLE. IF I END UP KEEPING A BUNCH OF SMALL ONES, I'LL DO THOSE THAT WAY CAUSE THEY DON'T NEED TO FRY AS LONG TO COOK THROUGH.

[gunther274]

i agree with the people who said electric knife. you will do some butchering on your first fish, but it wont take long and you will be a master at it. there is more than one way to clean with an electric, i do one side of the fish from the tail to head, and the other side head to tail. its very fast when you get going, i can go from fish in bucket, to both fillets in bowl in about 40 seconds. about cooking them, we mix crackers with the shore lunch, one box of SL, 2 sleves of saltines, and lemon pepper, and some other seasonings.

[gemNeyeJoe]

there are a few good demo's on filleting every sort of fish on youtube. my favorite and quick crappie recipe is dip fillet in whisked eggs, then coat with potato buds. fry in butter till golden brown, salt n pepper each side. yum! i enjoy walleye with out batter, fry in butter with some lawry's