Josh Smith Posted July 22, 2015 Posted July 22, 2015 Hello, I've never cleaned fish that were too small to fillet. Never kept 'em. I'm finding myself in a position now to keep a bunch of small bluegill. How does one go about cleaning these? Someone mentioned "fish chips." I assume gut, scale, cut off the fins, and fry? I've never gutted a fish to my recollection; just filleted 'em. I guess I'll watch YouTube for that. Any other ideas, comments, etc? Thank you, Josh Quote
Catch 22 Posted July 22, 2015 Posted July 22, 2015 Scale`em first cut along both sides of the fins,pull them out with pliers head & tail off guts out pan fry in butter stand them vertical ,peel fillet off with fork, lay flat, remove skeleton ENJOY C22 Quote
Super User gardnerjigman Posted July 22, 2015 Super User Posted July 22, 2015 When you say too small to fillet, how small are you talking? I've filleted some pretty small bluegill and never really had a problem with it. 1 Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted July 22, 2015 Super User Posted July 22, 2015 Moonfish, aka lookdowns, are as thin as wafer, they get filleted all the time here. 1 Quote
Josh Smith Posted July 22, 2015 Author Posted July 22, 2015 Hello, Panfish I've always kept are around 8" minimum. The ones I'm talking about here are maybe 3"-4". I still feel like I'm shooting a fawn, but I understand the ecology is vastly different. Just was raised in earlier days of fish management as understood by the average bass fisherman when we didn't keep small anything, panfish included. Thanks! Josh Quote
Super User gardnerjigman Posted July 22, 2015 Super User Posted July 22, 2015 The ones I'm talking about here are maybe 3"-4". I wouldn't waste my time. Personal opinion though Quote
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