Anyone like the taste of Bluegill?

[airborne_angler]

I rarely ever eat fish. Tonight my wife fried up a pound of store bought Tilapia Filets.Wow what a wonderful tasting fish!!

Ive been hearing that Bluegill tastes great as well. Anyone ever cooked and eaten Bluegill? Whats the minimum keeper size to consider eating?

Whats the best way of cleaning these fish? Are they best fileted or just cut off the fins,scale em,hack the head off and take out the entrails(like a Trout)

Lastly whats a good recipe and how is the actual flavor of a Bluegill best described?

[J Francho]

Bigger than my outstretched hand.  Beer battered and deep fried.

[promax200]

YUM

[WanderLust]

Yes sir.

Tilapia I like to use for fish tacos. Flat top grill with a pat of butter & some spices.

X 2 on deep fried bluegill. Battered and fried fish is hard to beat.

[Missouribassman95]

I love eating bluegill! Even better than crappie.

[birdy]

Size of your hand unless it is petite. Cooked anyway is great but hard to beat what was already posted.

[Uncle Leo]

Only breaded and fried between 2 slices of bread.

[TrippyJai]

They taste good, but cleaning them is a pain!

If I had a to choose, I would just keep a few bass, crappie, or walleye for eating. I usually don't take fish home though. I agree that Tilapia is great.

[Maxximus Redneckus]

They taste great as long as they come from a clear pond Last yr i caught a dozen or so from my farmpond .Each and everyone was filled with algae and they tasted like it also BTW this pond has run off from livestock also>30 yrs ago we ate from there all the time never had a problem with taste then. Its a old pond now 50 plus yrs old maybe that also has a effect on taste ! who knows???

[Nibbles]

They taste good, but cleaning them is a pain!

If I had a to choose, I would just keep a few bass, crappie, or walleye for eating. I usually don't take fish home though. I agree that Tilapia is great.

Teriyaki largemouth is divine! 

Don't worry CPR guys, I only keep ones between 14" and 16". 

[Micro]

Skillet fried bluegill rolled in Bass Pro Uncle Buck's fish batter.  Incredible.

[ww2farmer]

Bluegills are as good as anything IMHO, they are right up there with perch, walleye, and crappie. I soak them in home made beer batter, and deep fry them. An 8"-10" bluegill is perfect size. 7"ers will do in a pinch if the freezer is empty and I want fish LOL.

[Hammer 4]

Fish Tacos..........MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmm Good!

[SDoolittle]

Bluegills rock, but unlike others here, I don't like talapia.

[IDbasser]

You can't go wrong with deep fried bluegill.

[scrutch]

I've eaten bluegills from our farm pond for 30 years. IMHO, there's no better tasting fish. Melts in your mouth when fresh.

Size (for fish) doesn't matter. I've cleaned many that were very small. You don't get much meat, but it's the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth nugget of fish that you'll ever eat. We have to keep all bluegills caught in our pond cause they multiply too fast.

Cleaning is a breeze. A razor sharp fillet knife is a must!  Don't even attempt this with a regular "kinda sharp" knife.

1. Start behind the pectoral fin, cut to the backbone, turn your knife towards the tail, and cut along the backbone all the way to the tail. Be careful not to cut thru the skin when you get to the tail.

2. Flop the fillet over (meat side up) and continue cutting the fillet off the skin.

3. Then take the fillet and trim the ribcage off to finish. Rinse fillet.

4.Repeat steps for other side of the fish.

Deep fry in the batter of your choice.

I drop the fillets in a ziplock bag of pancake mix first, then roll it in a mixture of salt, pepper and cornmeal.

MY favorite!

[Owasco]

This is going to sound really stupid but........When you are talking about Blue Gill, does any "Sun Fish" apply?  For example are pumpkin seeds just as good?  Or do you mean only the Blue Gill Sunnies?

Again, I'm sorry for the silly question, it's just in my neck of the woods the bulk of pan fish are of the pumpkin seed variety?

Thanks

[slonezp]

I have to add bluegills that are caught in the spring when the water is still cold is the way to go. Summer gills don't taste as good. As far as cooking them deep fried wins hands down. Bluegill sammiches are wonderful. I'll also occassionaly bake them and serve over buttery wild rice.

Owasco, pumpinkinseed are also good eats.

[Owasco]

I have to add bluegills that are caught in the spring when the water is still cold is the way to go. Summer gills don't taste as good. As far as cooking them deep fried wins hands down. Bluegill sammiches are wonderful. I'll also occassionaly bake them and serve over buttery wild rice.

Owasco, pumpinkinseed are also good eats.

Thanks,

So am I safe to assume that any of the dinner plate shaped (not necessarily sized) type of sunfish are good eating?