Question: Where do all those fish end up when numbers are caught?

[Lund]

cleaned & filleted? I clean and fillet pretty much all legal panfish caught.

some eaten / some frozen? Occasionally we will eat right away but majority gets vacuum sealed into freezer

some given away? I have given some away but at least for my family and friends love to do a fish fry. So I stock some and then a couple times a year we will fry them up with some hushpuppies and everyone else brings a dish. This is what my grandfather did before he really can't fish on his own. It brought a lot of good

some or all dumped? I either release as soon as it is caught or if I only catch one or two I will sometimes release them. But they are alive when released. Never dump dead ones

Oil and breading used? Wifey likes for me to use peanut oil for health reasons but I don't know that big of a difference. We prefer to make our own then to get the processed ones. I really like to take a fillet, dip into hot sauce, then into white corn meal, then into fryer. We also really enjoy baked fish and I really like blackened fish from oven.

Small bones no big thing? I fillet with an electric fillet knife and make sure all the bones are out. All of my family prefer it this way.

Fish are scaled? I am not opposed to this to try but I don't do it.

Time it takes to clean a 9" crappie? I haven't timed it but with my electric fillet knife, I would guess maybe 30 seconds to fillet. Another 15 seconds to cut the ribcage out of the fillet and verify no bones

My club recently had a panfish tournament and most of the fish were dumped. One angler won with 24 lbs. and would have kept them alive for release after the weigh-in but his aerator didn't work. I doubt the majority of dead or dying fish were kept to eat? I couldn't say and I am not good enough to be in a tournament lol

My opinion about weighing fish in a competition is that unless anglers plan on keeping fish, fish should be released alive as much as possible and the only way to do that is with reduced creels and good aeration. Granted, most lakes have fish populations not dented by the bucket brigade, but the smaller the water, the more impact tournaments have due to delayed mortality and the reduction of quality fish. I agree

Off topic:
Is there enough meat on a 9" crappie or 5" sunfish to go to the trouble of filleting? I will! lol But I don't catch a limit even though I try!

What about all those bones? There are no bones.

Is the skin removed or the fish scaled? I remove the skin while filleting.
The reason I prefer catfish 1 lb or heavier is not having to worry about either. That makes sense but in my opinion, Walley, Sauger, and Panfish are the best tasting fish.

My answers are in orange because Go Vols! ha!

[canebreaker]

MS size limits are all over the place. Some lakes/waterways have 9", 10", 11" and 12" size limits. other places have no size limit. The 9 and 10" crappie taste better to me. When I was a kid I guess I ate a few shorter ones too.

[keeferfish]

The 9 and 10" crappie taste better to me.

Pretty sure the reason is they cook faster. My large fish I will actually cut the filets into 2 pieces so I get 4 pieces of cooked fish.

[Ketchn]

Pretty sure the reason is they cook faster. My large fish I will actually cut the filets into 2 pieces so I get 4 pieces of cooked fish.

and when you get 4 pcs. per side , that defines "large" in the world of crappie , and every once in a good while I ketch an 8 pc ....just saying
but on the serious er side , keeping the sizes of fish to be fried/baked uniform , makes for a way better finish at the table

[NIMROD]

Spoonminnow. I freeze alot and give alot away before I dress them too. You can be sure none go to waste . I try to keep older friends in fish that don't go anymore. Here it is a game violation to waste edible portions of game or fish except rough fish .

[J White]

I tried burying one small batch of carcasses in my garden, first night neighborhood dogs dug them up


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[Yak Fish]

Much depends on the water I'm fishing as to the size I'm keeping.

Lots of times I'll find someone who is fishing for supper and load them up, because I know it is appreciated and won't be wasted, particularly from waters that are overpopulated.

If I'm keeping for myself, I only keep a few greater than 12". Anything under 12" or over 14" gets released. My wife doesn't eat freshwater fish.

The tournaments I used to fish either had fish frys or the contestants cleaned the catch, which was donated to charity or a local food bank.

I bury heads, bones, & guts in the garden. Occasionally, I'll toss a few on the sand bar in the creek behind the house to feed the possums or raccoons. Every now & then I'll use heads to bait a crayfish trap, if I need 'em for bait.

Jim

[jjue1979]

Cut bait works well for catfish; you can save the fatty and meaty leftover parts of the fish carcasses after filleting for the catfish jugs or catfish trolling rigs.

[Spoonminnow]

Now you all got me interested in cooking some crappie! I catch enough of them every time I fish a local lake I could feed a city block. The only fish that I do eat are at a restaurant, Gorton's frozen fish or take out /fast food and are always saltwater. Which is better - freshwater or saltwater fish?

[Happyfisherman]

Now you all got me interested in cooking some crappie! I catch enough of them every time I fish a local lake I could feed a city block. The only fish that I do eat are at a restaurant, Gorton's frozen fish or take out /fast food and are always saltwater. Which is better - freshwater or saltwater fish?

Throw some nice crappie on ice, rinse, scale, rinse again until all the slime is off, dry with a paper towel and fillet the next day so they become rigor mortis. Some people cut the skin off but I like the skin, also has a lot of nutrients. Salt and pepper, batter and fry and don't look back. Make sure to cut out the pin bones, I use scissors. Fillets should have ZERO fishy smell if prepped properly. Peanut oil is best but canola is also good for frying