Keeper Size?

if its the size of a grown mans hand, keep em. you dont have to fillet them. scale em, gut em, and cut the head off. soak in milk, dip in cornmeal, throw em in the grease and mmm mmm good.

I keep hand size and up.

I got spoiled livin in FL and gettin a bunch that you couldn't get your hand around every trip, so I like fillet's. Never been much for pickin bones, but to each his own.

... on a old man I knew, when I was a kid. He didn't fish, but he'd take any size sunfish (as long as it had eyes & a tail, it was big enough for him :eek: )

He'd clean them itty bitty fish ... then put them in a grinder :p ... guess he made Panfish Patties out of them :confused: All I know is ... he'd never turn down a bucket full of finger length sunfish ;)


I think the smallest sunfish I've ever cleaned & eaten .... I caught out of my Great Uncle's farm pond. Four to five inch Bluegills were "hogs" out of that pond :D ... and I did him a double favor by fishing for them, & catching and eating them --- I picked Potato Bugs out of his garden for bait, and helped thin out the overpopulated pond. I thought I was "some kinda fisherman" :D ... well, I thought so - until one day we walked a couple of miles to a neighbors pond (small lake). My uncle caught a Bluegill that was "humongus" :p ... seriously !! When it was cleaned (head off) and cooked ... it still covered a full size dinner plate :eek: Biggest Bluegill I'd ever seen ... heck, I didn't even know a Bluegill GOT that big :D


... cp :cool:

It's all personnal preference, I only keep what I will cook and clean. I usually will not keep anything smaller than 6". But to each his own.

I fillet all my fish and gills need to be bigger than my hand,about 8" or bigger.

I prefer them to be as big or bigger than my hand if I'm going to mess with cleanin them..

10 " Min. for me !

I prefer 8+ but will keep some smaller to fill the bucket

I prefer to keep 8 inches and above but I have kept smaller and I filet all of them my wife loves the little filets.