Fish sticks?? Heck, nooo!

You had a fish fry and you didn't invite me?! I love crappie.
I love fresh water fish. Married to a commercial fisherman, a lot of the salt water fish that everyone else likes, I won't eat...like redfish and trout. I only eat red snapper and flounder....but I love bass or crappie. In a pinch, I will even eat blue gills!

You didn't invite me either??? I love crappie!!!

And your desert sounds great too!

Wow, what a meal! And, already prepared...... I would have come if the invitation came on time!!!!!

Yum! That sure looks good.

We used to eat a lot of crappie when Daddy was alive. He used to fish alot. Crappie is really good fish.

Linda

MMMM Everything looks delicious! Don't think I have ever eaten Crappie but it looks good.Catfish is my favorite.Had some last night from Chicken Express and it wasn't that good.We use to go fishing in the Rio Grande and caught 20,30,50 lb. yellow cat.You could slice off big steaks from them and deep fry in cornmeal.GOOD!

Mmmmmm...a fish fry! I love crappie and perch. Much more so than bass...and definitely more than catfish. They're so sweet. Haven't been to a fish fry in decades. Hope you had a great time!

Those pictures are MY kind of "fish sticks"! Crappies and Sunfish are two favorites of mine, when fresh of course.

And yes, that sounds like a gourmet feast to me! Pass the fish please, and stand back!

DH and I used to pond-fish a lot, and crappie were what we caught. Some may have bluegills, some may have been sunfish, but we called them all "crappie." Loved 'em! Mostly I caught them, he cleaned them, I cooked them. Coated in flour and cornmeal, or cracker crumbs, with lots of salt and pepper, then fried in butter. We can't do that anymore, and most of the ponds we used to fish are under different ownership and we aren't welcome.

We live on a lake and love fresh fish, including crappie and catfish.

Oh my goodness. That looks so delicious. I love crappie. That and fried catfish are my two favorites.
Wish I had been close enough to be there.

Linda

Lydia, you're killing me! That looks so good. Crappie and Blue gill are my favorites.

Looks like we have lots of Crappie lovers here!!

Lilliepad - I can't imagine a 40 or 50 lb fish!! Now 1 of those would have been enough to feed all my guests plus everyone here at the KT!

Lydia, I live on a bayou, and I feed about 200 channel cats every evening. I've been here since '96 and I have never gone fishing. I love fried catfish tho...just can't bring myself to catch and eat these. They are waiting for me every evening and they boil out of the water when I throw the food in.

Yum! I haven't had fish that looked that good in years and I haven't fished for years either.Makes me long for the good old days !
Lois

They look great! What do you use for the breading?
JoanMN

I don't eat fish, but Woody would have put a dent in your dinner, Lydia! He's been going out and catching trout every day, so he's fixing his own lunches, yay. lol

Looks like you had a great time, did you melt in this heat?

I've never heard of crappie before!

Then you probably don't know that by most people, it's pronounced "crop-ee", Casey. Emphasis on crop. It sounds better than it's spelled. lol

Now you have me wanting to go to the resort in Minnesota where we spend a week fishing. We like crappie and sunfish. They are the only fish I like. Like Flamingo said we pronounce it "crop-ee".

Marilyn, I have a great Uncle who has a pond out in southern MO full of catfish too. They "boil" out of the water like you described at feeding time. I don't think he ever fishes either. Big softies - you two! lol

Joan - we use Andy's breading. 1 of the packages was cajun flavored - that one was a little too spicy for me.

Flamingo - it actually wasn't too bad yesterday.. we had a little breeze. Everybody ended up in the house after dinner anyhow. Today it is going to be 100 according to the weatherman!

Hey Cherbo, come on up! Love our northern Minnesota fresh water fish. Lydia, I bet that was delicious.

"in a pinch" you'd eat blue gills? I love blue gill! and crappie, and sunfish.

Comes from growing up in pond country. (not even much in the way of lakes, really)

Marilyn, consider yourself invited!!! You come, we'll take care of the fish!!! I have tons in the freezer, but for you...nothin' but fresh!!

LOL, dirt_yfingernails I'd love to take you up on that offer. This is the week we usually go up to Minnesota if we go. I have cousins who go every year on this week to the same resort we do. It's in the Bemidji area (Blackduck). We haven't gone for three years now. Maybe next year. This thread is making me hungry for a good batch of fried crappie/sunfish fillets.

In Florida, they call them "specks". We didn't realize they were talking about crappies at first. And they call sunfish "bream" (pronounced brim). But they all taste wonderful!
JoanMN

I love crappie...I think they are a great tasting fish...That looks delish. When my dad was alive we always had a carppie dinner waiting for us.

Wow, we've never eaten them. We either let them go or used them as bait for bigger fish.

The reason I said in a pinch I'll eat blue gills....we used to have them in one of our ponds, and they never did get much larger than my hand, but fried, they were sure good.

Jaybird, I'd love to come but I'd have to bring a truck load of possums along....no one to take care of them if I am gone. But, maybe someday....and in exchange, I'll bring some shrimp. :)

Ohhhhhhh! It's been years since I've had crappie! And blue gill!!! I have fried perch almost every Friday. Thankfully, I don't have to cook it. If I cook it, somebody had better have filleted them and skinned them, none of this machine cleaned stuff, with bones and scales left behind! My dad spoiled me. He always skinned and filleted the fish he caught, which is all I had growing up.

Tami

Another crappie lover here. And catfish. Although I adore any of this fried, a baked catfish isn't bad either!

I like my fish sauteed or baked. No breaded, fried fish for me.

Crappie is a popular fish in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I've known people who travled 300 miles or more to fish for crappie in Minnesota.

Here's a tip for preparing any member of the pike family. The skin must be removed within five minutes of killing the fish, or delivering a near death injury. Any longer delay will ruin the flavor. Pike have glands in their skin that carry a putrid taste to discourage predators. These glands are allied with the slime producing glands. As long as the fish is alive, the glandular material does not penetrate the flesh, but once the fish dies or receives a death blow, these gland release the foul smelling/tasting stuff into the meat. You gotta get the skin off before this happens else you will have a fish-oily tasting fare.

Yummmmm! . . . that looks like 'hog heaven' to me! Crappie is right up there with walleye in our house . . . I'll bet your uncle was the most popular guy EVER, showing up with that catch :)

They don't get much larger than your hand. A 1# crappie or sunfish/bluegill is a LARGE one. With Sunfish/bluegills, I personally prefer them scaled and filleted with the skin left on. The fat under the skin is SO flavorful and it's lost when the skin is removed. Doesn't make much difference on Crappies, although I do like fish skin on panfish but it's so much easier cleaning without scaling. My dad would never filet fish. Chop the head and gut 'em. My mother would only lightly flour then fry the fish. No heavy breading on hers. And use shortening, not oil. "Golden Fluffo" when it was made! I hated fighting the bones, but the crispy tails and fins were (/are) good!

A nice moderate coating of seasoned flour and into the fat and cook those babies golden brown. To quote the commercial: Good stuff Maynard!

I don't bread panfish (what am I saying? I don't personally *cook* panfish).

Dust in flour, cook in butter.

And we pronounced it "crap-ee."

How did I miss this? I love that stuff!
Co-worker's DH was a big time crappie and bass fisherman, and he DID NOT eat fish.
So he would filet his catch, package them up in l lb pkgs and treat us as gifts.

Then he got wise, and started selling to the teachers $1 per pound. GREAT GREAT EATS!