how to clean and fillet all panfish in 6 easy steps. crappie blue gill sunfish perch

[goingfishing313]

Best method of filleting fish I've seen. Some of those gills were small but you got every bit of meat of it. Bones were still in right?

[Odinpiper]

Thanks for posting.

[damiangonzalez615]

can u just fillet them like u did and then throw the fillets on the pan?Or how about fillet them and then take off the skin?

[beanhill74]

@damiangonzalez615

you can eat the skins, some people really like them, I prefer not to.

If you want to eat the skins you have to scale the fish BEFORE you fillet them.

Otherwise the skins come off real easy, i show it at the end of the video.

[rupert852]

now I have an excuse to hit the lakes. gotta try this out.

[chaoticprime]

I just cleaned my first mess of bluegill EVER and I had no clue what I was doing, but I managed to get it done! I cut off the head first, then gutted it, then scaled it. Later my son told me I did it all wrong - after watching this video I admit I didn't do the best job - but they are edible!

[MrCw1969]

Good info about the heavy metals, thanks for adding that.

[Goddesstara1974]

Awesome! My husband scales the fish and leaves the skin on. He told me he's never seen someone take the skin off bluegill so I would need to find a tutorial on how to take that skin off if I wanted him to do it. Thank you so much!

[beanhill74]

@Goddesstara1974

Skin on or Skin off is just a personal preference.

ill tell you the fillets after removing the skin are a whole lot smaller, so if you are feeding lots of people you will need a ton more fish.

Ive eaten the skin plenty of times, i just prefer to remove them.

[emmaleeeALIVE]

tx



[4827Connor]

Thnx man

[noellein]

UP THE ANUS

[DFBlair1964]

I like the way you back cut to the ribs to keep all the guts in, but the bones out! Thanks for sharing this method, my counter top will be a whole lot cleaner now!

[ahabstar]

Funny how the mind works, I could just "smell" those bluegill while watching having cleaned my fair share over the years. Even on of the cats got stirred up and curious while I was watching the video due to some familiar sounds going on. Spring is coming soon enough.

[pelletgun12]

very nice brother!

[peterchao221]

make videos of you catching these fish!!

[beanhill74]

@peterchao221

Watch GhettoFisherman.

Its some guy from Canada and that is the best "Real" fishing channel on youtube.

[dannn111]

when do you take the scales off for cooking?\

[beanhill74]

@dannn111 the scales come off with the skin at the end.

[jdawgscool]

@beanhill74 why do you take the skin off it tastes great

[beanhill74]

@jdawgscool I take the skin off just because i HATE HATE HATE dealing with scales.

I know about 4 good ways to scale a fish, and they all end up with me picking scales off my face and elbows even after a shower and scrub.

The easiest way i have found is to soak the fish in a white vinegar and water solution for 30 mins or until the eyes cloud over and at that point you can just blow the scales off with a garden hose. tea spoons work great as well.

But i will agree that the skin is very good.

[skcuf2]

I can't wait to go catch some in the summer now. Damn ice...

[beanhill74]

@skcuf2 Are you kidding me? If you live in a place that has ice, you should have a hat gloves boots and a coat already, so go get some fish.

I have a shanty, but shantys suck and i only use it 3 or 4 times a year, otherwise i just sit on a bucket with my back to the wind and catch fish.

Winter fish are the best fish, because the flesh is tight and flaky. i dont know the science behind it, but it is the truth.

[skcuf2]

@beanhill74 I would except I have no ice fishing gear. I have a small supply of spin gear and definitely not the ability to ice fish. I did try some trout fishing though but no luck :/

[ycart4]

@skcuf2 Ice means that you can fish any part of the water you can walk to . It's a hoot. We don't have too many bluegill, but filleting the perch isn't that much different.

[skcuf2]

@ycart4 Can't fish through ice with a fly fishing rod though. Or at least I haven't found a way to yet. If you have one I would be grateful to hear it :)

[munchichi8]

Good Job! Thanks for showing. At first I thought you were going to leave the skin on them.

[jlorenzatti]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video.

You explain things very clearly.

Can't wait to try this!

[BooMWildLife]

Hey nice videos! i make fishing and pet videos could you watch them?

[mjcalohan]

Awesome, thanks.

[mjcalohan]

Thank you sir. What to do with all those fish remains though? I hate the idea of just throwing them away. I'm gonna have too many to use in worm beds....

[beanhill74]

@mjcalohan

I take my "Carcasses" to the gas station and throw them out at the pump, if you Throw them into your trash can at home i can guarantee your garbage man will hate you, they stink horrible even in the winter.

I used to dump them at work, but that stinks too

You can throw them back into the water to feed the carp and cat fish as well.

[greatnoose]

I'm just learning to clean fish and you just made me open my eyes to what I've been missing. Thanx alot, now I'll be able to bring home more fish!!

[beanhill74]

@greatnoose Thats what its all about.

I can stock my freezer with these guys, and to be honest the big bass taste like shit, but the small ones (Illegal) taste great.

We call the small bass "Stryped Perch" just in case the DNR should come around and check the cooler.

[Valhalla298]

Great Video! Thanks for posting it! I have seen many fisherman pass up these sweet tasting little fish, more for me!

[beanhill74]

@Valhalla298

Of course everyone likes the hogs, but when the sun is hot and the water temperature gets over 70º the Oxygen level drops and the big ones go dormant like they do in late winter.

When me and my friends go fishing the question we ask eachother is "Do you got a knife sharp enough for this one?"

[savoirmine]

Thanks for taking the time to make the video. I have promised my son to take him fishing for the last couple of years. I finally took him. We found a bluegill hot spot. I had a little trouble cleaning them. It had been years. Very nicely done. Thanks.

[beanhill74]

@savoirmine Your welcome

Its all about helping people out.

Remember NEVER tell anyone where the bluegill are, and if they insist send them to the other side of the lake. Secret Hot Spots are hard to come by.

Thats another little bit of fishing knowledge.

[chucknorrisraiders]

Thanks, this will help me out when im Backpacking out in the brush!!

[beanhill74]

Yes, Trout, Salmon, Bass just fine, but large fish (Over 12 inch) youll want to cut the meat off the upper section of the ribs instead of just ripping it all off. other wise itll work the same.

Pike have a different bone structure.

[KillerCapuchin]

dwould this work on trout?

[JasonJForrest]

they might not be big bluegill........but one thing is for sure & that is they are so delicious! great video

[jbrinton]

This guy knows what he's doing. Thanks for the video

[EpiphoneMaster1234]

i think bluegill taste better than bass

[chaosmage99]

@ beanhill74 so anyone who consumes anything with bones is not civilized ? i was just wondering if there was an easier way. WTF is your problem (i mean to each their own but this is ridiculous)

[konderbooth]

thanks, this helps a lot!!

[konderbooth]

thanks, this helped a lot!!

[chaosmage99]

there has to be an easier way to clean these guys, like that fella who cleans the perch in 10 sec.

[beanhill74]

@chaosmage99 That guy who cleans perch in 10 seconds only guts and skins the fish, so if you and your family are into eating fish with bones be my guest. For those people who want to eat like civilized people it takes about 11/2 mins per fish. if you are real good you can fillet and skin a fish in a minute flat, im at about 1:15 myself.

Or if you really want to speed things up get a friend or two and do it like Henry ford. one takes the meat off, one takes the ribs out, one takes off the skin.

[purepezz]

Great video! I liked the step by step repetition, it makes it hard not to remember.

[sher527]

man could you make do another video like this? in my opinion its in an odd point of view from above can't see things in detail could you di it agian but the camera faceing your stomach or something ? thanks :)

[OldHickory1971]

Great video. I'm keeping those suckers this summer and having a bluegill fry!

[thelungbuster1]

@OldHickory1971 best kind of fry their is specially if you have crappie also....yumm:)

[VermonstersinNJ]

im going to have to try this in the summer. Thanks!

[Robb0h]

Great video!

[acabtp]

Very nice demonstration! I needed a refresher course to get me ready to fillet the 5 big bluegills I pulled out of Splitrock Reservoir up here in NJ today, and yours was great.

[Paintball1105]

now how do you cook them?

[beanhill74]

I like to soak the fillets in a milk and egg mixture (50/50) and bread them in flour (And Lawrys season salt), or Drake mix, or Panko bread crumbs, or whatever breading or beer batter you like. fried fish is hard to screw up.

[walesdawg]

Most of what I catch is small bream. I'm going to try this.

[jpomatto13]

Very well demonstrated! 5/5

[fishnkid1923]

dont cut it off from the fish and when ur done you just flip the filet over and you can hold on to the fish while taking the skin off the filet

[jtschid0910]

did he scale his bluegill before he filleted

[beanhill74]

No, just pull the whole skin layer off at the end.

[jtschid0910]

@beanhill74 yea but the skin is the best part

[beanhill74]

My friend scales his fish, Bout only in the summer. he says he dips the fish in a solution of water and white vinegar, in about 5-10 mins the eyes will turn Opaque and he then just washes the scales off with a garden hose. something in the vinegar makes the scales fall off. i dont like to scale them because any way you do it it becomes a big mess. But you're right it does taste good when fried.

[GlutenFreeSavvy]

@beanhill74 I am not following what you mean here. You do take off the skin at some point or you eat skin and all? Maybe you could do a follow-up video of how to cook these little bad boys!?

[6x5mm]

Well done !! very helpful video,, Thank you

[Shadow69ification]

Thanks for the instructions! You made it look so easy that I'm ready to get back out there and start fishin!!!!

I've always thrown those back or just used them to stock a pond where Largemouth Bass are for forage. Now I get to eat a few of these little guys thanks to you! Great Job!

[utubeaccess7]

Great vid!, Thanks.

-7

[lanarrius3]

hey nice vid 5/5 make more soon

[firemario117]

thanks 4 the vid

[speedyrik]

Great instructional video. Now that I get it how to cut them. I'm gonna get some!!!

[beanhill74]

Good luck,  im glad i could help.

[Ast333nat]

Great Video! My main fishing is (catch & release) Bass. Recently I started catching (and eating) sunfish. Your comment on heavy metals caught my interest. You cut away and discard the flesh around the belly because that is where the concentration of heavy metals is. Where did you get that information? Since I love to eat those little fillets I'd like to cut down on the metals. A quick search on the internet showed one study that stated the metals were uniformly distributed in the flesh.

[beanhill74]

Hey thanks for the complement.

whatever knife you're comfortable with is the best one to use. i use the standard issue wood handled Rapalla fillet knife. it comes with a red sharpener and 10-15 swipes before each use keeps it razor sharp.

i find the Rapalla is also the best knife for slicing semi frozen meat for Jerky.

If you want to save your knife edge, use a wooden cutting board.

[Matt2779]

That is very good technique I don't use a fillet knife. I like to use a carpet knife its cheaper and a hell of alot sharper. In my 21 years experiance filleting fish I will admit you are quite skilled. Also here is a little tip if you do not like a real fishy taste when you are done to fillet throw the fillet in some white vinegar it will kill that gamey fishy taste.

[bagrat22]

I have started cleaning bluegills thanks to your video. Used to throw them all back. Catch 50 and it's a meal. And free of course.

[beanhill74]

Appreciate the comment, Its good to know someone has learned something from one of my Vids.

Fish On

[DogOfPanic]

Man this would have come in handy last night.

[beanhill74]

Well go get more fish, and keep everything you catch this time. even if you don't think they are worth eating, they all make great practice.

My hint is to pack the fish in ice when you get home and clean them the next day. its easier when they've been dead for a while.

[ketay88]

y did u keep such small bluegills??

[beanhill74]

Not everything was that size, but i chose those for the video because the small ones are the hardest to fillet. i also think the small ones have great flavor. anyone can clean a big fish, and some days when the sun is beating down on the boat small fish are the only ones who are biting.

[jjje4681]

how deep do you do the first cut?

[ketay88]

to the spine

[beanhill74]

*In step one cut down to the back bone / spine. cut threw the meat and when you hit the bone then its time to move on.

*Step 2 you cut down to the rib bones from the top. you will hear a clicking noise as the tip of your fillet knife skips from bone to bone.

[beanhill74]

*step 4 when you cut forward, cut until you feel the rib bones,

*Step five you separate the meat from around the top of the rib bones, if you have a big meaty fish then you keep cutting all the way down the rib bones, seperating the meat all the way down, otherwise its easier and quicker to just rip the sides down and off.