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I c&r 99% - i abhor cleaning fish so if I keep food fish they are typically large enough to only clean one or maybe three. Last time my wife wanted a fresh fish fry was crappie - we fed our fam and her parents - twelve 10 inch crappie to feed everyone (admittedly cuz im fat and fatty likes ta eeat) - much prefer buying fillets at Fred Meyer.

But panfish on a light rod is a hoot. A glass 4 or 5 weight is a great all around rod. I also like fishing carbon fiber 2-4 weights for them. Tug is the drug and they put up a tussle.
 
Yeah, I was forced into cleaning all of the family fish for years even tho I was the catch and release angler. My brother catches and keeps, while I clean and cook his fish. Tho I love me a good panfish. Last time I kept a bunch of bluegill was in Kansas, and they all weighed at least a pound or two. Think they were mixed with green sunfish or something.
I need a good day out for bass or bluegill tho, too focused on trout recently.
 
Hybrid gills are popular pond stockers back in Kansas. I had family there and caught lots of them. Big fish w tiny mouths. I think they are crossed with redears which get bigger than gills on average.
 
Yeah, had a few of those, some greens, and some obvious gills. They're not picky about interracial breeding. Gills fight like beasts for such little fish. Crappie have to be my favorite tho, if only for their tendency to school. I've also realized that fly rods are perfect for crappie.

I keep telling myself and my fiancé I'm going to keep fish, as I throw them back. She usually screams and I just say "I'll keep the next one" as I release that one too. LoL
 
Yeah, had a few of those, some greens, and some obvious gills. They're not picky about interracial breeding. Gills fight like beasts for such little fish. Crappie have to be my favorite tho, if only for their tendency to school. I've also realized that fly rods are perfect for crappie.

I keep telling myself and my fiancé I'm going to keep fish, as I throw them back. She usually screams and I just say "I'll keep the next one" as I release that one too. LoL

Ive got some real slabs using an unweighted black #6 leech with red and green tinsel.
 
i bet the OP's fly in their profile pic would be great on some of the natural lakes and ponds for all sorts of fish.
I'm partial to olive, although I know I should adjust the color between black and brown seasonally.
It's just hard to get away from a seal/angora bugger when fishing lakes for any species. I'm sure they make great steelhead flies too.

I'm a cheater and use those feather jigs OBPC is partial to. I've caught a surprising amount of large crappie on the surface around dusk, and had many more try to eat my bobbers (always forget to put a hook on them tho).

Oh and Caveman, my GF refuses to fish any other way than with a cut sapling or her "wonder pole"... I guess I can't complain much.
 
Love eating crappie, bluegill, but hate cleaning them because of their shape. I'm more into these.......

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I c&r 99% - i abhor cleaning fish so if I keep food fish they are typically large enough to only clean one or maybe three. Last time my wife wanted a fresh fish fry was crappie - we fed our fam and her parents - twelve 10 inch crappie to feed everyone (admittedly cuz im fat and fatty likes ta eeat) - much prefer buying fillets at Fred Meyer.

We filet all small fish rather than cleaning... just take the side slabs off and leave the guts and head alone, no?

Love eating crappie, bluegill, but hate cleaning them because of their shape. I'm more into these.......

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Are you the guy that messed up my lake with an illegal perch planting? :p:p;)
 
We filet all small fish rather than cleaning... just take the side slabs off and leave the guts and head alone, no?



Are you the guy that messed up my lake with an illegal perch planting? :p:p;)

No....I'm the guy that makes sure they don't get overpopulated and stunted! :D

And yes, those perch, just drop the knife in behind the head to the spine, turn the blade parallel and cut the meat and rib cage off. Turn over, cut between the skin/meat, and hand it to Wifey to remove the rib cage.
 
By "cleaning" I meant filleting also. The less time spent handling dead raw fish the better - I'd rather be eating their succulent flesh, or playing with them when they're alive. Basically it stems from being a teenager and being made to clean our catch after every trip. My grandparents, who raised me, were not big on catch & release unless the fish were small. Any trout over 8 inches was wacked. Perch the same size were wacked. When we'd visit family back in the mid west - any bluegill 6 inches or longer was fair game, and crappie had to be a minimum of 9 inches to keep. The only fish I really didn't mind cleaning were the cats - but then again - with no limit on cats (or maybe it was 25 per person - it was a pretty stupid high number if there was a limit) I'd usually have a pile of catfish to clean.

I'd still rather fillet 1 salmon or steelhead than a dozen panfish. Even with an electric fillet knife :D
 
Love eating crappie, bluegill, but hate cleaning them because of their shape. I'm more into these.......

View attachment 379924

Are those out of Siltcoos or Tak? Coastal lakes are the only ones I've seen in Oregon anymore with decently sized perch. Super fun to catch. Those are approaching "eater size" perch in my personal boundaries. Though they're still small enough you gotta clean a bunch for a proper fish fry. My wife is pretty terrible with a fillet knife (knives in general, poor woman uses a bread knife to cut cheese, she'll try to hack up a roast with whatever knife she grabs from the block... but she bakes, and does it well, so I still keep her around :) )

My favorite perch rig is an ultra light spin rod and a brace of Trout Magnet jigs. If using 2lb line I can shoot those jigs a good 40 feet.
 
Any trout over 8 inches was wacked. Perch the same size were wacked. When we'd visit family back in the mid west - any bluegill 6 inches or longer was fair game, and crappie had to be a minimum of 9 inches to keep. The only fish I really didn't mind cleaning were the cats - but then again - with no limit on cats (or maybe it was 25 per person - it was a pretty stupid high number if there was a limit) I'd usually have a pile of catfish to clean.

There's perch over 8"? :eek: There's bluegill over 6"? :eek: There's crappie over 9"? Yeah, 9" wide. ;)

I hate cleaning cats. And tuna, Oregon tuna. 80# Yellowfin... different story!:D

My wife is pretty terrible with a fillet knife (knives in general, poor woman uses a bread knife to cut cheese, she'll try to hack up a roast with whatever knife she grabs from the block... but she bakes, and does it well, so I still keep her around :) )

I got one of those too. lol. But then, my specialty is not being able to properly wash clothes! HA!!!
 
I took my brother from Iowa to a local Lake and was going to try and target catfish but got there a little late. It was a hundred degrees out there so we decided to fish in the shade of the big fir, Cedar and hemlock trees on two Islands. We got into a mess of medium sized (4-5") bluegills (brim is what we call them back home).
We had so much fun trying to out fish each other like 50 years ago. Although if I had an 8' cane pole I'd have kicked his arse but good.....:p:p:p
Good times that night deep frying 30 tasty fish & pan frying the Kokanee we caught the day before.;)

The key to filleting anything is the size & sharpness of the blade you use...;)
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