Crappie Fishing Tips: 3 Ways to Filet A Crappie
Catching a crappie is only the first step to enjoying a great meal. When prepared properly, crappies are most popular and make a wonderful meal.
Preparing them for cooking is the next step. This method is filleting. You will need a good sharp knife blade of about six inches for this method.
You will also need newspaper:
1. Begin gathering your supplies, while filling a bowl with saltwater. The first cut is parallel of the gills, right next to the directional fin. Push your knife into the fish until you strike bone; however do not cut the bone.
2. Upon meeting the bone, switch directions so the knife is parallel of the table. Cut through the rib cage and begin removing meat.
3. Keep the upper portion of the blade near the upper dorsal spine and lower part in the belly while cutting. When you reach the back fin all the meat should be separated.
Repeat on the opposite side.
4. Now you will remove the rib cage and skin, by sliding your knife between the bone cage and the meat and then between the meat and skin to remove them from the fillet.
5. You will now have two crappie fillets, rinse them immediately using cold water and then place them in a bowl of saltwater. Soak them for 24-hours and they are then ready for cooking.
Third Method:
Allow the crappie to dry out a bit to reduce slippage and then begin to fillet. Place a block of wood on the newspaper and place the crappie on top of this. The block will aid you in keeping the knife parallel with the fish.
Place your knife behind the gills under the front fins and begin cutting. The top of the knife should be near the top of the fish and the bottom along its stomach. Angling your knife towards the center, you will cut towards the head, stopping when you get to the backbone.
Do the same thing while cutting towards the crappie tail and then extend the top of the knife past the fin. Do not cut the backbone rather go through the stomach and then let the bottom part of your knife extend past the bottom fin.
You can cut the fillet off the bone in nice even sections using this method. Repeat on the other side, removing the stomach and rib bones by sliding your knife at a 30-degree angle between the bones and the fillet meat. You will discard the skin in a bucket after removing it the same way.
By following the directions of this method, you will soon enjoy a wonderful fish dinner, and then be ready to go crappie fishing again in no time.
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