5. They have sweet, white, flaky flesh with a very meaty taste without being too fishy. Position your knife on the narrow portion of the fillet, and while holding the fish, slice between the meat and the skin to remove the fillet. Published: ... when I could obsess for weeks on end about pan roasting a fish fillet or poaching eggs until I had perfected it. Trim skin around the fillets to neaten them. Watch Queue Queue Here's how to do it, quick as a snap, with an electric or fixed-blade fillet knife. My preferred method is what I call the five-fillet technique, which avoids the Y-bones altogether. Nowadays it seems most crappie anglers prefer to fillet their catch to produce boneless, skinless pieces of meat ready to cook. Step One. Now, lifting the small slab of the fillet, use the tip of the knife to begin to separate the meat from the rib cage. Don’t worry if you don’t get this perfect at first. But if so, this is the quickest, and easiest, method I have found for keeping them out of the fillets. How to Fillet a Fin Fish. While holding the skin, cut in the direction of where the head used to be. Work your knife point between the scales to avoid cutting through them. They can also be baked whole, for a more visually interesting presentation. Use a fillet knife to slice all the way down the fillet. The fun part is usually over once the fish is caught, which leaves the cleaning and cooking. The blow to the brain immediately kills or renders the fish unconscious. My normal method is really "old school", better known as "the way my Granddaddy did it." Oven-Baked Bluegill Easy Recipe. Warnings Wash your hands and equipment with hot water and soap before and after working with raw fish. After you cut away the skin, only the fillet remains. The best way to catch bluegills are by fishing at dawn or dusk, and using live bait such crickets, flies, raw chicken, or other live bait. You may not find it neccessary to worry about the pin bones. ... being careful to remove all of the tiny bones that may break off in the process. One commonly used method is filleting. At this point, the fillet is only attached at the rib cage and the belly. They can also be baked whole, for a more visually interesting presentation. J. Kenji López-Alt. Now use a clean fillet knife to get under the ribs, top to bottom, keeping the knife right … The best way to catch bluegills are by fishing at dawn or dusk, and using live bait such crickets, flies, raw chicken, or other live bait. Daniel Gritzer. Once your bluegill are free of bones or scales and ready to be turned into your next favorite meal, you will have plenty of recipes to choose from to cook your fish, but only a handful are easy bluegill recipes. Then we make a v cut to eliminate the anal vent, then split the belly up the middle and scoop the guts out, leaving all the ribs, belly meat, and fins on there. Repeat on the other side. The picture above shows a 6.5 inch bluegill that, though small, made for some decent fillets. What we do is take the head off right behind the gills, after scaling of course. I find it easier to start at the rear of the rib cage/back of the fish. Aug 28, 2017 - Filleting bluegill is easy to do if you have a good technique. Bluegill is a delicious freshwater fish with a light taste that is best fried or cooked quickly on the stove top. This video is unavailable. Percussive stunning involves striking a quick, hard blow to the top of the fish's skull, just behind the eyes. Grilled Bluegill. Hold the knife crosswise across the fillet and insert the knife between the skin and the flesh. You may not find it neccessary to worry about the pin bones. Watch Queue Queue. As the largest member of the sunfish family (Centrarchidae), when trying to fillet them, the anatomy of bass causes a very similar problem to that encountered when cleaning a Bluegill, although bass have their own peculiarities associated with them. Although bluegill fillets varies in size, plan to cook about six per person. Breaded bluegill will take a few minutes longer, while bluegill baked under a sauce or salsa can take 25 to 30 minutes. But if so, this is the quickest, and easiest, method I have found for keeping them out of the fillets. To obtain the maximum meat, cut very close to the skin. The easiest way to get the job done is to use a sharp knife, ... you’ll need to fillet your bluegill and cut it in strips that are still large enough to lay across the grill. When you have a larger fish, the tail-to-head method of filleting can be a little awkward. Remove the fillet by stroking the knife under the fillet from the mid point of the fish, towards the head, then remove it from the frame.