Summertime crappies and the dinner table

[juggs]

Now that summer is in full swing and water temperatures have risen into the 70s, it seems that crappie fishing gets put on the back burner. No doubt one reason for this is that all seasons for larger predatory fish are now open. Another is certainly the crappie's elusiveness due to their nomadic nature. But still another reason I keep hearing from anglers is a lack of desire to keep crappies for the frying pan. This is due to softening or mushiness of the meat brought on by higher water temperatures. But being that I'm a panfish geek and not wanting to sacrifice my crappie dinners, I'd rather find a way around this. There is an easy remedy. Quite simply, try keeping your slabs on ice instead of in the live well, fish basket, or especially a stringer. Hanging fish on a stringer or placing them in a wire basket over the side of a boat limits their ability to take in oxygen, resulting in quicker mortality, not to mention all the time they might spend out of the water while moving from one honey hole to another. A live well will keep fish in the "upright position" but the water temperature can easily be raised to uncomfortable levels. Even if the fish live, the quality of the meat can be compromised. Since the fish will (or should) be placed on ice for the trip home anyway, it's a good idea to throw your keepers in the cooler immediately. Not only will this firm up the flesh but it will also eliminate the annoying problem of trying to clean a flopping fish. One tip to keep your cooler and fish as cold as possible is to reserve it for the fish only. Bring along a second smaller cooler for food and beverages, thus reducing need to be in and out of the fish cooler. This may seem a little obvious anyway since you won't want to have your food and beverages seasoned with fish slime. Another tip is to use bigger blocks of ice instead of cubes. Cubed ice has more surface area and will melt faster. I like to save the inconvenience of stopping to buy ice by making my own. Simply use your old sturdy containers such as plastic ice cream buckets. Once you get home and the knife work has been done, get your filets in the refrigerator or freezer as quickly as possible. You might even break open a tray of ice cubes upon which to chill your filets immediately after cutting them. So next time you don't want to keep summertime crappies for fear of poor table fare, bring a well insulated cooler and plenty of ice and see if you don't notice a difference at meal time. Keep 'em cold and they'll taste like you caught them through the ice.

[Corey Bechtold]

Another tip is to just put the fish in cold water when you get home from the lake. Keep them in there for about 10 minutes and that will firm them up before you clean them. This has worked great for me for the last few years.

Nice tip juggs,

Corey Bechtold

[Matt Johnson]

Good tip Jack! Hot summer months definitely produce some mushy crappie meat, I'll have to try the ice thing next time I plan to bring home a meal...

[Stratosman]

Not only that but I believe is is illegal to transport live fish anyway...so why not ice everthing? Much better in the hot summer months.

[delmuts]

i agree with juggs! ice them as soon as you catch the, and they will taste great. one thing i do,( since i usually have only one cooler along) is to put my drinks etc. in a plastic bread sack and use the twist tie to keep it shut . then i can keep the drinks in the cooler with the fish and not have slime all over it.

[catch22]

Clean them and then put the fillets in ice water for about 2 hours before frying. This really firms them up.