Sunnies

[LBrandt]

Any of you guys still scale and gut the old school way. Dip in milk and egg wash then a light dust of flour and fry in butter or olive oil. The crisp skin I just love, and maybe a little lemon pepper before frying.

 

[Retired-Guy]

I would if I could find some descent sized and descent tasting sunnies a reasonable distance from Bismarck. Any tips?

 

[guywhofishes]

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[3Roosters]

Id give these crappie nibbles a go if I were you . Work great on blugills

 

[guywhofishes]

Top is Crispy Whole Thai Fried Walleye with Ginger Tamarind Sauce and Coconut-Cilantro Rice Pilaf galwhofishes made tonight.

I made Caribbean style perch/walleye night before last. (bottom pic)

Love it!

 

[Big Iron]

Sunnies is a #east term

 

[guywhofishes]

burp

scuse me

 

[Retired-Guy]

Sunnies is a #east term

You got that right. Grew up in Detroit Lakes and would give my left nut for a bucket full of sunnies.

 

[Sub_Elect]

If I needed a left nut I would tell ya where to get sunnies.

 

[LBrandt]

That looks good Guywhofishes, I think I will try the crispy fry on some smaller walleye.

 

[2400]

If I needed a left nut I would tell ya where to get sunnies.

So, you're sayin you only got one nut?

 

[guywhofishes]

9 inch perch are fantastic too!

 

[LBrandt]

9 inch perch are fantastic too!

Looks like you pull the dorsal fin somehow.

 

[guywhofishes]

I remove all fins w electric. Cut down along caudal and dorsals, they pull out easy/peasy. I like to slice skin here/there, hit them with squeezed lime juice, rub down with seasoning, throw diced onion on/in them and let sit for hour or two. Right before frying I dry coat with plain flour for very light breading. All flavor is on skin/meat... no need to season flour.

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[LBrandt]

You da man!!!!!!!!

 

[WormWiggler]

guywhoexcelsatallthingsfishy did you scale those participants prior to the slicing and seasoning?

 

[guywhofishes]

guywhoexcelsatallthingsfishy did you scale those participants prior to the slicing and seasoning?

I scale them before anything else so they are plump and round and "fully packed" - so no hidden flaps/pockets (I tried scaling after gutting years ago and that was a disaster - ha ha)

Have a hose around or a bucket of water so rinsing with copious amounts is easy. I use this cheap scaler - it works great. I scale over in the corner of the yard on an old wrought iron garden table I can hose off.

Then rinse the heck out of the fish and get them to the filet table and remove top/bottom fins. After fin removal you slice up just under skin starting from the removed caudal fin notch and up to the collar. Then make your classic cuts behind head on each side. Finally, come in from the top and cut through the vertebrae - but stop short of cutting into the throat (guts). I do all these with electric - it's so easy - just take's patience to let the electric penetrate skin which is tougher than a guy thinks.

If done correctly you now have a severed head but all guts are still intact and not leaking out anywhere. At this point put the fish over a bucket and remove head/guts as a single unit - pull all the way down the stomach slice and yank the last bit from the anus. Remove anus - and the glistening white swim bladder pulls right out once you get a good grip on it - takes a few finger pulls.

This process seems clumsy as heck when you first try it but after 2-3 fish you get the process down and you can knock them out quickly.

Right before I season I give them the once over and you always feel a scale or two that slipped by.

A guy can only eat fish the same way for so long and you need to change things up. When prepared like this the fish takes a little more patience to eat but it's so addictive. The flavors and textures are so different than classic breaded filets. And that collagen that comes from the skin/bones is so tacky/sticky/savory, It's a lot like eating chicken in way. You're not wolfing it down - you're dining on it.

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I use this pointy "stiff" blade that came from my Li Ion Rapala. It's perfect for fin removal and the stomach slice (slicing under/up without cutting guts- just like gutting a deer).

I use it for fin removal and gutting on my white bass (for smoking) too.

 

[JayKay]

Id give these crappie nibbles a go if I were you . Work great on blugills

Those crappie nibbles look pretty good, but I'd go broke. I bet I could eat a whole jar in a few minutes.

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If I needed a left nut I would tell ya where to get sunnies.

It wouldn't kill a guy to have a spare. One to keep on the shelf, just in case.

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And once again, it's 9:00 AM, and I realize that until a few minutes ago, I wasn't hungry.

 

[LBrandt]

Remember the first time I had trout, a little restaurant had just opened up in Wahpeton and to try something different I ordered the trout. Little did I know the way it was served. The waitress brought the plate and there was the trout, head with eyes still in it and all fins still attached. I looked at the waitress kind of horror struck I guess and she said the cook told her that's how it was served so she was a little amprehensive also. It was not bad but I never had trout again. The head attached was something I just cannot get used to. It was like the trout was watching me.

 

[guywhofishes]

also - get one of these - worth their weight in gold - bought mine 10 years ago and the batteries are still good - simply amazing

when temp of the spine area gets to what is shown in the pic - yer fish is a dish!