Cleaning Crappie
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Crappies are one of the tastiest freshwater fish there is, but like all good culinary treats, they must be handled and prepared properly.
The first rule is to keep the fish alive until you are ready to dress them, except where it is not legal to do so. In that case, kill them by inserting a fillet knife down through the head between the eyes. This will instantly kill the fish in the most humane way. Ice the fish down immediately and get them home or to a cleaning station as soon as possible to dress them.
Dressing (Filleting) Your Crappie
When you are ready to dress the fish, kill them as you clean them using the method described above, then fillet them. Filleting is the accepted method for preparing crappie. They are really too thin on the cross-section to make dressing them wholly worth the trouble.
Fillet a Crappie Step-by-Step
How to fillet crappie step-by-step:
Filleting is quite easy once you get the hang of it. An experienced person can do a fish in less than 3 minutes. Have plenty of freezer bags handy before you start and make sure your fillet knife is very sharp before you begin.
1) Start by making a cut behind the gills across one side.
2) Then, go to the back, near the top of the cut you just made and insert the tip of your fillet knife through the skin and down to the backbone. You can feel the bone with your knife blade. Now, cutting just to the backbone, run the blade down the back along the backbone until you get past the anal fins.
3) Run the blade all the way through the body and out of the belly, and slide it down to within a ½ inch of the tail, using a light sawing motion.
4) Go back to the forward part of the fish and run your knife along the ribs to free the side meat up, spreading the fillet as you go.
5) When the rib meat is free, slice the rest of the way down to the belly and free that side. Now, you have a slice of meat with skin on one side. You can cut the fillet free, or, I prefer to leave it attached by the tail skin, so I can hold on to the head while cutting the skin free.
6) If you prefer to cut the fillet free first, just hold it by the small end with your thumb and cut the skin free. Flip the fillet meat side up. Make a slice between the skin and meat near the tail with a light sawing motion. Once you get it started, just continue slicing down the fillet until the meat comes free from the skin.
Viola! You just made a fillet. Now, flip the fish over and repeat the same steps for the other side. When you have done all of your fish, rinse the fillets off and get them in the fridge or on ice until you are ready to cook them. If you are not going to cook them very soon (that day), then freeze them.
DISPOSING OF THE LEFTOVERS
To properly dispose of the leftovers, you can either throw them away, or plant them in the garden for fertilizer.
If you are going to throw them away, stuff them in gallon size zip-lock bags and put them in the OUTSIDE trashcan. This will keep both your wife and the trash collector from giving you "that" look.
If you want to plant them in the garden as fertilizer, chop them up as small as you can and make sure you plant them deep enough to keep the varmits (cats) from digging them back up in the middle of the night.
A quick note about fillet knives...
I used to hate filleting fish, especially smaller fish, mostly because I always used one of those cheap Chinese made fillet knives with the fake-wood handles that I picked up at my local Wal-Mart for $6.95. Then one day I went fishing with a friend who had high a quality Dexter Russel fillet knife and a small portable sharpener. When I got home that weekend I immediately went to the Bass Pro website and bought myself both. I've been a happy filleter (is that a word?) ever since.
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