Well, it’s a little early yet, but one more week or so and the Bluegills will be on their beds and doing their spring thing!!! We drove to our favorite remote lake yesterday to check conditions and finally found some gills and perch staging for the spawn in the weeds in deeper water off the start of spawning beds. Water temps are almost there and it should go quick. Hoping to go camp there again next week for a few days and take advantage of this phenomenon. All but two yesterday were males.
Large mouth bass were in the extreme shallows and the size limit is 14” or better.
We caught over 100 bass all about 13.5”. Talk about fun though!!!
Slammer!!!
Edited by - slammer on 05/28/2026 06:13:33
That is a lot scaling to be done? Brad
Probly fillets them..
N..gits 'em a fresh coat fer deep frying them..
I'm guessin..
Yup, all filleted and ready for a hot oil bath. Catch and release into the fryer!!!
Slammer!!!
Gills are the best..better than perch or walleye or crappie. Congrats on a big ol' fish fry!!!
quote:
Originally posted by lazyarcherGills are the best..better than perch or walleye or crappie. Congrats on a big ol' fish fry!!!
Hmmmmm .... Walleye coated with crushed Pecans and baked is pretty darn good!
They are all good, just some better than others. I don’t keep any fish during warm weather months. Never have.
Not a fan of salmon or trout other than a litttle for smoked fish and crackers.
My batting order , or should I say battering order is :
Burbot, Perch, bluegill,northern pike, walleye, bass, crappies, whitefish.
Slammer!!!
Having said that I don’t care for salmon, trout and whitefish, yesterday we traveled 40 minutes North to Munising , Mi. to rock hunt on the beaches and pick up some fresh fish from Matson’s Fisheries. Matson’s, is an old fish house that commercially catches Lake Superior Whitefish and Lake Trout.
They sell it fresh and smoked and also have a Food truck selling fish baskets.
The difference between Lake Superior whitefish and lake trout and Lake Michigan whitefish and lake trout is night and day.
My least favorite Freshwater fish is Lake Trout and Whitefish, but I ca eat this all day and NO fishy taste at all.
Probably the reason they were featured on Gordon Ramsay’s U.P. Episode of Uncharted.
Slammer!!!
Edited by - slammer on 05/30/2026 04:09:50
Why perch n blue gills so good to deep fry..?
N ..how do you go about it?
Best size fish?
Boy..that guy at the catering truck in the suspenders could be me ..doppleganger.. ;0)
quote:
Originally posted by slammerHaving said that I don’t care for salmon, trout and whitefish, yesterday we traveled 40 minutes North to Munising , Mi. to rock hunt on the beaches and pick up some fresh fish from Matson’s Fisheries. Matson’s, is an old fish house that commercially catches Lake Superior Whitefish and Lake Trout.
They sell it fresh and smoked and also have a Food truck selling fish baskets.
The difference between Lake Superior whitefish and lake trout and Lake Michigan whitefish and lake trout is night and day.
My least favorite Freshwater fish is Lake Trout and Whitefish, but I ca eat this all day and NO fishy taste at all.
Probably the reason they were featured on Gordon Ramsay’s U.P. Episode of Uncharted.
Slammer!!!
I agree!! We moose hunt up on Lake Nipigon, and the lake trout and whitefish are amazing..even though like you, Im not a big fan of trout and salmon. I do like whitefish, even the big ones from Lake Simcoe. The rainbow trout we get on Lake Erie are fatty, and I think feed heavily on smelt which gives them a stronger fishy taste. The flesh is a pale pink color vs the bright red of the northern fish. The lake trout from Erie and Huron..no thanks.
quote:
Originally posted by STUD figmo AlWhy perch n blue gills so good to deep fry..?
N ..how do you go about it?
Best size fish?
The flesh from perch and gills is white, sweet, and very firm. We just filet them, sometimes scale and leave the skin on which is delicious fried, or skin them. I make my own coating...
1 cup flour
1 cup fine corn meal flour
1/2 cup corn starch
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tblp each garlic powder, onion powder, Old Bay seasoning
Into 350F oil batch until golden. Served with lemons, tarter sauce, and shrimp sauce.
As good as it gets!!!
Yup, I fry em pretty much like Dave.
A little milk wash for wetting the filets and my dry batter (almost exactly like Dave’s) goes in a double brown paper shopping bag.
Dip in milk and toss in da bag and shakey shakey. Shake off excess and into da fryer.
Big , small, it doesn’t matter. Time of year caught is most important and we’re lucky to have cold water on our region.
Most importantly is da Cold Beer served wit da fish fry!!!
Slammer!!!
Just to stay with yer theme, Slammer, ya needs one o’ deez wit’ yer lakers
Edited by - chuckv97 on 05/30/2026 12:49:46
quote:
Originally posted by slammerThey are all good, just some better than others. I don’t keep any fish during warm weather months. Never have.
Not a fan of salmon or trout other than a litttle for smoked fish and crackers.
My batting order , or should I say battering order is :
Burbot, Perch, bluegill,northern pike, walleye, bass, crappies, whitefish.
Slammer!!!
bluegill, yellow perch, catfish, walleye, pike
steelies smoked
chuckv97
Haven’t seen that one but looks delicious!!! I like a red ale and I looked it up and it’s brewed in Duluth , Mn. We get through there once a year. Gonna have to pick some up when we drive through.
Slammer!!!
Well, It’s bed time, or at least I hope so. Water temp should be perfect and the bluegills should be on the beds or possibly even post spawn (better yet) as they will be ravenous either way.
It ain’t often you get to do something with some old , long time buddies (we’re still alive) and have the time of our lives catching monster bluegills , perch and bass till yer arms are sore and your sick if cleaning fish!!!
Well, leaving before sunrise tomorrow and camping in an RV for 3 days on a remote lake in da U.P. Eh!!! Da truck and d boat are loaded and da deep fryers have fresh oil !!! Da beer is on ice and da whiskey is chilled, Guns are loaded and nightcrawlers are lively!!! Wish us luck! !!!
Will send pics when I get back. No signal where we’re going.
Slammer!!!
Enjoy... :0)
Ever heard the term …….A week late and a buck short? Well, ol Slammer the bluegill slayer was just that. Our annual fishing trip for gills was not a complete bust , but not as good as we thought. Water temps must of warmed faster than we figured and they were all done spawning and moved off the beds (except small ones). We did move deep in 18-24 feet and found them scattered and had to really work for them. We caught 33 day one, 39 day two and 17 the morning we left. Had a great time, a great fish fry and got to spend time with my old buddies. Ate , drank, laughed and got our exercise swatting skeeters and flies. (They were bad).
Slammer!!!
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