This is the method I use to clean all brim that I will fry whole.

Start by scaling all the fish. Then put the brim on his back with his belly up.



Locate the vent and position the knife right behind it. Make a cut straight down to the backbone.





Turn the knife towards the head and keeping it parallel to the backbone cut all the way to the pectoral fins.



Turn the knife to cut downward at a forward angle. And voila.



Cut on each side of the dorsal fins to complete the job.





Ready to fry up. The meat just peels from the backbone and there are no ribs bones to worry about. If you cut the ribs really close to the backbone you usually get the pin bones also. At this point if I need to feed some young'uns or old'uns I just fillet one side all the way leave one side on the bone as rango mentioned in another post. Cleaned this way I started my kids on them when they were about 8 years old with some lessons on where the bones are. I use an electric knife because it's easier to cut through the bones that way. Just my way of doing it. This way also leave he tail and dorsal fin intact for that little extra flavor treat.

"gene"

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From the bayou,
PawPaw "gene"

interesting

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The fishing was good,it was the catching that was bad

how do you usually cook them after that?

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raising your voice, the next best thing to being right

Had you scaled the fish in the pic? It didn't look like it, but I'm not sure. also when you scale a fish, how does the skin taste? I've never eaten the skin on one and wanted to try scaling to get the most out of the meat. Do you just batter and fry it from there? Also, the way you do it, I'm guessing you make those cuts ahead of time so that when its done cooking, it just pulls off the bone easily , is that right?

now thats a quick way of doing that, as for cooking them heres what i do. grease or peanut oil at 375 as for the fish dip the fish in a egg wash and then either add flower or corn meal which ever you want and then cook for 20 to 30 mintues or until golden brown. as for side dishes shreded hash browns yall know how the waffle house does them. and maybe another veggie of your choice. and wash it down with a big cold jug of sweet tea.

My method of cooking them is to only dust them with Zatarin's fish fry, which is a basically corn flower. It comes in many flavors but I prefer the original. I add salt and pepper to taste. There is no batter of thick crust on the fish to hide the delicate taste.

baptistpreach, those in the pictures are scales already. Those cuts are made before dusting in corn flour. As you said the meat just peels of the bone. The skin to me is an added treat as is the fins and the eggs.

Waffle House hash browns kick.

"gene"

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From the bayou,
PawPaw "gene"

I didn't say earlier but these are fresh caught fish. I never freeze any. So although I don't use a batter or egg wash, these fish are freshly rinsed and are still damp when the corn meal is dusted on them allowing it to stick to the fish.

"gene"

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From the bayou,
PawPaw "gene"

I'll have to try that later this year when i start going fishing for them. except I think i will use flour instead of cornmeal, cornmeal doesnt seem to come out right for me.

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raising your voice, the next best thing to being right

I like your cleaning method and will give it a try when the gills go on the beds.

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John 14 1-7

Too much work for me. I can fillet a bluegill in no time flat and get most of the meat with zero bones and only a small mess to clean up. But I try to keep only the large adults. I appreciate you sharing the info, that looks very interesting.