A question on filleting crapie

[renagade redneck]

Hello everyone my name is Matt. I'm just getting into crappie fishing. Been a catfisherman for a long time. I can fillet a catfish in no time flat but yesterday I caught 6. 12 inch crappie got them home and tried to fillet them. At that point I realized I had no idea how to fillet a crappie (thought it would be more like a catfish). I may have done it right but the fillets seemed so small so I was wondering is there a better way to fillet them. any advise will be greatly appreciated

Thank You
Matt Searls

[fyrfytr112]

slice down behind the fins, to backbone, turn knife towards tail. Stop at the base of tail and flip that fillet over and skin it out. Its about that easy thenyou just cut the ribs out and your done

[Swirls]

Use a sharp, sharp fillet knife and as FireFighter112 says cut behind the gills and ride the backbone all the way to the tail fin and flip back and ride the knife against the skin to get it off. Very tasty fried fish.

[slabbandit]

Hi Redneck, Get you an electric fillet knife and keep the backbone towards you so you don't waste any meat. Cut down to the spine behind the head but be careful not to sever the spine and then turn the knife towards the tail. Angle the knife up just enought to feel the teeth barely tic the spine as you fillet towards the tail.
Cut thru the ribs where they connect to the spine and then continue down to the tail but "do not" cut the fillet free from the tail. Then get the knife started where the tail is connected and separate the fillet from the skin.
All that's left to do then is take a sharp knife and cut out the rib section from the fillet.
Remember that crappie are delicate, especially the smaller ones, so you are going to mess a few up while you learn to control the knife.

My wife and best fishin' buddy runnin' the knife!

[SkeeterJeff]

I just started using an electric filet knife and the process described above works well. I spent the last few years using a regular Rapala filet knife, thinking I would lose too much meat using an electric knife. Boy was I wrong. I am now getting more meat using the electric knife. Wife cuts the rib cage out of the filet while I go on to the next one.

Here are a couple of videos on how to do it. First one is manual:

YouTube - How2 filet a Hartwell Crappie

I don't cut through the skin at the tail end of the filet. Leaving it connected before fileting the meat on the skin makes it easier to filet the meat off of it.

The second one shows how to do it with an electric filet knife:

YouTube - Crappie Fishing - How to fillet a crappie - 1 of 2

Hope that helps.

Jeff

[SteveJ]

YouTube - Crappie Fishing - How to fillet a crappie - 1 of 2

[blairarnold]

I'm impressed by anyone who can filet a catfish. Those rib bones that stick out with a bunch of meat underneath them and that belly meat, particularly with a flathead are a lot tougher to me than a crappie. And thats not to mention the skin on a catfish.

[slabbandit]

The best that I have ever seen filleting a catfish is Crappie.com member NIMROD. He can fillet a catfish with a regular fillet knife as fast as I can fillet a crappie with an electric knife!

Here are some cats that NIMROD guided Crappie.com members TJ Adams and Vince Gray on and filleted them in short order.

[renagade redneck]

Thank you all for your help I will give it a try the next time out. That way sounds a lot eaier than the way I did it and no dealing with a bunch of scales.

[Gansett]

That was a great video posted by SteveJ. I've wondered why a lot of people switch to a regular filet knife to cut out the rib cage. After cutting the filet I just use that same electric knife and cut the ribs out with it. Saves a little time.