Thread: Red meat on crappie fillets

Originally Posted by fishingpox

Thats it, on these I have it seems to be a little more red and some bigger.

Hey Rusty, I've seen a lot of crappie fillets with that look. However, of the ones that I have cleaned, that red meat is very, very thin (unlike other fish). I think that it is too thin to really make a difference in taste. See how thick it is next time you clean some and let me know...

I see this red streak often on large Crappie fillets.
Cooked I can't tell which fillet has it.
I think it is just a matter of blood supply to the fish's muscles. It takes more blood to feed the powerful muscles in the tail of larger fish. Maybe if we were to fillet them as we catch them or mark them in some way we could tell if the fish that fought longer has this visable blood.
If you will look when talking to a person and they get agitated or excited you will see the viens in their neck swell providing blood to the brain as brain activity increases.
That's my opinion.

We call that bacon and we always trim it out Crappie usually don't have any but I would trim it if it did Jmo

the red "stripe" in catfish and bass and some others is an accumalation of toxins. It is best to cut it out. I have seen crappie like the one in the pic, don't think it is the same thing. I tend to agree that it is just blood.