Thread: Any good way to prepare dinks?

There is a crappie cake recipe on here I believe that the size of crappie wouldn’t matter at since it gets broken up.

Cooking them isn't as much of a factor as cleaning them would be.

How big the Crappie could get would depend on the size/depth of said pond, as well as what food source was available. The addition of large predator fish would help keep the overall population down, allowing the survivors to grow & reproduce. But, even then a balance has to be maintained.

The Crappie really need a good food source such as Shiners or Shad. Small Bream are also Forage for a while - shad Die so quickly they might not survive the Stocking. You might have to stock shiners several times and let them get big enough to spawn several times before Black Crappie are added. Good luck

If I read your post correctly, you are asking if the small fish removed have any "edible" value. If so, then absolutely. Scale, remove head and guts, roll in cornmeal and let them meet Crisco. My grandparents raised me on small sunfish done this way as well as crappie so I love them.

Originally Posted by saint_abyssal

I was thinking about stocking a pond with black crappies. My understanding is that this would require heavy harvesting of small/and or stunted individuals to enable at least some crappies to grow large. My question is whether or not "dink" crappies have any food value at all. Is there any way to cook these guys or are they a complete waste of time?

You can fillet them and use the meat in a casserole type dish. Usually when we are thinning out private ponds we just pile up the fish in an area that won't stink and the animals have them gone in one night. Sometimes you can find local animal rehab places that will take legally caught fish for their animals.. The ones by me are always wanting them for their raccoons, minks, otters, and shore birds. They'll take them by the bucket full, but you should call ahead obviously.