You don’t find them this big very often, but when you do you’ve got the best fresh-water eating there is. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
If you’re hungry I guess it really doesn’t matter. But for those who are picky about eating what they catch, why not ask the pickiest? What’s the best fish, Bluegill or Crappie?
By Ray Reilly for Press Pros
When we climbed into the boat recently on Ed Eliot’s ‘small’ farm pond in southern Indiana the idea was to catch enough fish for lunch, and no one I know is better suited to make it happen than Ed.
About once every other year I make it over his way expressly for a fish dinner. because he’s just about the best I’ve ever seen with a filet knife, a seasoning bag, and a deep fryer. Ed knows his fish, and he knows what he likes. Never frozen, always fresh, and years ago he took the trouble to create a fishery adequate to deliver on command.
That small farm pond that I mentioned in the open is open to debate. It borders on nearly five acres, is spring fed by multiple sources, and expertly maintained by the man himself – for Bluegill, Crappie, bass as big as six pounds (although Ed says there’s much bigger), and even a few walleye, he claims.
So when we finally got a line in the water and start catching fish I was surprised when he starting throwing them back – crappies, bordering on twelve inches, brilliantly colored, and pan-worthy if I’ve ever seen one.
“I thought we were catching lunch?” I asked.
“You want hamburger, or you want steak?” Ed replied.
“I’m not picky,” I told him. “I’ve eaten a lot of Crappies.
“I have, too,” he said. “And we can do better. We WILL do better! It’ll just take us a few minutes to find them.”
We were fishing with a small jig and a wax worm in about six feet of water along the shoreline where an old poplar tree had blown over from an Indiana spring storm and fallen into the pond. Adjusting course, we backed up a bit to where we could fish deeper in the sun-splashed cold March water.
“When we find them we’ll find them,” Ed insisted. He doesn’t own a fish finder, and knows the pond well enough that he doesn’t need one.
And suddenly, he was right. He found them, hauling out a brilliant male Bluegill that was at least ten inches.
By comparison, Crappies are fun to catch and good to eat. But most who know the difference say they prefer to eat..Bluegills!
“There’s better,” he assured, stringing that one and putting his line back in the water. “Get your rig out there and start catching fish.”
He had three in the boat by the time i got my first bite. But when I got one, it was a doozy, the biggest so far, nearly a foot in length – fat and sassy.
“This is what I’m talking about,” he laughed. “Now we just need about a dozen more.”
That took some time, as we caught several six to eight-inch specimens, and dutifully threw them back. But one in about ever five or six was big enough to meet Ed’s criteria.
“I started putting these in here about twenty years ago, right after I finished the pond,” he explained. “These aren’t Bluegills like you catch in the creek. They’re hybrids that grow faster, bigger, and don’t over-populate like the standard Bluegill. The good part is…they eat the same.”
Two hours later we were cleaning fish, nearly twenty of Ed’s hybrids, along with three or four Crappies for comparison, and getting ready for a lunch of fish and chips (french fries).
“To me, the Bluegill has always been the better fish to eat,” he explained. “Crappies are OK, but the meat tends to be softer in warmer water, and they’re don’t stay as moist when you fry them. But the biggest thing…Bluegill just tastes better, especially when you fry them right.”
And how does he fry them ‘right’?
“Lard,” he laughed. “Don’t tell your cardiologist, but lard holds heat better, adds a more natural flavor to the meat, and doesn’t dry it out. Every fishing guide who ever fixed a shore lunch knows that lard is what you use. Or Crisco is fine.”
I had never taken the time to question if one fish was better than the other, but fixed in the same seasoning and same oil, head-to-head I had to admit that his Bluegill was a better tasting. Or, maybe I was just that hungry. But definitely, Bluegill had the best texture.
“Writers always want a story,” he laughed. “Just don’t tell anyone where you got it.”
‘Til next time, I’ve enjoyed it….!
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