How few have you cleaned?

Yes I am bored.

I have been craving some crappie. I am not a crappie fisherman, I suck at it actually.
Dunno if it's me, the timing I go after them or what but I am VERY unproductive at it.

I went yesterday specifically to catch some crappie.
I tied on four different color jigs on four different rigs and headed out.
Took me quite a while but I finally caught a few then they quit or moved on me.
Later my son and his wife came and as I was having no luck I told him to just beat the bank for bass like he likes to do and I started doing the same but still with my crappie jigs.

Ended up catching "around" 15 crappie but only two were keepers.

My craving was still strong so those two made the travel team. LOL
Took them home and now I have 4 crappie fillets.

Might try to go one day this week before the cold snap hits and get me a few more.

So what is the LEAST amount of fish you have ever brought home and cleaned?

Yesterday I caught 8 fat little (about) 15" bass in a pond where they're overcrowded. Theyre nearly all the same size.
I threw the first 3 back, and then started keeping them, so that's 5 for me.

One. If I want fish I keep what I get. If it's just one or two I vacuum seal and freeze and wait for more. Over a few trips it'll add up. Four good crappie fillets make a meal for me with sides.

On the other end of the spectrum, the most I've cleaned at one time was a two man limit from Percy Priest a year or so ago. I much prefer a few trips with 10 to 15 each time.

usually i give a few crappie away to people at the ramp or bank beaters. ill release bluegill at the marina if i only have a few. my wife wont eat any fish so it depends on if im too lazy to clean just a few or not for myself.

Probally 4,but if i only have a couple i try to give them to someone else.On kylake this weekend the bite was good,fished fri,sat, and sunday

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Man I have struck out so bad before I had to fry just the batter. lol

One...of course it was a 10lb. striper.[emoji16]


If you're going to be stupid, you'd better be tough!

One. Long time ago had just caught walleye that was 1 in. under legal limit. Was going to turn it lose when an otter popped it's head up right about where I was going to release it. I thought that otter will get that, and if its going to be eaten, I'll eat it. So yes I brought it home.

4 good ones or 5 average size. Anything less, they get a pardon.

1 crappie

Pro tip: clean them whole if you are short on fish (for me, that means cut the head off and cut out the dorsal & anal fins). you get way more meat off of them, so it's more forgiving for lower numbers or smaller fish. If you want to be a bit extra redneck, leave the tails on them. I used to love eating deep-fried fish tails off the ends of crappie and bream when I was a kid.

I have cleaned a single fish before, but I generally draw the line at 2 keepers. Worst case, my family of 4 each gets a fillet with a bunch of side items...

put about 100 crappie in the freezer last week or so.

in all seriousness... minnows... I have caught a ton more crappie on minnows than I ever have on jigs... just something to try in the mix... as far as how few I have ever cleaned... 3 or 4

Sako":p5vg79jf said:

in all seriousness... minnows... I have caught a ton more crappie on minnows than I ever have on jigs... just something to try in the mix... as far as how few I have ever cleaned... 3 or 4

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I agree. Fish minnows by themselves, jigs tipped with minnows, and jigs by themselves. I pretty much never fish jigs-only unless the bite is just great or I couldn't get bait for some reason.

a buddy and myself have limited more times than i can remember

nothing but jigs, never used minnows. A couple friends have tried to keep up using minnows, but they have never come close.

If I catch walleye one 22 inch fish can feed several people but crappie according to size three or four.

Buzzy":6orks4ai said:

I don't ever fill my freezer with the exception of jugging. I very rarely keep more fish than will be eaten THAT DAY. I honestly cannot stand people who keep limits every weekend


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Why? That's strange. So if I fish sat catch a limit, eat them go next weekend and catch a limit, you can't stand me?


See you in a tree, Ricky
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ImThere":17edk8lt said:

Buzzy":17edk8lt said:

I don't ever fill my freezer with the exception of jugging. I very rarely keep more fish than will be eaten THAT DAY. I honestly cannot stand people who keep limits every weekend


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Why? That's strange. So if I fish sat catch a limit, eat them go next weekend and catch a limit, you can't stand me?


See you in a tree, Ricky
Tree Saddle Hunters_R_US on Tapatalk

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he may be talking about people like my brother and ex-brother in law that used to horde 1000-1500 crappie in their freezers every spawning season. note that i said used to.

Eat them fresh or let them go for me. I was spoiled for many years in Florida with some of the best eating fish readily available. Also, if you have to add hot sauce or blackening seasoning to it, throw it back.

For the original question, I have many times kept a single fish for the fillet table.