Rizzo Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 I've stopped by the docks a couple of times lately and see people keeping fish of all sizes. In the past I've kept perch as small as 9 inches and got very small fillets. Probably wouldn't do that again. At the docks I'm seeing 6-7 inch fish being kept. Anyone here know what people would do with these things? Do they grind them up and turn them into some kind of fish paste? Do you think these things are destined to be fertilizer? I couldn't imagine a fillet would be worthwhile. Perhaps someone here knows how these fish can be "processed" to make them edible. I just couldn't be bothered to try and clean such a small fish, but I see so many doing it there has to be a secret out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntervasili Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 If you get into the decent sized ones the fillets are not too bad and add into the equation an electric filleting knife and you are good to go... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pikehunter Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 I've been told that they run them through a meat grinder and make fish cakes out of them. But then this is 3rd hand information. 9" or so are OK for fillets if they are on the plump side. Anything smaller then I feel you are better to let them live to next year. Personally I wish the people that keep all they catch would follow toss more back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rizzo Posted November 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 I've been told that they run them through a meat grinder and make fish cakes out of them I figured that might be it. Couldn't imagine the loonie-sized fillet that would come from a 7 inch perch...big waste of time (and resources) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photoz Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 So o o o o o . . . . . 'THEY' grind up the heads, tails, innards, scales . . . . EVERYTHING . . . . hm m m m m . . . . sounds somewhat like the ol' wive's tales I've heard, but in the version I've heard 'THEY' make fish soup outta them? I wonder what the REAL truth is here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiel Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 ....While I prefer not to I'm sometimes forced to fillet (due to hauling up from deep water) small perch and have no difficulty in doing so. Admittedly though I prefer them to be at least 9"s or more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rizzo Posted November 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 hey photoz, i was thinking they may scale them, cut off the head, remove the innards and then grind up the rest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishmaster Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 (edited) I love small perch way better eating then a 12 to 14" Pregnant Females that everyone wants to catch and eat ..as far as i think any perch over 11 to 12" should be released ...if you have a good sharpe knife small perch are easy to clean and there not all rib cage ..small perch spawn small perch its there jeans ...big perch make for big perch down the rd ..some perch just never get big .. Edited November 10, 2007 by Fishmaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greencoachdog Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 Some folks think just because you're going to eat a fish, it has to be filleted. Others know that you can scale, gut and behead them and they cook up nicely with far less waste than tryin' to fillet them. I cook most of my panfish this way (10" Crappie and 12" catfish), I like to leave the tails on too! (they fry up real crispy!) I would have to be pretty hard up for a fish fix to keep a 6" perch or bluegill, but each to their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingjames_2nd Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 There is a local bridge I spent a good portion of my summer fising from a year or 2 ago. All along the road I would find these greese stains and think people had thrown away their bait fish or something. eventually it dawned on me tht people had been catching round gobies and tossing them onto the road. Then I looked over to my left and there was anothe rone of those catch and keep everything guys, and he had a pail full of tiny pan fish and gobies. on another note, I had a room mate a few years ago that would make a big pot of what looked like tomatoe sauce and then throw in whole sea bass head and all. After boiling it for a length of time he'd scoop it into a big bowl and eat the entire fish (less the bones) I have a suspicion that this might also be how some people eat tiny fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunkerbasshunter Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 mmmmmm jumbo perch!!!! im hungry! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickingfrog Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 Just head 'em, gut 'em, skin 'em or scale 'em. They fry up nice and you lose hardly any meat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuchikubo Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 Sorry, the following may seem gross to some but every culture has it's "gross" things. I'm just trying to provide a perspective. Being of Asian decent, I have to admit that the Chinese way of steaming a descaled and gutted fish has much less waste to it than other preparation methods. Cut off the fins, de-scale, cut open the stomach compartment and yank out the guts and gills. Rub over table salt to remove some of the protective slime and rinse off. Place onto a heat safe shallow plate and place on a rack over and in a pot of boiling water, cover with lid and let it cook for about 20 mins. Some like to add ginger to the plate and water to reduce the "fishy" smell. In a separate sauce pan, heat up veg oil, toss in some cut strips of green onion, and ginger (searing lightly). Take the fish out of the pot when the "fish" eye has cooked out of the eye socket (indication of when it's cooked through) and place onto serving plate, pour the very hot oil, onion, and ginger over the fish's entire body, you may hear sizzling as the oil seals the fish's cooked skin, pour a little bit of soya sauce on top and serve the fish hot to your guests. Usually, ends up only with meatless fish bones. And yes, sometimes the head is picked clean too. Some fish taste better than others prepared this way. Sorry, if I've spoiled your appetite or have given away an "Ancient Chinese Secret". Stan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccmtcanada Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 We need more Calgon!!! Thanks for that description Stan.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cory Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 Sorry, the following may seem gross to some but every culture has it's "gross" things. I'm just trying to provide a perspective. Being of Asian decent, I have to admit that the Chinese way of steaming a descaled and gutted fish has much less waste to it than other preparation methods. Cut off the fins, de-scale, cut open the stomach compartment and yank out the guts and gills. Rub over table salt to remove some of the protective slime and rinse off. Place onto a heat safe shallow plate and place on a rack over and in a pot of boiling water, cover with lid and let it cook for about 20 mins. Some like to add ginger to the plate and water to reduce the "fishy" smell. In a separate sauce pan, heat up veg oil, toss in some cut strips of green onion, and ginger (searing lightly). Take the fish out of the pot when the "fish" eye has cooked out of the eye socket (indication of when it's cooked through) and place onto serving plate, pour the very hot oil, onion, and ginger over the fish's entire body, you may hear sizzling as the oil seals the fish's cooked skin, pour a little bit of soya sauce on top and serve the fish hot to your guests. Usually, ends up only with meatless fish bones. And yes, sometimes the head is picked clean too. Some fish taste better than others prepared this way. Sorry, if I've spoiled your appetite or have given away an "Ancient Chinese Secret". Stan Can I come over for dinner, sounds pretty good to me. Rizzo, how big is the average smelt most people catch? Don't hear many people complaining when those are kept for consumption..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishdawg Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 does anyone remember or have a photo of that jumbo perch that Dip Lip flilleted up at Lakir in '06? Cant describe how he did it, but sure was different I have an electric knife - used to hate cleaning the 9-10" perch, now its sooo quick & easy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clampet Posted November 10, 2007 Report Share Posted November 10, 2007 Yeah, i'ts a lot a work, awright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rizzo Posted November 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2007 Rizzo, how big is the average smelt most people catch? I have absolutely no idea as I have never seen one, but my imagination leads me to believe a smelt might be like a sardine? Guess that should be my next question...how do you prepare a smelt to make it edible? Again, I was just wondering how people might prepare a fish like this, as the smallest perch I have kept are in the 9 inch range and found the fillets fairly small (some of those little buggers have big rib cages). There have been some good answers here, I just couldn't imagine filleting a 7 inch perch, and methods others have described make a lot of sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keiths Posted November 11, 2007 Report Share Posted November 11, 2007 I just clean the smelt, if they large I also scale them. Take the head off and dip the smelt in pancake batter, then deep-fry. Easy and tastes great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pikehunter Posted November 11, 2007 Report Share Posted November 11, 2007 Naw, didn't turn me off Stan. You're description sounded pretty appetizing. Except for the eyes popping out sort of thing as an indication as to it's ready to eat. Never could get past fish heads and eyes or even fins on the dinner plate. But the rest sounds tasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Pike Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 (edited) Stan, anytime you wanna 'gross me out' with that recipe, please feel free. I'll bring the wine. LOL I remember catching a few snapper off a pier in Florida years ago, and a famly friend scaled 'em, gutted 'em and cut the fins off. We fried 'em up pretty much whole like that( head on )and they were as tasty a fish as I can remember. But the image that stays with me to this day is our friend eating that fish like it was corn on the cob, head included. Ever since then, depending on the fish, I too LOVE to fry up fish whole and eat everythng including the head. Some of it is cultural as people from my background( Serbian )wonder why we( Canadians )waste so much of the fish that we catch. Ok, hope I didn't ruin anyone's supper... Edited November 12, 2007 by Mike Pike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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