Over the past few years I have become a student in the classroom of crappie fishing. Understanding their patterns and feeding habits took lots of time and patience.

Growing up I never fished for crappie; I had never even heard of them. It was not until I started guiding that I was encouraged to learn about these beautiful and tasty creatures. During the first year of business, I received many calls from clients that wanted to go crappie fishing. I did not understand why people enjoyed catching these smaller fish (well, smaller than bass) that did not fight near as fierce as bass. After dozens of calls I decided to contact a friend who does crappie fish and told him, “You must teach me how to crappie fish.” After a few months, I finally felt confident to take people out and put them on some crappie.

Once I started guiding for crappie, I was surprised that most of my clients wanted to keep them. I was unsure why, but I cleaned them for the client and handed them over. After several trips, and comments of how delicious these fish can be, I decided to take some home and give them a try. Needless to say, now crappie is always on the menu at my house! I have to admit, I thought crappie would have a fishy taste, but I was wrong. They are so light and flaky, with no fishy taste at all. I have served these to friends who do not generally like fish, and they go back for seconds.

I have tried different ways to cook them. My favorite is to pan fry them with different spices such as garlic and Cajun. One store-bought seasoning I would recommend is Zatarain’s Seasoned Fish Fry. It comes in a blue and yellow bag and should be found in most grocery stores. It has a mixture of seasonings that is hard to beat.

You simply take the fish fillets, dip them in milk, and then put them in a zip lock bag containing the seasoning. Seal the bag tightly and shake it to coat the fish. Carefully drop the fish into a 350 degree skillet filled with either vegetable or canola oil. Allow each fish fillet to cook for two minutes and drain on a paper towel.

You may like to experiment with spices and cornmeal to create your own recipe. Add a few sides of cole slaw, baked beans or hushpuppies, and you have yourself a meal worth getting excited about! I hope this encourages people to give these tasty fish a try.

If you have any questions or comments, contact Brian at brian@briancarper.com or (615) 278-6311.