Every year I make at least one panfish chowder, using whatever I can catch - bluegills, pumpkinseeds, rock bass, whatever. (I do not put crappies into chowder, they are just too delicious a treat by themselves!) Here is Doctor Doug's Fish-Camp Pleasin' Fish Chowder:
chop up half a dozen slices of side bacon and start them at medium heat in a big pot, Dutch oven, whatever, and cook till they are about half done, NOT crispy at all. Add a couple tablespoons of margarine (or butter if cholesterol is not a concern), let it melt, then add about 2 cups of finely diced sweet onions (about two good-size Vidalias or similar) and about two cups of diced celery (maybe 6 or 7 stalks). Saute them until they are just cooked. Add about a quart of cold water, then about four cups of diced potatoes. If you are going to put clams in the chowder, open the cans and drain the juice off the clams into the pot now too. Season the pot liberally with seasoning salt and fresh ground pepper, and leave it to simmer, covered, for about twenty minutes or until the potatoes are cooked all the way through. Stir every once in a while so nothing burns to the bottom of the pot.
When the potatoes are cooked, add about a quart of fillets, cut into bite-sized chunks, and a couple cans of baby clams (the clams are optional). Cook for about five minutes until the fish is cooked, then add about half a cup of cream. Stir, taste and correct seasonings if necessary (usually you will need to add salt, since the potatoes soak up a lot of salt).
Serve with fresh bread or buns, it is almost a meal in itself. HINT: like most chowders and stews, this is even better the day after you cook it. Just let it cool well and keep refrigerated, then re-heat on the stove or in the microwave. This chowder also freezes well.
Doug
Eating bluegills and/or pumpkinseeds
fish headz fishheadz eat em up yum[blue gills]
if you get agood size one they are probbaly the tastiest around..
re the bad pannies:
there has been a whack o fear mongering doled out by who knows who..
about the lil pannies devastating the young bassees..
however i hear the real culprits are the adult basseeeze
them selves
after the first year:
% eaten of fry and young lmb by lmb=83%
% eaten of fry and young smb by smb=70+%
re the bad pannies:
there has been a whack o fear mongering doled out by who knows who..
about the lil pannies devastating the young bassees..
however i hear the real culprits are the adult basseeeze
them selves
after the first year:
% eaten of fry and young lmb by lmb=83%
% eaten of fry and young smb by smb=70+%
back to dana.........
Those are very interesting statistics. Could I please get a source for them? Like, is this a long-term macro study of Ontario lakes, or is it a single season study on a Florida pond? etc etc etc
The reason I ask is that I have read reports, years ago, by Ontario biologists who said that predation of bass fry by panfish is a very large problem, and is the number one reason that people should never target bass on their spawning beds. If those biologists are "fear mongering," perhaps we need to figure out why...........
Or maybe we need to figure out who is actually doing the "fear mongering......."
Doug
PS) I hear that 81.67% of statistics are made up on the spot.....
Those are very interesting statistics. Could I please get a source for them? Like, is this a long-term macro study of Ontario lakes, or is it a single season study on a Florida pond? etc etc etc
The reason I ask is that I have read reports, years ago, by Ontario biologists who said that predation of bass fry by panfish is a very large problem, and is the number one reason that people should never target bass on their spawning beds. If those biologists are "fear mongering," perhaps we need to figure out why...........
Or maybe we need to figure out who is actually doing the "fear mongering......."
Doug
PS) I hear that 81.67% of statistics are made up on the spot.....