Eating bluegills vs. pumpkinseeds

[fishryc]

 Saw some chat regarding eating bluegills. I agree with all comments that they are great tablefare. However, I also feel that if you're fortunate enough to have a honeyhole where you can pick up some sunfish (pumpkinseeds) in the 6 to 7 inch class (pretty tough here in the Buffalo NY area, but I've got one), I think you'll find them an even milder or "sweeter" fish. I have especially found this to be true in the summer / warm water months when the bluegills around here tend to get a taste that is best described as "muddy". This may be in part due to the fact that the primary locations around Western New York for summer gills is in the numerous creeks that flow into Lakes Erie and Ontario. These tend to have very slow moving water in the summer months. Regional inland lakes offer better tasting gills, but they're tough to find in any numbers after the spring spawn.
Anyway... Sunnies trump Gills in the skillet for me.
 Also, as I stated, big sunnies are scarce up here in NY (as are big gills). Are big sunnies as prevelant as those HONKER bluegills I see in magazines and on TV in the southern states? I'd consider a weekend trip to tie into a mess o' these!

[bigredonice]

i know of a few lakes and ponds here in eastern NY that are full of 6 to 8 inch pumpkinseeds...they are more common than bluegills in alot of places around here.

[camo_fish]

I got my biggest bluegill in VA, it was a hugh 1.3 lb bluegill, caught in a special restricted lake with all standing timber, which also has a strain of FL. LMB in it, some hugh gills and LMB come out of this lake every year. 

[fishryc]

i know of a few lakes and ponds here in eastern NY that are full of 6 to 8 inch pumpkinseeds...they are more common than bluegills in alot of places around here.

Please....Do tell...Do tell......

[Pasquatch]

i know of a few lakes and ponds here in eastern NY that are full of 6 to 8 inch pumpkinseeds...they are more common than bluegills in alot of places around here.

So do I...just gotta fish them!

[bigredonice]

i know of a few lakes and ponds here in eastern NY that are full of 6 to 8 inch pumpkinseeds...they are more common than bluegills in alot of places around here.

Please....Do tell...Do tell......

well saratoga and cossyuna have tons of nice pumpkinseeds, along with the sunnies, as for the ponds, shoot me a PM if you want some places to try

[bigredonice]

the fight differently though, bluegills swim in clockwise circles, while pumpkinseeds swim in counter clockwise ovals

[WARRIOR_ON_ICE]

the fight differently though, bluegills swim in clockwise circles, while pumpkinseeds swim in counter clockwise ovals

I hope my $19 fishing license fee is not going to fund studies that result in this incredibly important information. Why would anyone want to know or need to know this?

[bigredonice]

even though i was joking (hence the rolleye emoticon -  ), slipbob is right, with the aqua-vu, it would have been an obvious observation if it was true

[bigredonice]

and lakers hit like crappies and dont fight (j/k TFB!!)

[camo_fish]

and lakers hit like crappies and dont fight (j/k TFB!!)

yea, right  Fish On! 

[Pasquatch]

Damn, where's my spring bobber!

[fiesty]

the fight differently though, bluegills swim in clockwise circles, while pumpkinseeds swim in counter clockwise ovals

Agree, priceless...

[Van_Cleaver]

I've got both in the fridge as they were frozen stiff last night, and after a long drive I didn't feel like facing the slashing steel. Didn't really notice much difference last time, however. The lake I was fishing (PA)has special regs for panfish, and the pumpkinseeds are abundant, and almost all are over 7'', which just happens to be the min. size limit. Hmmm............Perhap s other lakes would benifit from similar regs. The perch have to be over 9", and though I haven't located the motherlode, they also are getting large. Last night, only landed two; one 8'', and one over 12. Made my day. Good luck with your testing!

[rendo]

I,m interested in testing that theory for you just send a dozen each and I,ll eat them and tell you which is better>

[bigspud]

any preparation tips for 'gills and 'seeds as far as cleaning and cooking??? 8)

[fishryc]

any preparation tips for 'gills and 'seeds as far as cleaning and cooking??? 8)

Hey bigspud- welcome to The Shanty!
  I do 'em one of two ways. If they're nice slabbers, I fillet them, coat them (dip in flour, then eggs beaten w/splash of milk, then your favorite crumbs....I like crushed crackers, but others use seasoned or non seasoned breadcrumbs, cornmeal, hominy, etc.), then deepfry.
 For smaller fish, and I often do them all like this because I feel they taste the best this way, is to pan fry them. I scale them & leave skin on, gut them, and take off fins & head, then rinse. While wet, sprinkle them generously with salt and let them sit 20 minutes. Heat a skillet to medium / medium low (NOT TOO HOT!) filled with 1/8 inch deep melted margarine with a couple tablespoons of cooking oil added. Rinse off salt and GENEROUSLY sprinkle the fish with onion powder (NOT onion salt!) and a little salt. Fry very slowly (approx. 8 minutes or so each side) OR until the onion powder is brown and crispy and the meat is separating from the backbone leaving it starting to be exposed. Then you just peel the meat away from the skeleton (using the tines of a fork, working from back to belly, tail to head). The meat at the back portion of the fish will peel freely away from the bones cleanly, but the rib cage will mostly stay on this peeled off piece of fish. They are very easily plucked off in one cluster leaving you with a boneless, crispy, and delicious fillet.
 I often make an Asian style dipping sauce for these: 1/4 cup water, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/4 cup fish sauce. Fish sauce can be bought in the Asian or Chinese dept. of any large supermarket (don't know where you're at; Tops or Wegmans in my area) or at any Asian specialty market. I like the brand with a squid on the bottle, others are pretty strong.
 Although it's a little bit of work, the pan fried / fish sauce method is by far my favorite way to enjoy any panfish such as crappie, sunnies, perch (plus, they don't have to be too big for this recipe, smaller perch at 6 to 8 inches are fantastic this way), etc. Using the fish sauce also is a must try!
 Also, if your introducing kids to (or taking kids) fishing, the panfry recipe in great because you can take the kids fishing and let them catch 'em,  keep 'em,  cook 'em, and eat 'em because you don't need to catch a bunch of lunkers, a few sunnies will do!
    Tightlines, Fishryc
 

[GEM_EYE_GUY]

bluegills swim in clockwise circles, while pumpkinseeds swim in counter clockwise ovals

Except south-of-the-equator, it's the other way around.   

[TroutFishingBear]

to my knowledge we don't have pumpkinseeds in CO (maybe on the east slope they have some, I don't know) but we have quite a few green sunfish in some fisheries. I think the green sunfish and bluegill taste the same personally. They fight differently though; the green sunfish are much stronger pound for pound than a bluegill and are also much more aggressive. I don't know about seeds but I just can't see them tasting different than a gill...maybe it is the fishery you catch em out of cuz the fishery and its food generally determines how a fish will taste.

[P.I.K.E.]

I could never taste the difference between the two.

[Bigman]

they are both good eaten. but most of the time i eat bluegill because i catch more of the .

[Reel Wet Ride]

I've never noticed a real difference in taste. I do know that most of the time when I catch and clean sunfish or pumpkinseeds, they tend to have more grubs than the gills. So I'm a little put off by that. For you guys that think some of the fish taste muddy either from muddy/warm water or are caught during the spawn, just fillet them out, and wash them really, really well in cold water. Put them in the fridge for 1 day, then re-wash them really, really well. THis will not only firm up the fish but also get rid of 90% of the "muddy" taste. (skin off)

[reelbigfish]

  Put your skinless fillets in a bowl of water with a tablespoon or more of baking soda
and soak in the fridge overnight, rinse and cook em up.  This will eliminate most of the muddy fishy taste.  Salt helps or soaking in milk will also work.  No real difference
in taste between gills and sunfish although sunnies have thicker rib bones and less
meat.






Ted