This is how I was raised eating Pannies. A little more work, but I still do it a few times a year. I love the crispy skin and the potato chip at the end 
They were delicious last night
Any of you guys do it?
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Looks good and I have never had it that way. Do you eat the skin?
That’s how I was raised to clean and eat them. Personally I think they taste so much better prepared this way over a filet. More work yes but way better IMO.
Plus you get a lot more meat this way.
Looks good and I have never had it that way. Do you eat the skin?
Yes, that’s what makes it so good 
You scale them first. It’s easy to do with a tablespoon.
I like them that way but scared to give them to the kids.
I like them that way but scared to give them to the kids.
After cooking you can pull the spine right out with all the bones attached and just run a fork on the inside to check for bones that didn’t pull out. Yes more work but the flavor is worth it. The tails are also like a potato chip like B-man said. My sisters and I use to fight over them when we were little.
I have seen some people run them through a scaling machine which greatly reduces the amount of time that it takes to scale them.
A little steep on the price. This is the one I saw. It was in a fish cleaning shack at a resort so a fair amount of people were able to use it.
https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/open-country-tumble-drumm-automatic-fish-scaler
I scale, then fillet all my panfish, so no bones. B man is right the skin on is what makes them so good. It really is not that hard to scale them as long as there not frozen.
I scale, then fillet all my panfish, so no bones. B man is right the skin on is what makes them so good. It really is not that hard to scale them as long as there not frozen.
Yeah scaling isn’t hard to do with a spoon on crappies and sunnies. Maybe five seconds a side??
Perch on the other hand are much tougher to scale, I always just fillet them and skin them
I grew up doing them that way. I’ll never forget finding scales stuck to my arms for days afterwards. 
Yup, that’s the only way we ate perch back in the day. My dad was quite proficient scaling with his pocketknife. Us kids used some jagged edge metal tool. I don’t think there was ever a time when I didn’t cut up a finger in the process. In the summer we cleaned ’em on the picnic table in the back yard; in winter we did it downstairs on dad’s work bench. Scales flying all over, and like Ralph said, you’d find them for days! Mom would scrub out the insides with a toothbrush. Delicious indeed.
And now I’m trying to remember if the fish fry’s my dad brought home from the tavern on Friday nights had the skin on or not. Long time ago.
Grew up doing it that way. Once I learned how to filet I never looked back. I do occasionally leave the skins on but I don’t like scaling indoors and it’s harder for me to remove the filet without scales on.
i grew up the same way with sunfish…..crappies we filleted without skin.
then i got divorced with custody of 3 kids…….to fry fish like that and try to debone the fish for the kids, i never jhad warm fish…..so we went to scaling then filleting.
gimruis…….there are alot less cheaper scalers then that one. we have what was called back then a cyclone. got them at FF. was a 5 gallon busket with a stainless insert a paddle thru the cover and hook it up to 1.2 horse drill. about 3 minutes for 20-30 fish, depending on size. wish i had a penny for every fish i’ve scaled with that thing……….
i still clean a few that way for my self serving satisfaction!!!!!!!!
fish tails were always a treat when i was a kid and got to go up north with dad and his buddies ice fishing. I grew up scaling perch, then filleting, leaving the skin on. Mom and the siblings didn’t like fish tails, that’s why they were a treat on the up north trips.
Memories. My Grandmother always cooked them this way. Have not had them this way since. Miss Grandma.
Honestly, one of the reasons they did clean them this way is because they caught and kept such massive quantities. Dozens of them per outing. Even if filleting was a popular thing back then, who would’ve had the time?
At a family reunion a few years ago, we kept quite a few over a few days and put in the freezer. Someone had one of the drum scalers that we threw them all in and gutted. Worked great.
What do most of you use to cut the heads off? I’m assuming NOT a fillet knife…
A fillet knife works good. Just give it a wiggle when you hit the spine and it will slide thru.
Best way to clean sunnies, especially metro lakes where it’s tough to break 8”
Best way to clean sunnies, especially metro lakes where it’s tough to break 8”
Agreed, that and bigger fish don’t turn out as good, especially bigger crappies.
They stay too moist/mushy compared to smaller ones. Some of the ones last night were 11″+ and the smaller ones are always better tasting.
Plus you get more meat from them. You only need 2-3 fish per person if you have a side dish. I fried up 10 last night for the four of us and it was more than enough.
that and bigger fish don’t turn out as good, especially bigger crappies.
I agree B man I will say for the most part that applies to anyway you cook crappies.
Memories. My Grandmother always cooked them this way. Have not had them this way since. Miss Grandma.
Same. That’s what I call “Granny pannies”.
A fillet knife works good. Just give it a wiggle when you hit the spine and it will slide thru.
Thanks dave. Just thought it would be too dulling
Grew up eating sunnies that way as well. Also remember one ofmy siblings (or me) yakking up a bone every meal as well. Mom just said, “Eat some bread to wash it down.”
Good memories
Memories!!!! Thanks for the pics. The best thing was being in school a week later and finding a scale stuck to your skin!!!!!
On the subject of scaling fish. Has anyone ever used those scaling baskets that you pull with your boat? In a nutshell, you put the whole fish in this basket, attach it to your boat, and then pull behind or next to your boat at slow speed. The basket spins or something and supposedly scales the fish nicely.
i would love to eat them like that but it is a little more work. wife would not be happy with scales all over the kitchen! so i only cook trout with the skin and like you said, that crispy tail is my favorite part as well.
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