Northwest Fishing Reports

Ok, Until this past Tuesday, I havent caught any crappie since I was 10 years old using a stick as a fishing pole in the local pond. Back then, ANY fish was a great fish

In the last few years I have seen tons of reports about people catching crappie and/or really really wanting to catch crappie. Everyone who talks about crappie acts like they are the best table fair ever. Nothing beets crappie for taste according to every single report I have read. Not one time have I seen anyone say anything negative about crappie.

So, my bros and I decided to target some crappie specifically so we could try them out. We went to Silver Lake in Cowlitz county last Tuesday and caught a few keepers. See my recent report for details.

We kept them alive in the live well till we got home and cleaned them and got them in the fridge immediately. They were still alive and cool when we started cleaning them. Then we fried them up the next day for the family.

The verdict was unanimous - they taste like...well...crap(pie)! Total mush and not much taste. It was like eating vaguely fish flavored fake mashed potatoes with lots of tiny bones mixed it.

I did some reading on-line and it seems like mushy and bland is the norm for crappie?

The larger ones were fun to catch on light gear but I have zero interest in eating one ever again unless someone can convince me there is some way to get them to taste better AND be a lot firmer. As far as we are concerned, crappie are going to be C&R only from now on.

The perch and blue gill we fried up at the same time were great.

Any ideas or are we just weird? Im ok with the weird thing - I hate kokanee too :D

HaHaHa


You have to go to a GOOD lake. THAT Silver Lake is too mushy itself.

Go to Tanwax or Ohop or Clear Lake. Catch some GOOD quality fish to eat.

Amx wrote:HaHaHa


You have to go to a GOOD lake. THAT Silver Lake is too mushy itself.

Go to Tanwax or Ohop or Clear Lake. Catch some GOOD quality fish to eat.

The water is everything.

Catfish as an example from a warm shallow pond will taste like..well... a warm shallow pond.

Get them from cold, clear water - and you are in for a treat!

Crappie and perch are nearly the same in texture with a bit of a flavor nod going to the crappie IMO. They are coveted when taken from cool, clear water and eat like a million bucks.

Don't take my word for it though, go out and catch yourself a mess from the cool, clear water we discussed and you'll at least have another crappie trip under your belt!

onmygame

I had the same experience with crappie caught out of the Snake River during the spring. They were immediately bled and stuck in a cooler of ice until we fried them up for lunch. It was soft and mushy. It reminded me of surfperch which I find is equally soft and mushy.

Amx wrote:HaHaHa


You have to go to a GOOD lake. THAT Silver Lake is too mushy itself.

Go to Tanwax or Ohop or Clear Lake. Catch some GOOD quality fish to eat.

Clear in which county?

Toni wrote:

Amx wrote:HaHaHa


You have to go to a GOOD lake. THAT Silver Lake is too mushy itself.

Go to Tanwax or Ohop or Clear Lake. Catch some GOOD quality fish to eat.

Clear in which county?

The one down by Ohop and/or Tanwax.

Toni wrote:It has Crappie? ...I don't this so. Alder Lake does

I don't know, I think the other lakes do so I figured they all do down there.

Amx wrote:

Toni wrote:It has Crappie? ...I don't this so. Alder Lake does

I don't know, I think the other lakes do so I figured they all do down there.

It has some perch but no one I know has ever caught a crappie. Fish Washington doesn't show it having crappie. While Northwest fishing reports lake info does. On the other hand Fish Washington says that it doesn't have perch but I have caught them.

My brother fishes Clear lake from shore and he swears he has seen guys catching crappie there - but he never has caught one.

We have fished Ohop and Clear before in the boat but never targeted Crappie. Havent tried Tanwax yet - its on our list of lakes to try

Ok, I can buy the bad water thing I guess - although the perch and blue gill we caught at the same time tasted just fine. Next time we get a Crappie from a "good" lake we wil give them another try

Thanks for the tips!!!!

I agree the crappie at Silver are mushy and gross. perch and bluegill are good there. the trout there are also nasty obviously.

alder lake has the best crappie fishing I've seen yet in washington and really good firm meat, because of the cold deep water. I used to do alot of crappie fishing mostly just bass now though.

Another possible reason to the mushy effect is how they are cooked. Seems simple enough but if your frying whole rather than fillets you must cook the crappie a bit longer. I prefer mine filleted but also enjoy crunching some fins too. Fried right a headed and gutted crappie can be quite firm.

Got a recipe?