Crappies are fun to catch and are a great table fair. Mike Hehner shows you his step by step process for filleting crappies.
Filleting Crappies
Everyone has their own process and style when it comes to filleting fish, but this is the system that works best for me. When cleaning panfish I prefer to use a standard fillet knife like the Bubba 8″ Whiffie or 8″ Ultra Flex.
To start you make a cut behind the gill and then run your knife along the backbone of the crappie. Continue this cut all the way to the tail of the fish.
Now you want to press down as you cut around the ribs of the crappie. Follow that cut through and you will be able to remove that side from the fish.
Flip the fish over and repeat this same process on the other side.
Remove the skin from both fillets. Start at the tail and run you at a downward facing 45 degree angle. This will ensure you don’t miss any meat.
Once you have completed that you can remove the pin bones, which are located near the center of the fillet just above the rib cage. Make a small cut on both sides of it, to remove the strip of bones. Once your done with that your fillets are boneless and ready to go.
This is an easy way process for filleting crappies and all other panfish.