Flounder-Style Fried Giant Bluegill

Bluegills are among my favorite fish. They’ve got a lot going for them. They are prolific, almost always hungry, pound for pound they fight as hard as any fish on the planet, and I’ll challenge you to find a much better tasting fish anywhere.

A big ol’ dinner-plate-sized bluegill puts up one hell of a fight on light tackle and tastes great on the dinner table. All images by Michael Pendley.

My standard two ways to cook bluegills are to fillet the big ones and pan-fry the smaller ones whole, skinless or scaled with the skin on. Most of what we catch are hand-sized or a little smaller, which are common across most of the fish’s home range.

A couple of times a year, we take a trip down to a buddy’s place in the deep South. His lake is stocked with giant hybrid bluegills. Some of these fish push the 2-pound mark, and every now and then, you’ll hook into one that surpasses even that. Catch one of those on light tackle and you’ll have a fight you won’t soon forget. Because these hybrid fish don’t reproduce, most of them get released to be caught again. But every now and then, we’ll keep one or two of these monsters for the table.

Gills this size don’t come along often, and most get released, but every now and then, I keep one for the table.

Conventional wisdom on a fish this size would be to fillet it. But for these, we took a note from our saltwater flounder recipes. For this method, start by gutting and scaling the fish. You can leave the head on or take it off. My wife has a thing about eating anything with a face, so I usually take the head off.

Next, use a sharp fillet knife to score the fish in a diamond crosshatch pattern down to the spine. This packs more breading into the fillet and allows the hot oil to reach down into the meat so that the outer surface doesn’t overcook before the thick center portion gets done.

Scale and then score a diamond crosshatch into the meat down to the spine to allow the fish to cook quickly and evenly.

Roll the scored fish in your favorite fish breading. I used Andy’s Red for this batch. Sprinkle some into the scored cuts.

Dust the fish on both sides with seasoned fish breading or corn meal, sprinkling some down into the crosshatch cuts as you go.

While you bread the fish, heat a half-inch of oil or vegetable shortening in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. I like 325 to 350 degrees for cooking temperature of the grease.

Gently lower the fish into the hot grease. Fry for five to 10 minutes per side or until the fish is cooked through and flakes away under light pressure from a fork. Depending on size, you might need to do one fish at a time to fit in your skillet.

Fry for five to 10 minutes per side, depending on thickness, until the meat flakes easily from the bone.

Drain the fish on a wire rack or paper-lined plate while you continue frying the rest of your catch.

Drain the fish on paper or a wire rack.

Serve with fries and slaw for a full meal that even the most expensive seafood restaurants can’t match.