I wonder what the % is?

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

 I know we all love bluegill, they are fun to catch, and fun to eat. When we clean them we have to decide whether we are going to fillet or clean them whole to prepair them for the grease. I for one fillet almost everything I catch because my wife and kids dont   like bones , I like them this  way but I also like eating the whole fish,by whole fish I mean I remove the dorsal fin, the tail , and the lateral fins. I am surprised by the people that object to me removing the tail and fins, they say the eat them like potato chips, to me there is no meat on the tail and fins and they just take up skillet space. So I wonder what the % of Fineaters are there out there, Fin Eaters, stand up and be counted.

[Tom Beauchamp]

When you clean 100 or more at a time, am not gonna take the time to scale and gut that many fish, just to much trouble. ( even if I did like the crispy tails )

[Matt Lewis]

To each his own, but I bet I can scale/gut 100 fish in about the same time as most people fillet them!

[Jon McLean]

I've become quite proficient using poultry shears on bluegill.  After you get the scales off snip off the fins, snip off the head, and snip down past the anus.  A quick rinse, and you're done.  I've found that my disposal can handle the heads, but the fins get stuck. 

[Jon McLean]

Tom, do you cook them with the scales on and guts still in?

[J. B. Hillard]

Here is a new "mouse trap" scaler from Mr. Twister.  I have one for testing from the manufacturer.  What I like most is the scales do not go flying all over the place and the knife easily cuts off the head.   Have always used my cleaning table out behind the garage to clean fish, but gave this gizmo a shot in the kitchen.  For a small number of fish cleaning in an air conditioned kitchen is much more preferable than than 100 degree temps outside. For a big pile of fish I would still do the cleaning outside.  The EZ-Scaler works fine on small scale fish. Haven't tried it on a red or something with large tough scales.  But, I'm guessing it may too light duty for big scale fish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFCFiKXwSn8

[dick tabbert]

Nothing wrong with a crispy tail now and then. My problem is the wife will not eat a fish unless fillet. So I don't get to fry the fish with the bones in them. They are good either way.

[Jon McLean]

For myself, I leave the tail on.  It gives me something to hold onto as I slide them into the hot oil and while I peel them back to get to that meat.

[Nick Holt]

I've been known to eat a tail or two.  I do remove the fins on the smaller fish though.  Nick Holt

[Oleta Webb]

Count me in...I am a fin and tail eater. LOL

[JBplusThuy]

I'm often a fin eater, so are my kids.

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

Thanks everyone for taking part in my unscientific survey, I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers  along the way,so if I did "  I'm Sorry" .   I believe now that there are more Fin Eaters out there than I origionally estimated, As Frank Zappa would say " Do what you want to ,Do what you will, just dont mess up you neighbors thrill , So Fin Eaters  of America, stand up and eat those Fins with Pride , I just might join you sometime, and to the Filleters , keep those electric fillet knifes humming . I know we all love catching and eating bluegill  so  Good Luck on your next trip and BONE  APPITE.         LOFR

[10.5" RES Sharon]

For those whose feathers are ruffled, maybe you should do a survey on the % who eat the feathers off the chicken.