Merwin: The Fried Fish Debate

crappieJM

Crappies are arguably America’s most popular gamefish, even more than bass. I love catching them, but even more love to eat them. It was on today’s date a few years ago that my wife and I were catching a mess of crappies like this one down in Florida.

We spent several evenings down there cooking fillets in various ways to see which we liked best. Beer batter was the winner. And we also talked about whether we liked eating crappies better than walleyes.

Crispy fried walleye fillets for lunch on the shore of a northern lake are about as good as it gets in the eating department. But I sometimes think crappies are even better. What gets your vote?