Is this a Walleye?

[brockel]

I really like walleye a lot. I like crappie even better! I love all kinds of fish. Fried Carp still tops the list for me, I’m sorry fellas. I’m not asking anyone to agree with me lol

I’ve honestly never tried it. But I might have to. So scoring it enough lets the hot oil break the bones down? They are damn fun to catch. Would be nice if they ate good

 

[fishing4sanity]

Most of our ancestors probably ate carp at some point.
Dont judge a book...

Not certain I would be first in line,though.

I've never tried carp, but my dad says that as a kid growing up he thought carp was what everyone had when they said they were having fish for supper.

 

[Hem]

I've never tried carp, but my dad says that as a kid growing up he thought carp was what everyone had when they said they were having fish for supper.

Some folks aren't squemish.

 

[R.K.]

I’ve honestly never tried it. But I might have to. So scoring it enough lets the hot oil break the bones down? They are damn fun to catch. Would be nice if they ate good

Yep. But you need a cornmeal-base breading to keep the scoring open down to the skin. If you don't get breading in there, or they close up, then the oil won't be able to get to them to soften them up. But you need to have the skin to keep the fillets together while cooking.

I'm trying as hard as I can to find a video on how to properly scale these things. It's called skin-scaling, or "fleecing", and you need to do it to get rid of the scales and slime properly- basically you're cutting off the outer layer of skin along with the scales. It seems everyone on youtube is filleting them normally, then wasting over half the fish just to get to the "buffalo ribs". Infuriating.

I've done the fleecing with a sharp hatchet, butcher's knife, or a fillet knife. With the first two, you simply start at the tail and cut towards the head of the fish holding the proper angle to get under the scales but ride over the skin. Might take some slicing to sever the scales from the skin. (Note- you don't need to do this to redhorse, just scale them normally with a spoon or the back of a knife or something).

With a fillet knife, you poke the tip in under the scales at the tail of the fish, pointing towards the head. Then you slide the knife under the scales, but above the skin, and slice towards the top or bottom of the fish (but always towards the head a bit), removing a plate of scales at once. You'll get the hang of it pretty quick if you pay attention to what your knife is doing. You'll be left with a white/silvery layer of fish leather. After that, just fillet the carp as normal- you can leave the ribs in if you like, I find it easier to cut them out here.

And, I cannot stress this enough, get your carp from the coldest/clearest water possible and then bleed and ice immediately.


EDIT- I'LL BE DAMNED. Fleecing a buffalo with a cleaver.

And he's a rookie- he was scaling them with the cleaver the day before instead of fleecing. Take your time and you'll get a cleaner result.

 

[shootbrownelk]

My guess is that it's an Arctic "Char".

 

[MTLabrador]

There are some species that were just made to be eaten. Antelope, elk, walleye, and ruffed grouse come to mind. It would be hard to convince me to include carp in that list… I would try some fried carp, but I sure wouldn’t have high expectations.