[posterchild]

Crappie are tasty! I like bluegill (some folks call it ‘bream’) and perch and walleye as well. Bass is OK. I sometimes (maybe every 2 years when in proximity to your state’s southeastern coastline) catch ocean bluefish and cure it with a ‘gravlax blue’ recipe I’ve found online.

[TXnMA]

Wish I'd known about that "Gravlax Blue" curing technique when we used to catch bluefish in Cape Cod Bay! Frankly, (even after removing the dark red meat) I've never learned to tolerate bluefish.

But, I would have liked to try smoking it, and I definitely would have tried (and experimented with variations on) the "Gravlax" curing technique, had I known about it then.

Thankfully, 1/4 mile through the woods from our house in Norfolk, MA, was a good-sized pond/lake that was overpopulated with crappie, and boasted schools of bluegill that ran up to 10 inches long! Great fun on ultralight tackle -- and good eatin'! (My two favorite food fishes...)

In the summers, between work and sundown, I usually could catch more than a meal for our family of five...

My daughter and I caught these in a little over an hour one evening...

Curiously, the locals called both species, "Kivvers" -- and claimed they were too bony to eat.

I never argued with them... '-)