I was raised on Southern Fried Bluegills. My native state of North Carolina has more farm ponds per acre than any other state in the union and each and every one had a bountiful population of bluegills, or “brim’ as they are called in the South. Most every Friday night, my Carolina relatives feasted on Fried Bluegills, Fried Cornbread, sweet Cole Slaw, a skillet full of Fried Potatoes and Onions. If you had room at the end of the meal, it was Apple Pie and a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream.
This past week, the call of Fried Bluegills overwhelmed me, and I was off to Chris Greene Lake with an empty stringer that needed filling. It’s not hard to catch bluegills. I had a jar of Berkley Power Bait Crappie Nibbles in my tackle box and that did the trick. In about the time it takes to smoke a cheap cigar, I had attached a fat bluegill to each of the 8 allotted hooks on my stringer and they followed me home to dinner.
Some of my friends like to fillet bluegills, assuming they are large enough. Not me. I like them whole, with the skin on and the bones inside. That’s the only way to eat Southern Fried Bluegills.
There are two important considerations when frying ‘gills. Number one is a cast iron skillet and number two is a bag of stone ground yellow cornmeal.
Put about a half inch of Crisco oil in the skillet and bring it up to 375. Roll the bluegills in the cornmeal and pop them in the hot oil, turning once until golden brown.
That’s it.
Figure on 4 or 5 bluegills per person, fry them golden brown and crispy, dig in, watch out for the bones, and save a bit of room for some Apple Pie.