Description
I’ve made low-carb crispy fish before, and I’ve made fish sandwiches. Maybe we could tweak these recipes to make something new, crispy fish cheeseburgers. All we need are some bluegill! Click on *SHOW MORE* for info on the tackle, lake, recipes and much more.
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THE BOAT: Bass Hunter EX, purchased 2018. It can be ordered here: http://www.basshunter.com/bass-hunter-ex.html.
THE MOTOR: Minn Kota Endura C2-55 Trolling Motor (36" Shaft), 55 LBS of thrust. It runs on a 12v, deep cycle battery. Purchased on amazon, 2018.
THE LURE: 1½ inch body of a Beetle Spin lure on a 1/32 oz. lead jig head.
THE SPINNING REEL: Garcia REVO2SX10, 2018.
THE SPINNING ROD: Daiwa SMD401ULFS Spinmatic-D SpinRod (4- Feet, Ultra Light, 1 Piece, 1-4 LB test).
THE SPINNING REEL LINE is SpiderWire, Ultracast, Invisi-Braid in 10 LB test, 2 LB mono equivalent.
LEARN HOW TO FILLET A FISH HERE: https://youtu.be/KgiGqlrB0LM.
THE LAKE is called Lake Ketchabigwon. It is almost 6 acres and is located in NE Ohio. It sits on 37 acres of property. The lake is private. We purchased it in 1987. It has a maximum depth of 12’. The small pond uphill from it is ¾ acre with a maximum depth of 12’.
FISH IN THE LAKE: largemouth bass, bluegill, white crappie, black crappie, yellow perch, channel catfish, and grass carp.
WHY KEEP SMALL BASS AND RETURN LARGER BASS: We had biologists perform an electroshock survey of the lake. They found too many small, stunted bass. There is only so much food to go around, and there are too many mouths to feed. Their advice was to remove all bass under 12”, and to release the bigger ones. This rule is usually the opposite in large public lakes. Here is a well-known biologist explaining the need to cull small bass from ponds (21:00) https://youtu.be/toWlvfg-6mQ.
WHERE TO GET A CAP LIKE MINE: You can get a “Juanelo Bait & Tackle” cap here, https://www.inkpixi.com/by-clothing-type/baseball-hats. In fact, you could put your own name on it!
VIDEOGRAPHY:
The principal camera is my iPhone X on a tripod. I also use an iPhone 6s Plus as a close-up, counter-top camera when cooking. It is mounted on a small tripod. I use a Rhode mic indoors to help lessen the echo. The video is edited on a 15”, 2019 MacBook Pro, using Final Cut Pro X.
BACKGROUND MUSIC is called “Dome Sweet Dome” from YouTube’s Audio Library.
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LOW-CARB CRISPY FRIED BLUEGILL CHEESEBURGERS
Recipe inspired by: https://buttoni.wordpress.com/2013/09/09/southern-fried-chicken/
INGREDIENTS:
¾ LB of bluegill fillets,
1½ c. plain whey protein
2 c. crushed pork rinds (about 2 oz.)
2 TBS oat fiber (optional)(I used coconut flour)
1½ TBS. Old Bay (or Zatarain’s, Slap Ya Mama, Tony Chachere’s, etc)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 c. Parmesan cheese
¼ tsp. fresh ground black pepper
4 large eggs
½ c. heavy cream
½ c. water
Oil for deep frying
8 slices of sharp cheddar cheese
4 low-carb buns (I used “SmartBun”)
Tartar sauce
Shredded lettuce
Tomato slices (thin)
Sweet onion slices (thin)
NOTE: “SmartBun” buns are available at netrition.com
DIRECTIONS: Measure out and mix all dry ingredients in a large flat container, seal and shake well.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, cream and water together. Toss the fish fillets into the egg wash and turn to well coat each.
Pick each fillet out of the bowl, let it drain and drop into the plastic container of “flour.” With all fillets in the container, seal the top and shake it to coat all the fish. Leave the fish in the container of coating until the moment you remove them to the frying pan.
Heat oil to 360°F. Shake off excess coating from each fish. In batches of two or three fillets, add to fryer basket. Let the fish fry about 2½ minutes until it appears golden brown.
When each batch is golden brown and done remove to wire rack to drain until all are fried. Add a slice, or half slice, of cheese to each fillet. Keep in warm oven until ready to assemble burgers. Butter and toast buns. Add tartar sauce to buns, add fish with cheese, add a slice of tomato, add a slice of onion, top with a little shredded lettuce.