May and June are the best time to catch fish because they are hungry and close to shore. Bluegills, bullheads, channel catfish, and crappies are easy to catch. There are a lot of them and they are very good to eat.
- eat aquatic insects
- small pieces of worms are the best live bait; small hooks (#6 or 8)
- eat off the bottom
- eat nearly anything they can swallow
- worms are a great bait
- at mainly off the bottom
- prefer worms and various stink baits
- often found under docks or near jetties where there is plenty of food and the water is cooler
- small minnows (l- to l l/2-inches) are the best live bait
Freshly caught fish tastes great if it's cared for properly.
Store caught fish in a cooler with ice until you get home.
To preserve a fresh taste, clean your fish as soon as possible.
Filleting, pan dressing, and skinning are three simple ways to clean your catch.
If you would like to view videos that illustrate how to fillet fish, here are some good ones:
(Note: these links will take you away from the Iowa DNR web pages)
- Filleting a Fish, from the
Missouri Department of Conservation
- General Fish Filleting
this method uses a regular knife (9 minutes)
- General Fish Filleting
this method uses an electric fillet knife (1 min)
- Panfish/Sunfish Filleting (2 min)
- Catfish Filleting (3 min)
- Walleye Filleting (2 min)
Additional information about this technique from fisheries biologist Bernie Schonhoff: This video for walleyes addresses the
Y-bone in walleyes, but doesn’t show the “zipper technique” that I use. To do it you fillet and skin, then slice on both sides of the midline at the tail.
Then you grasp those two cut sections and pull apart. If you do it absolutely correct you end up with 3 pieces, one in each hand and the third from the middle
falls on the table. This is the one with the bones. Otherwise you have to pull the bone section off of one of the other sections, whichever one it stuck to.
- Northern Pike Filleting (4 min)
Additional information about this technique from fisheries biologist Bernie Schonhoff: This is the closest to the technique
that I use for pike, but it left out several pointers that I always tell people. First, there are no Y-bones past the body cavity
so you only need to go that far. Second, lay the fillet so that the belly side is nearest to you. Next, find the Y-bones by
running the knife along the fillet, then slice down and away from you just above the Y-bones.
Last, find the blood line in the fillet, then cut down and away from you to remove the Y-bone section.
To make sure to comply with laws that require you leave some skin, I remove the Y-bones first and then skin the fish from the
head end instead of the tail end and stop the skinning just before the tail, slicing through to leave enough skin on the filet
and to keep the 2 boneless pieces together as a single fillet.
Wash cleaned fish thoroughly. If you are not going to cook the fish right away, freeze immediately in a container (milk carton, pop-top plastic container, freezer bag, etc.) filled with water. Thaw fish in the refrigerator or under cold running water. Do not thaw fish more than one day before cooking.
Rinse fresh fish in cold water and pat dry. Make several shallow, diagonal cuts in large fillets to shorten cooking time. Cook refrigerated fish within three days.
There are several ways to cook fish. Fish cooks very fast. When done, it will pull apart and flake. To check if it is done, cut into the thickest part and make sure there is no opaque color or jelly texture left. Do not overcook.
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