Bunch of Hybrid Haters on here! Lol. For sure crappie and bluegill are the best eating FW fish IMO but hybrids and stripers are right there with catfish and black bass when cleaned the right way. I'm hoping your joking about freshwater drum, now those are nasty along with the texture.

I am not kidding about freshwater drum. I’m not saying they’re a 5 star meal, but they’re better than those nasty hybrids, striper, and sandbass. I don’t mess with them because I have zero issues getting crappie and black bass. Walleye, sauger, and saugeye are the best in fresh water.

Nice to have a choice !!

I've yet to find a fish freshwater or salt that properly prepared is not good.I spent many years in Southeast Asia,those people know how to prep fish,and learned almost every fish cooked in a way to bring out its best qualities will make fantastic tablefare.What I don't get is the dislike of whites,striper or hybrids,they're some of the most simple fish to prep.Upon catch I cut their gills to bleed them,place them on ice for at least 2-3 hours to firm them up for filleting.Once filleted I remove the blood line and any red meat along the skin side of the fillet.If we're eating them fresh,within 24 hours,I cover them in ice water,a tbsp or two of sea salt and place in the fridge.If preserving them for a later date I place fillets in a quart bag with a small amount of sea salt and enough water to cover the fillets then forcing out all air and placing them in the freezer.Deep fried,pan fried,air fried,blackened..........so on and so forth all delicious.

I saw where freshwater drum was mentioned.Drum3 lbs up they make excellent fillets and are best deep fried in my opinion.I've served them and been told many times just how delicious they are............being asked many times what kind of catfish it is.

I didn't see carp mentioned at all.Not many of you will try this but I thought I'd put it out there.Carp are delicious when canned.I scale 1-5 lb carp then cut them cross ways in 2-3" chunks.Once chunked I pack them in clean pint or quart jars with one tbsp ketchup,place an unused freshly boiled lid on the jar followed by a lid screwed on hand tight.Then I stack them in the pressure cooker,don't forget the spacer for the bottom and the other for the second stack.Put about two quarts of water in the canner,place the lid on locking in place then turn the burner on and once 10 lbs of pressure is reached hold it there for 1 hour and 40 minutes.Once complete I place the jars on the counter til cool checking each lid for a good seal,press lid down with your finger if it pops have it for dinner that night if it does not pop store it in a cool dark place............I've kept them for up to two years without a problem.Now you can grab a jar and eat it on crackers or bread..........or my favorite way is make carp croquettes just as you would with canned salmon.All the smaller bones will have all but evaporated and the larger back bone joints can easily be removed along with the outer skin.Not once has anyone we've served these ever thought they were anything other than salmon many stating it's the best they've ever had.Now I used the cliff notes for canning.........below is a detailed method link to keep you safe.After doing this once you'll realize its not difficult and the results are delicious. BTW any fish can be canned.........carp is just our favorite.


https://www.ballmasonjars.com/pressure-canning.html

Cut the blood line out, get as much red off as I can with my filet knife, baste them in mustard, and batter with Zatarains Chicken Fry. Absolutely delicious.

The mustard approach is great with Crappie, why not with the Pelagic fish ! ?

Best striper I’ve eaten were the huge striper from lake Ouachita in Arkansas we caught this summer. The fillets were so big it was easy to not get any red meat. My wife who usually doesn't like fish loved them. We didn’t soak them in anything. Just rinsed good and put in the grease with some fish fry seasoning from H-E-B.

Crappie don’t need much help at all, very tasty.

Agreed. That is how I was taught by Chef Jesse Griffiths. You know the famous hunter, angler, author, and Michelin Star rated Chef.

He does a butter milk soak for 12-24 hours, dry them out real good, salt pepper, mustard, hot sauce in there with the mustard, coat in your preferred "fish fry" (he likes some fancy hard to find ones, but what you like will do), then into the HOT oil... That is his basic process for frying about any fish.

It works. I do it with Largemouth (yes, savage I know), Catfish, Sandies, Stripers, Crappie... all tasty! The only fish I wont do that with is Trout, I like those whole and baked or done over the fire (usually catch those on camping trips in the Rockies) with lemons and herbs etc.

But all the warm water fish...? They meet the butter milk and mustard son!

Yep, Hybrid is the best, fried, in my opinion.

Y'all will call me crazy for this but try it before you do. Cook your striper just like Redfish on the half shell. But wrap it in foil about half way through. Butter, lemon, seasonings, and whatever you like. The crazy part is- it rivals Redfish on the half shell. I promise you.

Sand Bass is good just fry it fresh as you can.

Shiner Bock is your friend for a pre-fry marinade.

Something I've always wanted to try but never have is Striper chunked and cooked in a crab/crawfish boil. I've had a few guys over the years tell me that's their favorite way to do it.

Striper on the half shell is great! My buddy always does his that way and its great.

Crappie - what can I say!
Whitebass - the little 11 inch ones are great.
Catfish - not a fan but good fried.
Stripers - think they are very good.
Hybrids - Nasty. Especially the Lake Conroe ones. All mine go back for you guys.

I've done thick hybrid chunks mixed in with a shrimp boil and it is pretty damn good.

I'm gonna have to try it.

Been eating white bass or sand bass since I was a young child, I am now an old man (78). I still like them. Thanks Daniel

I use two methods. Both are good. First one is , course, remove all red that you can. Soak a few hours in water/salt/vinegar mixture. Take any cheap medium heat picante sauce and pour thru a strainer. Dip the fillets in the picante juice, then in cornmeal/flour mixture. Deep fry till crisp. Second method the same but instead of picante sauce use Italian dressing.