Uploaded November 2017 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Everyone asks me, why don’t you ever show a crappie recipe? To me, they have a mushy texture with a dry cottony mouthfeel. Yet in crappie cakes, they’re great! I just need to get some crappie. Click SHOW MORE for info on the equipment, fish, lake, and recipes.
- - - INFO ON THE EQUIPMENT, FISH, LAKE, VIDEOGRAPHY, ETC. - - - - -
THE BOAT: is a Bass Hunter that I ordered from Bass Pro Shops about 13 years ago. They no longer sell it. A subscriber informed me that he found the boat sold here: sportsmansguide.com/product/index/bass-hunter-ex-boat?a=670576. It looks very similar to my model.
THE MOTOR: A Minn Kota, Endura 55. It has a short shaft for small boats, and has 55 LBS of thrust. It runs on a single 12v, deep cycle battery. This exact model has been discontinued.
THE BAIT: mealworms fixed to a 1/16 ounce jig head.
THE SPINNING REEL is a Pflueger Trion GX-5. This model is no longer made.
THE SPINNING ROD is a tiny Daiwa SMC401ULFS Spinmatic-C SpinRod (4- Feet, Ultra Light, 1 Piece, 1-4 pound line test recommended). It can be found on Amazon, Fish USA, and other places.
THE SPINNING REEL LINE is SpiderWire, Ultracast, Invisi-Braid in 10 pound test, 2 pound monofilament equivalent.
THE LAKE is called Lake Ketchabigwon (named by native Americans). It is almost 6 acres and is located in NE Ohio. It is 12 feet at it’s deepest. It sits on 37 acres of property. The lake is private.
FISH IN THE LAKE are 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 come out and do an electroshock survey of the lake. They found too many small, stunted bass. There is only so much biomass to go around, and there are too many mouths to feed. Their advice was to remove all bass under 12 inches, and to release the bigger ones. This rule is usually the opposite in large public lakes.
WHERE TO GET A CAP LIKE MINE: You can get a “Juanelo Bait & Tackle” baseball cap here, inkpixi.com/by-clothing-type/baseball-hats. In fact, you could put your own name on it!
VIDEOGRAPHY:
The principal camera is my iPhone 6s Plus on a tripod. I also use an iPhone 5s as a close-up, counter-top camera when cooking. It is mounted on a small tripod. I use a Rhode microphone indoors to help lessen the echo. The video is edited on a MacBook Pro using Final Cut Pro X.
BACKGROUND MUSIC is called “Dear John,” purchased from audioblocks.com
- - - - - - - - - - - RECIPES - - - - - - - - - - - -
LOW-CARB CHEESY BROCCOLI CASSEROLE
Recipe from: geniuskitchen.com/recipe/cheesy-broccoli-casserole-low-carb-465650
INGREDIENTS
1 LB broccoli, florets only, tough stems removed
4 oz cream cheese, softened
6 to 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (reserve 2 to 4 oz. topping)
4 to 6 green onions, chopped
½ teas salt
½ teas fresh ground pepper
6 strips of chopped bacon, cooked crisp
1 TBS of sour cream (not in original online recipe)
¼ cup of grated parmesan (not in original online recipe)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350º.
Cook the broccoli for 5 minutes in microwave
Put in a greased 2 QT casserole
Mix in the cream cheese, cheddar, green onion, salt, pepper, bacon, sour cream & parmesan
Bake for 20-30 min, until bubbly.
AWESOME CRAPPIE CAKES
INGREDIENTS:
1 Tbsp butter (to cook peppers and onions)
½ sweet onion, finely chopped
Red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 Tbsp butter (to cook crappie cakes, I used bacon grease)
Cooking oil to cover bottom of large pan (to cook crappie cakes)
1 to 1½ LB Crappie (or other small fish) cooked in microwave and shredded
1 teas minced garlic from jar
2 TBS of almond flour (or all purpose flour)
2 TBS of coconut flour (or all purpose flour if needed to firm up crab cakes)
3 Tbsp of breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
½ teas Lawry's or McCormack’s Lemon Pepper
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning (or Cajun seasoning)
3 TBS mayonnaise
1 egg
DIRECTIONS:
Melt the 1 TBS of butter in a medium pan and add peppers and onions. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Dump mixture into a small bowl and set aside.
In a large pan, heat the 2 TBS of butter and enough cooking oil to cover bottom of pan to a depth of about ⅓". Heat to medium-high.
Put all the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl. Add the chopped peppers and onions. Mix everything thoroughly with a spatula or your hands. Form mixture into flatten balls about 2 to 3" in diameter (I use a small ice cream scoop). Each time you have formed a ball, flatten it a bit. Put them on a plate until all patties are formed. Cook the patties for 3 minutes on each side until nicely browned on both sides. Move them to paper towels when finished. Serve with your favorite tartar sauce.
On 12/26/10 I adapted this recipe from the one presented here:
outdoorchannel.com/article.aspx?id=1214
Everyone asks me, why don’t you ever show a crappie recipe? To me, they have a mushy texture with a dry cottony mouthfeel. Yet in crappie cakes, they’re great! I just need to get some crappie. Click SHOW MORE for info on the equipment, fish, lake, and recipes.
- - - INFO ON THE EQUIPMENT, FISH, LAKE, VIDEOGRAPHY, ETC. - - - - -
THE BOAT: is a Bass Hunter that I ordered from Bass Pro Shops about 13 years ago. They no longer sell it. A subscriber informed me that he found the boat sold here: sportsmansguide.com/product/index/bass-hunter-ex-boat?a=670576. It looks very similar to my model.
THE MOTOR: A Minn Kota, Endura 55. It has a short shaft for small boats, and has 55 LBS of thrust. It runs on a single 12v, deep cycle battery. This exact model has been discontinued.
THE BAIT: mealworms fixed to a 1/16 ounce jig head.
THE SPINNING REEL is a Pflueger Trion GX-5. This model is no longer made.
THE SPINNING ROD is a tiny Daiwa SMC401ULFS Spinmatic-C SpinRod (4- Feet, Ultra Light, 1 Piece, 1-4 pound line test recommended). It can be found on Amazon, Fish USA, and other places.
THE SPINNING REEL LINE is SpiderWire, Ultracast, Invisi-Braid in 10 pound test, 2 pound monofilament equivalent.
THE LAKE is called Lake Ketchabigwon (named by native Americans). It is almost 6 acres and is located in NE Ohio. It is 12 feet at it’s deepest. It sits on 37 acres of property. The lake is private.
FISH IN THE LAKE are 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 come out and do an electroshock survey of the lake. They found too many small, stunted bass. There is only so much biomass to go around, and there are too many mouths to feed. Their advice was to remove all bass under 12 inches, and to release the bigger ones. This rule is usually the opposite in large public lakes.
WHERE TO GET A CAP LIKE MINE: You can get a “Juanelo Bait & Tackle” baseball cap here, inkpixi.com/by-clothing-type/baseball-hats. In fact, you could put your own name on it!
VIDEOGRAPHY:
The principal camera is my iPhone 6s Plus on a tripod. I also use an iPhone 5s as a close-up, counter-top camera when cooking. It is mounted on a small tripod. I use a Rhode microphone indoors to help lessen the echo. The video is edited on a MacBook Pro using Final Cut Pro X.
BACKGROUND MUSIC is called “Dear John,” purchased from audioblocks.com
- - - - - - - - - - - RECIPES - - - - - - - - - - - -
LOW-CARB CHEESY BROCCOLI CASSEROLE
Recipe from: geniuskitchen.com/recipe/cheesy-broccoli-casserole-low-carb-465650
INGREDIENTS
1 LB broccoli, florets only, tough stems removed
4 oz cream cheese, softened
6 to 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (reserve 2 to 4 oz. topping)
4 to 6 green onions, chopped
½ teas salt
½ teas fresh ground pepper
6 strips of chopped bacon, cooked crisp
1 TBS of sour cream (not in original online recipe)
¼ cup of grated parmesan (not in original online recipe)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350º.
Cook the broccoli for 5 minutes in microwave
Put in a greased 2 QT casserole
Mix in the cream cheese, cheddar, green onion, salt, pepper, bacon, sour cream & parmesan
Bake for 20-30 min, until bubbly.
AWESOME CRAPPIE CAKES
INGREDIENTS:
1 Tbsp butter (to cook peppers and onions)
½ sweet onion, finely chopped
Red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 Tbsp butter (to cook crappie cakes, I used bacon grease)
Cooking oil to cover bottom of large pan (to cook crappie cakes)
1 to 1½ LB Crappie (or other small fish) cooked in microwave and shredded
1 teas minced garlic from jar
2 TBS of almond flour (or all purpose flour)
2 TBS of coconut flour (or all purpose flour if needed to firm up crab cakes)
3 Tbsp of breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
½ teas Lawry's or McCormack’s Lemon Pepper
1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning (or Cajun seasoning)
3 TBS mayonnaise
1 egg
DIRECTIONS:
Melt the 1 TBS of butter in a medium pan and add peppers and onions. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Dump mixture into a small bowl and set aside.
In a large pan, heat the 2 TBS of butter and enough cooking oil to cover bottom of pan to a depth of about ⅓". Heat to medium-high.
Put all the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl. Add the chopped peppers and onions. Mix everything thoroughly with a spatula or your hands. Form mixture into flatten balls about 2 to 3" in diameter (I use a small ice cream scoop). Each time you have formed a ball, flatten it a bit. Put them on a plate until all patties are formed. Cook the patties for 3 minutes on each side until nicely browned on both sides. Move them to paper towels when finished. Serve with your favorite tartar sauce.
On 12/26/10 I adapted this recipe from the one presented here:
outdoorchannel.com/article.aspx?id=1214
