Just wonderin how big th BG need to be before you keep them to eat? Caught a lot of small ones today, not sure at what point it is worth the trouble to clean and eat them.

I have seen my father in law filet a minnow with an electric knife. If you have skills they don't have to be that large!

I would say 7" and up on average.

Big enough to fillet is my cutoff...around 8"

I've filleted down to 5", works okay especially with Longear which are thicker. It's a hassle but those small fish sure taste good.

Fillet the big ones, gut and pan fry the small ones!

LKTTU: I know what you mean. If I remember, the last time I cleaned a panfish I was in my teens, 20+ years ago. A few years back I taught some kids how to skin, gut and fry a catfish. They said it tasted awesome. I don't particularly like eating catfish, but they're fun to catch. I'm more of a salmon guy when it comes to eating fish.

So to answer your question I guess I don't keep any regardless of their size because I'm just too damned lazy to clean them. Now catching them is another story. They are my favorite fish to catch.