Don't get me wrong. Frying a catch of Bluegills probably has no equal, and I still fry them, but we don't eat as much fried food as we used to and I'm looking for a good alternative. Have any of you found a way/recipe to cook them on a grill or in the oven that you particularly like?

Fillet them and leave the skin on, season with what ever you like, a little butter, Cajon seasoning, what ever, brush the skin side with olive oil so it wont stick, cook on the grill skin down till the meat is flaky.

When I was a kid, my Uncle Bill would grind blue gill in a hand crank grinder and make fish patties. Dipped in flour and pan fried like a hamburger, they looked bad but were delicious. I guess you could cook them like salmon patties. Mom used to bake them in the oven.
I plan on trying some recipes with ground bream when I get back to fishing again.

Sushi??

Fillet, bake with a slice of lemon, salt and pepper! Yum!

Fillets... egg wash.... roll in cornflake crumbs.... bake.
You can get cornflake crumbs in the baking section of the grocery store. This is great for people who don't really like the taste of fish.
Works well with chicken too... baked or fried.

We also cover the fillets with Best Foods mayo, can also add onion rings... sprinkle on capers and bake. Season to taste and serve with a lemon wedge.
Broke da mouth.

I appreciate all the replies, have copied and pasted on a word document, and look forward to trying these alternatives. Many thanks to all of you.

try frying it in a skillet instead of a deep fryer.

Clean and scale them wrap them in foil with lemon and butter and grill away great stuff

Chop fresh garlic, cilantro, onion and thinly sliced bell pepper, set aside. Add crushed dried red pepper, and let it stand an hour or two in the fridge.

Clean, scale and de-fin your sunfish, salt and pepper the cavity, add a couple tablespoons of good olive oil and a tbsp of butter to an iron skillet, grill the fish on each side until they just start to brown, then add three or four tablespoons of the above vegetable mixture to the skillet and let it saute' until the onions are translucent. Serve hot.

thats how i've done it too. wasnt bluegill. lmb, but same sesoning. & it it good

+1

I guess it's still frying, but I like to melt a stick of salted butter in a really non-stick skillet. Pat the fillets dry on paper towels, dip in Carnation or other canned milk, and coat both sides thoroughly in instant potato flakes. Fry on medium to medium-low heat first side till the flakes on top lose the dry look and carefully flip over. Do the other side till the bottom is golden brown and serve them HOT with a squeeze of fresh lemon. We especially like them cooked this way for breakfast.

I can't take credit for this recipe because I stole it from someone who posted it on the Crappie section (i think it was crappie but could have been here.) Whoever it was, THANK YOU!!!

This works equally well on crappie or bluegill, but for the gills it's much better if you can get some larger ones - 9 inchers work well. I've used smaller and they're still good, but the larger ones keep their delicate moist and flaky flavor a little better and not as likely to get dried out like the smaller ones are prone to do.

Boy,

I bake my fish most of the time now verses frying but that 'patty' concept along the lines of salmon patties sure sounds good. Nice mild white-fish of any kind sounds tasty. Think I'm gonna try that with the next bag.