Does anyone know a simple way to clean and cook panfish?
Laura Ann

 Fillet them and fry them or bake them with some lemon pepper and butter. Both are great.

 Here is one that will freak you out because they taste so good and make a great treat to keep around for a snack in the boat or for the children (I have 4 children). Fillet your sunfish, and then in a bowl mix 1 can of 7UP or Sprite and a bottle of Italian dressing. Put your sunfish fillets in this mixture and allow them to set in the fridge for 6 hours. Then take those fillets and put them in a dehydrator and sprinkle a little lemon pepper and salt over them and then turn those sunfish fillets into jerky. My children love them as do their friends and are the first thing they grab when they come home from school. They are much better for them than candy and taste very good. Every 3 or 4 weeks during the spring, summer, and fall I will take 10 to 20lbs of sunfish fillets and turn them into jerky for the kids. During the winter I will make deer jerky and summer sausage. Try the sunfish jerky, you will be shocked at how good it is.

 If you do not have a dehydrator, you can use your oven. Set your oven on broil but set the heat on low. Put the fillets in a baking pan on the bottom rack in the oven. Every 6 to 12 hours, you might need to flip the fillets but they will dry similar to what they would in a dehydrator.

 I don't like them completely dehydrated, I like them slightly chewy. My Wife likes them dried completely but I don't like them that hard. My children don't really care either way, they devour them both ways.

Trace

Get a deep frier and find a batter that you like. There are many on the market to choose from. You can also just take some mike and roll them in Italian bread crumbs and either pan fry or deep fry them. Yum!!

fillet them, deep fry or bake or even in foil on the grill.

most of the time i use 1/2 cup floor

1/2 cup fry magic or shake and bake

with 1/4 of drakes

roll fillets in cold water or milk or beeror what ever liquid

then roll in mix/ i shake into an zip lock bag with dry mix in it

then cook in your choice

Well, I guess first of all you would wanna scale 'em and gut'em if you're gonna fry 'em whole. If not, just fillet 'em and rinse 'em...drop 'em in a concoction of flour, corn meal, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper and salt. After that fry 'em up in the deep fryer or skillet in some hot grease (make sure the grease is ready by dropping a little flour or meal in the pan and see if it starts sizzling). Fry for a few minutes a piece on each side ('til golden brown...boy am I getting HUNGRY) and prepare your tastebuds for some GOOD EATS! 
Real fishermen know when to CATCH and when to RELEASE...

Your making me hungry!!

Welcome to the club and the BB mule

Lifemember and Bushwacker SMF upstate NY

I like the sound of 'mule's recipie, here's mine that I stole from In-Fisherman.

Mix 1 egg with an equall amount of Sue-bee(it's their recipe) honey. Crush a sleeve of Townhouse or Ritz crackers to dust with a rolling pin. A 750ml. bottle filled with water is a fair substitute, add spices to taste, sometimes less is more especially with perch or walleye. coat the fillets with the egg and honey, coat with the crumb and spice mixture and deep fry. It's quick and easy. You can also prepare the egg /honey mixture and the cracker spice mix ahead of time and put the dredge(egg-honey) in a cooler for a shore lunch. Put the cracker mix in a ziplock bag and you can just drop your fillets in, shake and fry.

Tom