Mushy crappies when cooked

When I cook my crappies ,which I only keep from spring time fishing ,they turn out mushy.What I am I doing wrong.Any ideas out there?

In my experience they're always mushier than gills or perch. I refer to them as "mashed potato fillets." I generally don't keep crappies but when I do I make fish cakes.

I suggest crushing up a Viagra pill and putting it in the bowl of water with the crappie fillets, that should firm them right up   

As I clean the fish I put them in iced water with some salt.  Everything firms up decently.  The bigger crappies to like to break when flipped in the pan, but the texture is good.

I think walleyes have mushier meat than crappies, but I rarely every eat walleye, I don't fish for them.  

I agree with Badwolf, I always keep a cooler on board that has a number of frozen jugs of water. I add enough water just to keep the fish covered and have never had an issue with soft fish. I also agree that before I started icing them down immediatly, I had soft fish and I did not enjoy them.  This trick is also good for white bass as they can deteriate very quickly.

Mushy crappie? It happens to me sometimes as well. My thoughts are it depends on where you catch them. I have four lakes around here. That no matter what time of year you catch them. They are always nice and firm. You can tell as you are filleting them. On the other hand on several other lakes around here. When i catch them i always just toss them back. In winter they are mushy. In summer even if you cut the gills and bleed them out and then pop them in cooler full of ice. They are mushy.

I posted this on a different thread, but thought I’d post it here as well: 

A quick tip that will firm them up, even in the dog days of summer. 

Once you have all of your fillets, put them in a bowl with a tablespoon or so of vinegar and water, mix the fillets around, and then rinse them well, and put them in a bowl full of water, and add a pinch of salt. Then add a bunch of ice, enough ice so that you can’t see the fillets. 

Then put them in the fridge overnight. The next day they will be good and firm. Works every time! 

I soak all my filets in water in the fridge for 2days changing water each day then I freeze them in water never had mushy crappies they are softer but not mushy

I give all my crappies away or toss them back. I have tried literally every way that was suggested to make them firm like gills and it's always mushy. They taste fine, just mushy. I'm thinking maybe fish cakes if you pass the fillets through a grinder. I'm just not that motivated I guess. Fun to catch though. Kinda like white bass.

I soak all my fillets in salt water in refrigerator overnight. No matter the species,never have problem with mushy or fishy fillets...

Not sure what you are using for breading, but if you add some Zatarains fish breading to your mix, it really firms up your breading and helps keep the pieces together.

Not really a cure for mushy meat, but I know crappie fillets tend to break apart easily. This stuff helps hold them together. Experiment with how much as it can get too "crispy" if you use too much.

btw, keeping the fish on ice for a little while works well for rock bass too. 

I keep lots of crappie, mostly caught late July - mid Sept and have never had a problem.  HOWEVER, once I take them off the hook they go into a cooler full of ice and since I night fish (hard to fillet in the dark) I keep them there overnight.  Never had a soft one. 

Oh, when I get home; after the dogs get their sniff, I cover them in more ice.

Or just keep gills. Just sayin.