Any angler who has visited Minnesota or talked with a Minnesotan knows those folks are fanatical about their walleye. Transplants in the state might argue marble eyes don’t put up a good fight and aren’t even that great-tasting, that they’re bland and nowhere near the flavor of say, for example, trout.

Making your own sushi with freshwater species may sound intimidating but it’s not as difficult as you might think. It’s also cheaper than a night out tossing back roll after roll of sushi, even if you include the cost of your annual license.

The crappie connection within our family runs deep, goes back decades to when my dad would tell us stories about his fishing trips to Canada, where they feasted on slabs night after night. Then, before I moved from Minnesota to Kansas, my dad, brother, and I followed through on the dream fishing trip for all of us, motored out one morning in the cold blue dark, over an hour from camp, to a remote spot where crappie bit fierce and fast on anything.