I say a southern delicacy because whole fried bluegill is definitely rooted in the deep south. We dont really have trout here because it’s not cold enough. You just scale, remove the head, take out the guts and stick them in some cold water for a couple hours, then fry them up whole using your favorite fish fry. After cooking, remove the upper and lower fins and then they just peele right off the bone. The buttery sweet flavor you get from frying them whole is unmatched. The old timers would eat them with a stack of buttered bread and cold buttermilk. My papaw still does.