Couple more things a chef told me to do in preparing fillets:
1. If fillets frozen or in fridg, let them sit out to point of getting close to room temp! Especially if using a small fryer, cold fillets drop the temp of the oil - possibly to the point of causing fillets to absorb oil - don't take the chance!
2. Pat dry the fillets before the coating process begins. Just take most of the water off them.