Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
With vinegar, salt? Do you clean before freezing? I buy a whole fish and they cut and clean with water for me. I am wondering if I need to clean more at home.
First thought from the title was how to butcher or filet a fish. Since I always filet and skin my fish, a water rinse and through drying before vacuum sealing, then freezing. Vinegar, IMO, would ruin it.
First thought from the title was how to butcher or filet a fish. Since I always filet and skin my fish, a water rinse and through drying before vacuum sealing, then freezing. Vinegar, IMO, would ruin it.
Do you catch your own fish? I've been wanting to start a thread and ask how do people kill their fish right after they catch it, and how to fillet it etc but I have no idea where to even post that. I am coming from being vegan/vegetarian for seven years, now pescetarian (eat fish) for the last year and a half and finally bought a fishing rod, some tackle etc and am going fishing soon to start catching my own. I fished years ago with my Dad but always either catch and release or he did all the work but it's been years. The biggest hurdle for me is the killing part. I want it to be quick for the fish.. Can I pm you?
Do you catch your own fish? I've been wanting to start a thread and ask how do people kill their fish right after they catch it, and how to fillet it etc but I have no idea where to even post that. I am coming from being vegan/vegetarian for seven years, now pescetarian (eat fish) for the last year and a half and finally bought a fishing rod, some tackle etc and am going fishing soon to start catching my own. I fished years ago with my Dad but always either catch and release or he did all the work but it's been years. The biggest hurdle for me is the killing part. I want it to be quick for the fish.. Can I pm you?
Most are dead on impact as I'm a pretty good shot. I do my fishing underwater with a speargun. I target 3 species of fish, black grouper, hogfish and mutton snapper. First two are my preference. The area I target is just above and behind the eye (brain), for an instant kill shot, so I would say a quick plunge with a knife in that same spot would do the job
Most are dead on impact as I'm a pretty good shot. I do my fishing underwater with a speargun. I target 3 species of fish, black grouper, hogfish and mutton snapper. First two are my preference. The area I target is just above and behind the eye (brain), for an instant kill shot, so I would say a quick plunge with a knife in that same spot would do the job
Thanks! I will give this a try. I have seen a video or two about this technique. Maybe I will have to practice on an already dead whole fish first to get the hang of it. I tried spear fishing once many years ago during winter (ice fishing). It's harder than it looks as the depth is different than you think!
We always put them on a stringer and left them in the water while we fished. They die when you cut their heads off when cleaning them. I don't fish much anymore, but did quite a bit when growing up. We did not filet them. Once gutted and scaled, we cleaned them off with water and they went into a pan with salt and would soak over night.
How to clean the fish depends on the fish. If it's a small freshwater fish such as a perch, bass or croppie, those are all usually done the same way. I'll pierce the brain first to make it dead and less wiggly. Then scrape with a knife edge from the tail towards the head to get the scales off. Then you get to decide if you want to clean it with the head on or the head off. In some cultures, the eyes are considered a great delicacy and once the fish is cooked, they should be offered to the guest of honor. Other cultures don't have the same views. If you're cutting off the head, start at the end of the hard carapace sort of area at the top of the fish between the head and body. Cut downwards, behind the gills and then kinda a bit downwards on either side, trying to more or less leave the innards intact as much as possible. Then slit the bottom from the under jaw area to the vent. All the innards and head should now be detached from the body. Wash out the interior, taking the point of the knife and cleaning out any blood veins along the spine, that's usually done somewhat like the scaling process except using the point instead of the edge. Rinse the whole fish off, either with fresh water or salted fresh water. Lay out separately on a baking sheet to freeze, then bag up once they're frozen.
If it's a catfish, bullhead or channel cat, especially one of any size, those require a different technique. Make them dead, then spike them to a tree with a spike through the head. Cut through the skin behind the gills, then grab onto that with a pair of vice grip pliers and pull the skin off. Then cut him up like the other type of fish. Bigger catfish are good when cut up like steaks.
If the fishes are big enough, you can fillet them instead of clean them. That's when after you've done the skinning or descaling of the exterior of the fish, you just cut the fillets off the sides. You'll end up with a head at one end of the skeleton with the tail at the other.
Once you get into ocean fish, then techniques change. First off, if it's a sword fish or any fish with a weapon, make it dead before bringing it aboard the boat. If it's over fifty pounds or so, then you're more into the level of butchering the fish instead of merely cleaning it. Bigger fish get cut into steaks instead of cleaned and left whole. Practice with the smaller ones and work up is a good plan.
Some of the oiler fishes such as salmon are tasty if they've been smoked. Clean and cut up the fish, marinate in something tasty, there's a whole variety of different marinades. Load into a smoker, smoke for the prescribed time and then put them out onto a baking sheet in the freezer to freeze then bag them up. The laying out to freeze and bagging up means you'll be able to take as many fish chunks out of the freezer as you want without thawing out all of them.
Take a fishing buddy along, then you can get some hands on training. Plus someone to swap fish tales with.
we filet & release up here.... done in the boat (rinsed in the water nearby)….and some of the innards can be used for bait.. good sharp knife makes all the difference in the world
this is when I knew the world is changing..... at my sons 10 yr old birthday party …
about 12 ….the same age and the boys and few girls wanted to go fishing - we did ..
some of the kids never cast a fishing pole.....I took extra time with them so they didn't feel awkward.....but thinking back to my own group of friends growing up...we all fished and cleaned them at a younger age..
anyways we had fun......and I got to introduce fishing to some kids....and they loved it....when we got back to the dock....it was time for cleaning....one girl...opted out of watching all-together ..while the other girl...showed the boys who never done it...how its done.... she did great and wasn't the least bit "grossed out" by it......I asked her where she learned to do this...she said her father ….
the boys were very intrigued and she showed the ones who never did it how to do it
take the head off...slice down the gut...slice/pull out the innards ..
we also cut the filets off the fish ….
lots of youtube videos …. on how to clean a fish ….or scale or filet..
im hoping electronics do not dissuade the young kids from fishing...or learning how to fish......most kids do enjoy it...
and you are also teaching kids boat/canoe safety and etiquette.....and learning about wildlife in the area.....and the lay of the land...
just like teaching/bringing kids hunting …..they learn so much about the woods...and how to safely handle a gun …
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
