bleeding out fish

Totally agree BIGGILL! get them on ice right away in the summer

hnd wrote:

just started this year. i wait until there are enough fish in the livewell that i’m actually going to keep them then i’ll pull them out and bleed them and toss them back into the livewell. then i toss em in a bucket once everything is drained.

the fillet taste is noticeable in my opinion and my wifes (the most important opinion) and cleaning a fish with no blood in it is a dream.

does anyone do it with panfish?

I started doing it with crappies last summer, and it’s no different than with walleyes or any other fish.

I don’t do it ice fishing since all that blood on the ice is basically a giant bulls eye for someone to come fish your old holes.

692fisherman wrote:

we just used a small pocket knife and cut the upper belly area right where the gills meet. very similar to the video up loaded

The majority of my fish caught in the winter are bluegills, crappies and perch. Are you guys using this method for those smaller fish as well? I saw reference to “cutting the tails” also but wasn’t sure what they meant. Really hoping this eliminates some of the slime and mess when cleaning fish this winter!

692fisherman wrote:

This is new to me and I am sure its been talked about before but just encase…

while on a recent trip to red lake I mentioned to the rest of the guys in our group about “bleeding out” your fish rather than just throwing them on the ice to die and if it made any difference in the meat. no one in our group had ever done it before so we “cut” some of our fish and bleed them. while cleaning our fish there was a very noticeable difference! we haven’t fried any of them yet to see if there is a difference in taste but you can surely tell which ones we cut!

As you can see in the pick that started this post. In All those cleaned fish you can still see the blood in the meat. . When fish are completely bleed out they will turn out snow white in stead of having blood in your meat. Another big plus is there will be way less mess on the cleaning table.! Try it you will like.! . rrr

I learned the technique in Canada. Cut them, stringer for 5 minutes, then onto the middle seat to clean them. Very clean, efficient and tasty way to do it !

I think illegal in most waters?

jld wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>692fisherman wrote:</div>
we just used a small pocket knife and cut the upper belly area right where the gills meet. very similar to the video up loaded

The majority of my fish caught in the winter are bluegills, <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>crappies and perch. Are you guys using this method for those smaller fish as well? I saw reference to “cutting the tails” also but wasn’t sure what they meant. Really hoping this eliminates some of the slime and mess when cleaning fish this winter!

Just snip the gills with a scissors.I take a cat litter bucket ice fishing,fill it with water and slush.

I cut the gills on all fish I keep.They do last longer on ice in warmer weather when bled out.

Years back, I learned a way to bleed out a fish by breaking the spine (thus severing the arteries) by grabbing the fish at the base of the head and bending the spine until it snaps. It bled out the gills by doing this. Anyone else try this?

cpetey wrote:

Years back, I learned a way to bleed out a fish by breaking the spine (thus severing the arteries) by grabbing the fish at the base of the head and bending the spine until it snaps. It bled out the gills by doing this. Anyone else try this?

If the blood is coming out of the gills all you are really doing is breaking the neck and severing the gills at the same time. I’ve seen people do this but it looks difficult and sometimes they just dislocate the gills instead of tearing them. Then the fish does not bleed out. Much easier to clip the gills, hundred percent success rate.

I clip the gills on every fish I catch panfish or Predator fish year round. In the winter I just throw all of my fish in a pail of water. Keeps them from freezing. At the end of the day I clip the gills. You can pour out the blood into a hole or wait until you get home. Either way works.

This gives you a virtually blood free, slime free fish to clean later on.

I use a pair of shears that were re-purposed from field dressing quail, from dog training days. Works great. Toss them in the livewell then bleed them out before heading to shore.

GoldWinger wrote:

I think illegal in most waters?

Bleeding fish illegal? Not that I am aware of.

Agree, our crew started this a few years ago. We carry a plastic pail with about 8″ of water and when we have a fish we are going to keep, cut as Joel’s video shows and then in a cooler on ice. The fish are more firm when filleting also.
Joe

I have to say that this worked pretty darn good. I had never done it before, but did it this past weekend at URL. Even the other guys in the cleaning shack were impressed.

This will now be our new standard operating procedure.

Huntindave wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>GoldWinger wrote:</div>
I think illegal in most waters?

Bleeding fish illegal? Not that I am aware of.

I think he means it is illegal to have a filleted fish on the water in MN unless you are in the process of preparing a meal, or tied to a dock.

When deer hunting, we were always taught that a clean fast kill is the best, so why are fish different.

I’m fish more hard water than soft water and have always felt a little guilty when I harvest, knowing the fish is just laying there suffering. To end the suffering, I’ve gotten used to trying to knock them out or put a blade into their brain, all with mixed results.

I think this approach will help me feel much better about the ethics of harvesting fish and result in a better tasting filet.

I totally agree Gotalunker. I always feel a guilty just letting something die slowly …. kill it quick, less messy when you clean the fish, fillets look a lot nicer, and from what people are saying they will taste better as well!

happy fishing!

Kyhl wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Huntindave wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>GoldWinger wrote:</div>
I think illegal in most waters?

Bleeding fish illegal? Not that I am aware of.

I think he means it is illegal to have a filleted fish on the water in MN unless you are in the process of preparing a meal, or tied to a dock.

Hence… in Canada… for shore lunch.