This is a piggyback thread to the recent “filleting fish topic”. As many have stated it’s extremely important to keep fish cool and bleed them if you want the best tasting fillets possible. That was a very informative thread.
As important as the above items are in keeping your fish tasting great, I still see so many people make the biggest mistake possible when cleaning fish. (picture is courtesy of a Sunday morning TV show I watched before James and Paul put the beat down on big walleye 
) People will take great care while filleting their fish, but then smear the fillet around in the fish slime on the board. It’s not possible to wash all of the fish slim off of your fillet. Then people will soak it in salt water or a number of other concoctions to try and remove the “fishy” taste. My question will always be, “why put the slim taste there in the first place??”
You would never take a fresh cut deer steak and drag it through the gut pile, so I’m not sure why people think cleaning a fish is any different.
When I clean my fish I remove the fillet and skin as one. Then with skin side down I will remove the rib bones. Then remove the fillet from the skin. The fillet then will go to a clean area never touching anything slime related.
I’ve had other guides laugh at me for taking the extra 10 seconds to bleed my clients fish and then take an additional 10 seconds to keep my fillets slim free. To me the extra 20 seconds spent is invaluable when a client tells me the fish I cleaned where the best tasting fish they have ever had.
Does anyone do anything different than I do to keep their fish slim free during the cleaning process?
Attachments:
slimy.jpg
