Bleeding a fish

Okay, I hear a lot of guys talk about this fish tastes bad or that one does. I have rarely had a bad fish (other than “rough fish”) when it is fresh. One of the biggest things I have done for the past 10 years is bleeding a fish or cutting its throat. I learned it on Lake Erie and have done it every since.

All you do it take a knife or a pair of cutters and cut up between the gills. There is a main artery there. Then throw the fish in a bucket of water and let it bleed out. Then throw it on ice or fillet it.
The meat will be white with no blood on the table or in the fillets.

Does anyone else do this? I swear by it. And everyone I know who has tried it, is even happier with there fillets.

Yep. All keepers get bled out. Makes for a easy clean up at filet time.

-J.

Sounds like it is a good idea, but like you said, I haven’t ever had a real bad fillet. Going to have to try that next time.

Thanks for the tip

We first learned to do this on salmon in Alaska and now I can’t imaging not doing it. We just use our pliars to rip out some gill.

You can really tell the ones you miss doing it to.

Started doing this quite a few years ago while fishing in Ontario….now I always bleed them and put them on ice.

I tired bleeding my fish a few years back, but I like this way better…

Use an electric knife to quickly cut the first fillet from an unbled fish – it will be bloody. Then instantly swish the bloody fillet around in a bucket of cold water to wash away the blood. Do this quickly before the blood has a chance to penetrate the meat. Then continue to remove the rib bones and skin.

The second fillet usually does not have blood on it, if it does also swish it in the bucket of water.

Speed is of the utmost importance to quickly wash away any blood – I usually do it in about 10-15 seconds from the time I start the cut.

I keep my fish cold when transporting them home, plus I zipper and trim off ALL the red colored fat.

Dave Gulczinski

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I zipper and trim off ALL the red colored fat.

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This also helps alot – especially on certain kinds of fish.

Mr Twister

I too bleed as described for kept fish. I started doing it for ocean fish and now do it for any fish that I plan to keep. It does make a difference. I usually cut the membrane that is behind the last gill.

Yea we learned this out on Erie also!! the walleyes are so much whiter when they are in filet form. they taste alot better also. we dont bleed them when we get them out of the river and you can deffinetly tell the differnce

Can you just leave them in your livewell and “bleed” them at home? Or, can you just cut the throat over your livewell and toss them in and turn the livewell on to remove blood from the water in there. Reason being is I don’t want to carry along a cooler of ice. Would just cutting them and tossing them in the livewell with the water running keep them cool enough.

Yes. I usually keep them alive until I’m just about done fishing. Knic the gills and put them back in livewell. Hit the pumps. Clean them up as soon as possible. If you can’t clean then right away, just toss a bag of ice in the live well for the drive home.

I have done it too, I don’t know if they taste any better, but there sure do look better when cleaning!!

I leave them in the livewell till I reach home (about 20 minute drive). Then I cut their throats as I take them out of the livewell and throw them in a bucket of water. Park the boat and do some cleanup and then they are ready to clean the fish.

With panfish I often throw them on ice overnight and get up and clean them the next morning. The meat is white and the body is stiff and easy to clean.

What amazes me is not only the blood coming out of them but usually some kind of green or white foam. Kind of scary actually.

Hope that helps
Mr Twister
Matt Harris