I read the thread on avoiding back pain while cleaning fish and started wondering…where do you clean your fish?
When we have a bunch of fish to filet at my brother in laws cabin we have to do it outside.
I gotta say, it’s downright miserable! In the dark getting eaten alive by mosquitoes under under the glow of a shaking flashlight.
I do all my cleaning in the comfort of my kitchen. We cut up chickens, turkeys, you name it. Why is it so many households ban fileting fish indoors?
Scales, slime, blood, guts and our better halves?
I was just thinking last night how I’d like to grind stuff up for chum in the food processor which never gets used. Then I thought, its not even worth asking.
I read the thread on avoiding back pain while cleaning fish and started wondering…where do you clean your fish?
When we have a bunch of fish to filet at my brother in laws cabin we have to do it outside.
I gotta say, it’s downright miserable! In the dark getting eaten alive by mosquitoes under under the glow of a shaking flashlight.I do all my cleaning in the comfort of my kitchen. We cut up chickens, turkeys, you name it. Why is it so many households ban fileting fish indoors?
Fish on the kitchen counter! Heck, I have butchered many many high speed beef on the dining room table!
When at home I use a pair of saw horses and an old piece of shelving as a table. Just hose it down when finished.
The operative word is “cut up” chickens and turkeys…the guttin’ and pluckin’ is done elsewhere.
I clean my fish in my driveway. Stack 2 coolers and have a piece of counter top. Garage lights put off enough light at night. News paper, carcasses and skin goes in a garbage bag and in the garage freezer until trash day. Bring just the fillets in the house to rinse off in kitchen sink.
Cleaning house if we have access to one. Some of the public accesses in South Dakota have the best cleaning facilities one could ever wish for, especially the State owned recreation areas. Otherwise in the kitchen, I know I leave the kitchen cleaner than when I started, never want to ruin a good thing. Ideally something set up for cleaning with a height a couple inches higher than counter top height.
I have an old counter top about 6ft long that I just put on the kitchen counter. Makes cleanup a breeze!
Outside, porch, kitchen, dining, downstairs on bar, pretty much wherever I want to clean them. The lady had issues years ago cleaning inside but she got use to it. And I make sure to clean up real well so it works out.
If I had to deal with bugs, and night and that junk I simply wouldn’t keep any.
At the lake I have a nice cleaning table near the hose outside. I purposely come off the lake early if I have fish to clean so I can clean them in the light and without bugs.
At home I have a chest freezer in the mud room right next to the laundry sink and that works very well. Like everyone else I clean up real good so the wife doesn’t take my privileged to be inside away 
Right on top of the washing machine over a piece of 1/4″ plastic board! Drop it right in the utility sink next to it when done and bleach it all to keep the wife happy.
My wife enjoys fileting fish so we do it together in the kitchen. Like mentioned, its usually cleaner than when we started. For years I just automatically did it outside without even thinking about it. We have a big piece of old countertop that just gets hosed off outside.
Work bench in the garage. Clean up at the end of a long hose in the yard. Freeze guts until garbage day. (Or burn them up at the lake place) Buried guts always seem to get dug up by critters.
-J.
Wait……is “cleaning fish” just a clever metaphor 
At my dads place I clean fish right out the back door on the deck. He has a little table setup on there with a chunk of countertop which is easy to take off and spray with the hose. At my place I found it easiest to use a piece of scrap plywood and clean em right on the tailgate of my truck. If your havin troubles with a flashlight get a headlamp there are MANY uses for them besides cleaning fish!
Right on top of the washing machine over a piece of 1/4″ plastic board! Drop it right in the utility sink next to it when done and bleach it all to keep the wife happy.
x2
but I have part of an old kitchen counter next to the laundry tub that I lay the cutting board on. Also its over a tile floor with a drain that gets mopped/sprayed off once or twice a year just so I don’t have to be super careful if I spill a lil slime.
This always seemed the most logical to me and its tough for the FW to complain.
Right on top of the washing machine over a piece of 1/4″ plastic board! Drop it right in the utility sink next to it when done and bleach it all to keep the wife happy.
That’s what I do also, except no wife no bleach. That utility sink is nice especially when the crappies get all slimmed up a hose on the faucet makes quick clean up for the sink and cutting board.
First off I don’t use a livewell, so fish go in cooler and i bring that into kitchen
I use kitchen table for filleting.
Lay Cardboard on table
Fillet fish on cardboard.
Fillets in bowl, scraps in bag lined Pail.
When done, roll up cardboard put in scrap bucket and everything goes to dumpster. ( I actually freeze the scraps and cardboard until trash day).
No table clean up
Rinse cooler
Clean your knife
Eat fish…
Easy.
Nothing is easier than not catching fish…
Nothing is easier than not catching fish…
tell me about it, the fish from Morries are already cleaned. 
First off I don’t use a livewell, so fish go in cooler and i bring that into kitchen
Been doing this for the year and so far one of the best things a guy can do. I personally bring a bag with to throw the fish in first then the ice, helps rinse out later. But many a night from the long drive back home, or if a guy is exhausted you can simply throw some extra ice on top of fish at home and fillet the next day . Done this more times than not and they still are delicious!
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