Bleeding/gutting

[FishSchooler]

People bleed and gut the fish to preserve the freshness of the meat right away right? I know how to gut a fish, but not as neat as I see people do. How do you bleed the fish, just cut it open and let the blood come out?:think:

 

[Raincatcher]

No expert

No expert

People bleed and gut the fish to preserve the freshness of the meat right away right? I know how to gut a fish, but not as neat as I see people do. How do you bleed the fish, just cut it open and let the blood come out?:think:

Wow Dude! Really good question. I do not claim to be an expert by any means,but I will give it a go,expecting to be corrected if I am wrong. I think the main artery is the one running down the spine. Bu virtue of cleaning,or "gutting" (ewww) when you remove everything it would seem to me that the "bleeding" is done at the same time.
Is that close?
Barb

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

When you catch Salmon and Steelhead, immediately after you land it, bleed it. That means cutting its gills. Insert your knife under the gill plate, and pull back towords the tail, along the lateral line essentially, and slit just the gills. Do this to both the port, and starboard sides if your knife can't effectively slice both at the same time.

 

[Troutski]

Bleed them dry...

Bleed them dry...

In order to bleed them dry I believe you will need a very good divorce lawyer I mean a very good one.....

Chuck

 

[FishSchooler]

When you catch Salmon and Steelhead, immediately after you land it, bleed it. That means cutting its gills. Insert your knife under the gill plate, and pull back towords the tail, along the lateral line essentially, and slit just the gills. Do this to both the port, and starboard sides if your knife can't effectively slice both at the same time.

So you just cut a slit at the beginning of the lateral line on both sides and just leave it hanging upsidedown or something, what about gutting?

 

[ArcticAmoeba]

Haha, no. You stick your knife under the gill plate, and only cut the gills. ONLY the gills. Do not cut into the meat... If you orient the tail at a slightly higher elevation than the head, it will bleed itself while you continue to fish. When gutting just cut from the rearmost garbage hole, and cut pretty shallow towords the head, trying to not cut open anything that contains acids. Use your hands and pull out the guts as best you can, get 'em all. And don't forget to pull out the esophogus. You only really need to clean it well enough, that the fillets are clean. No blood, or liver junk attached.

 

[Fishtopher]

Some of the folks I know, do it just as A.A. says, then make a vertical slice just in front of the tail. It was explained to me in short, that this just bleeds the fish faster. Related to "shotgunning a beer".

 

[FishSchooler]

Haha, no. You stick your knife under the gill plate, and only cut the gills. ONLY the gills. Do not cut into the meat... If you orient the tail at a slightly higher elevation than the head, it will bleed itself while you continue to fish. When gutting just cut from the rearmost garbage hole, and cut pretty shallow towords the head, trying to not cut open anything that contains acids. Use your hands and pull out the guts as best you can, get 'em all. And don't forget to pull out the esophogus. You only really need to clean it well enough, that the fillets are clean. No blood, or liver junk attached.

Do you have a picture? I am getting really confused... Just cut right under the gills?

 

[Fishtopher]

See the little fishy up on the left of this post, well behind the mouth, and in front of the pectoral fin, there is a little "crack" in the fish that runs from his "chin" to up by the top of his head. If you stick your finger in there, and lift up on his "cheeck", you will see "gills". I like to use my needle nose pliers to get in there, and grab the bright red gills, and pull out. Kinda dramatic with the pliers, but the slice with the knife will work as well.

Get it?

 

[FishSchooler]

Yeah, I found lots of info with google. Thanks everyone.

 

[RIVERFISHER]

put ur fingers in the gills and pull........ who needs a knife... just hook the gills and pull... sometimes it starts squirting out sometimes it just drains...

 

[Raincatcher]

Good question=good answers

Good question=good answers

Sheesh! That explains why the only one I ever caught wasn't terribly tasty. Thought I just cooked it wrong. Well, what the heck, I was only about a mile off with my answer. Thanks for asking the question,FishSchooler, I needed the answer. Thanks to the rest of you for the answers. This is soooo cool!
Barb

 

[FishSchooler]

Sheesh! That explains why the only one I ever caught wasn't terribly tasty. Thought I just cooked it wrong. Well, what the heck, I was only about a mile off with my answer. Thanks for asking the question,FishSchooler, I needed the answer. Thanks to the rest of you for the answers. This is soooo cool!
Barb

Well, only thing I need to do is to umm... catch a fish at least?

 

[allford]

Do you guys bonk the fish first or just kill it by letting it bleed out?

 

[osmosis]

whack it once or twice to "knock it out", but its best to cut those gills while its heart is beating.

another bleeding option is to cut the fish just above the tail on the back, and cut down into the spine.

 

[ninja2010]

When you catch Salmon and Steelhead, immediately after you land it, bleed it. That means cutting its gills. Insert your knife under the gill plate, and pull back towords the tail, along the lateral line essentially, and slit just the gills. Do this to both the port, and starboard sides if your knife can't effectively slice both at the same time.

wow! i never knew this had to be done for cold water fish too. we used to bleed our yellowtails, tuna and mahi mahis.

now, if only i could hook up on a steelie or salmon, i'd know what to do...

sorry to jump in on a thread like this to introduce myself. i've been reading lots of posts on lots of boards to learn the ways of the northwestern anglers. i'm a transplant from san diego so all this river fishing is new to me. but i've learned quite a bit just from reading all the informative posts.

and btw, this is the best forum around, imho. the peeps here are very open in sharing their knowledge - not so much on the "have to keep my secret" phobia, which really doesn't make any sense to me at all. why post on a forum if you aren't willing to share? just my opinion.

i am sure i will learn a lot from all of you, especially ArcticAmoeba, and hopefully apply that knowledge to hook up on my first coldwater fish soon.

 

[FishSchooler]

Welcome to OFF! Jumping into a thread secretly is fine. Then there is a less chance that you will get showered and peppered with a bunch of welcomes. We will all try to help you catch your first steelhead or salmon here... I haven't caught one yet but these guys (and girls) are helping me. I like how you added "especially ArcticAmoeba. :lol: He sure does know a lot about those fish.:dance::clap:

 

[ninja2010]

thanks a bunch f.s. i'll be posting questions and whatnot if i have any questions. i'm sure i'll get lots of help. and yes, judging from his posts, i think it'll be a blast to fish with ArcticAmoeba... if nothing else, maybe just break the skunkage.:lol:

 

[FishSchooler]

thanks a bunch f.s. i'll be posting questions and whatnot if i have any questions. i'm sure i'll get lots of help. and yes, judging from his posts, i think it'll be a blast to fish with ArcticAmoeba... if nothing else, maybe just break the skunkage.:lol:

Since your screen name is ninja, you have extra reasons to hop in.

 

[ninja2010]

Since your screen name is ninja, you have extra reasons to hop in.

...and hop right out... from this thread. b4 someone kicks me off for hijacking.