Fillet Tips
 

Seeing Sandman's elec fillet knife post got me thinking about filleting.

One of my first jobs was a mate, and as such I filleted alot fish, most were bluefish as that was the only game in town off boston in the mid 80's, mackeral were cut like a trout so not much to learn there.

Here are my tips, take them for what they're worth....

1. sharp knife, (obvious, but I'm guilty of using the closest knive vs. the sharpest after a long day). Keep the stone near the fillet station.

2. Leave the fish on ice overnight if you can, this simply makes the fish easier to clean. (not for tuna).

3. John Bunar taught me this and it's been a huge help. Don't remove the first 1/2 of the fillet when cleaning fish, this way, when you filp the fish over to do the other side, it is still balanced, with the side taken off, the second fillet is not as easy to cut.

4. when skinning the fish, at the tail side, go up a 1/4" or so and cut to the skin, (but not through) this gives you something to pinch/hold on the fillet and pull the fillet/skin toward the knife to skin the fish. The knife is held to the skin.

5. keep your cleaning station clean, slime makes life much more difficult.

6. this should have of been first, but bleed the fish you plan to keep asap, a deep slice right where the gills meet will usually get to the heart. This cut is commonly known as the 'Columbian Bowtie'



anyone else have tips?????

Don't restrict yourself to a "filet" knife. Find what's comfortable to you and stick with it. I'm not a fan of the flexible blades... I use a Dexter 1377 for pretty much every fish save tuna (and that's just due to lack of opportunities!). I find I get a much cleaner cut and filet with a stiff blade.

i'm slow. :smash:
please explain further?

I hate filleting fish.

me too. the main reason I've kept only a handful the last 4 years...

I was having people over sunday and wanted some bass for a cookout. Pulled a perfect griller 36" over the side of the boat. Then thought about taking home. Filleting it, hosing everything down ect. It then lived to fight another day. Just a huge PIA to me.

best bet is to just do a rough fillet on the boat after catching, then save the rest for later - way in, at dock or at home.

by rough fillet, I mean after bleeding (and after the action has cooled) ripping the sides off the rack with a nice sharp knife, and then icing them down. Its easy and takes all of 5 seconds per side.

Saltwater washdown on boat is also key... i would guess you had one?

(first side)

Cut at the shoulder, then cut right down to the backbone, getting it started. I then lay the knife almost parallel to the fish, and using all of the blade, cut all the way down the backbone to the tail.

If looking at the fish from the side, this initial cut doesn't go any lower than the lateral line. Hence, getting it "started".

Then I'll flip the fish and do the same thing, but I'll do a second cut under the backbone, removing the entire filet. The fish is then flipped back over and the first side is finished (and it's a breeze at this point).

I love filleting fish- just hate the cleanup!

Hardest part when filleting at home: getting rid of the heads & racks! Unless you have Chinese and/or Greek neighbors.
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Put them in the trash and set it out in the sun. The maggots will take care of them in a few days :yak4:

Unless you have a good set up, cleaning fish at home sucks.

-spence

Trout and seabass drive me crazy. I'd do better cleaning them with a lawn mower.

Thanks JackK, well said.

The cleanup does stink, but fresh fish is beyond compare and makes it all worth it. I bury the racks in my neighbors garden, and keep a spray bottle of bleach water nearby. My fillet station is redneck to the nth degree, a barrel tipped upside down and plywood, or the top of a cooler.

Find someone doing kitchen renovation and try to get a 4-5' piece of old counter top (or ask a kitchen remodler to save you a piece:)). I have a 4' section of my old formica countertop, either saw horses or truck tailgate, and works great for filleting plus keeping clean. Wish I did a 6' piece for tuna...:smash: Bare plywood would not be as sanitary...:yak5:

I use to put all fish waste into lobster bags and convert them to lobster. But I have not put my pots in in a couple years now.

If you have to toss it out in the trash, put all the waste in a garbage bad and drop it in the bait chest freezer. (I have a chest freezer just for bait, I use that) Then the day the trash is collected take it out and put it next to the house hold trash. It will stay frozen long enough and not smell.

Or you can freeze them and then on your next shark trip just bring a big cooler of fish waste and add to the chum mix. (I am doing this on Thursday!)


I fillet a lot of fish as well and I am a fast and clean. A sharp knife is the key as well as a well chilled fish. I asked about the electric model for fish like sea bass and tog. seabass slime can be a pain. I am always looking for a better way to do stuff.

At home set up your cooler rack on your truck front bumper as a table to clean fish on. Stand up, don't kneel down. Have a hose and a trash bag for waist and a clean tub for the fillets. The cooler is the right height to clean fish on and all the mess is outside and gets hosed off.

I find it easier to clean fish at home than on a moving boat coming back in but I prefer to dump all that waste offshore when I can.

I do it on the rocks next to the breachway and fight with the seagulls. I watched one choke down a bluefish skin once.

I like my Japanese Deba knife for breaking down fish. It's not great for removing skin, but has a really sharp yet stout blade that makes it easy to get through skin and bones.

You should see it, knife looks practically brand new. :grins:

-spence

I could watch that dude filet fish all day holy christ:smash:

X2 I was mesmerized lol
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x3, that's amazing.

x4 Wow!!

Scary sharp knives are key.
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Thats my issue. I have a 73' seacraft with no wash down. my washdown is buckets of water getting tossed around the boat with a scrubber.

Can you be in possession of bass fillets on a boat non charter? Not sure you can be.
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No
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Tip # 3 is a good one :uhuh:

My brother-in-law from Ellsworth ME loves white perch and watching him riffle through 50 perch after a morning on the lake was amazing. Back in the day he used a sharp filet knife like I do now for black sea bass and tog, but he has switched to an electric filet knife and swears by it for perch. If it works for perch I'm sure it will work well for sea bass, I plan to pick one up next time I'm near Bass Pro. This spring I upgraded my filet station, its always been in a nice cool spot under a truppet vine covered trelless, but the actual cutting station was an old crappy kitchen formica counter top. This year I put down a pressure treated frame, exterior plywood, tiled it with some left over 8x8 blue ceramic tile, with a large piece of starboard I picked up at West Marine for $40. Put me out $100 when all said and done, but it looks sweat, cleans up nice and it's nice for veggie work in the middle now on the cutting board. My friend has a sweat set up, old granite counter top with running water, that is the ultimate in form and function.

The last thing I want to do after fishing all night, walking a mile each way, sweating my ass off in my waders, then driving an hr to get home is clean a fish when I'm dead tired and the mosquitos are out...

I do all me filletting with a 30 year old 10" Kershaw fillet knife, which is much stiffer than the average fillet knife,it is more like a boning knife.. a couple swipes on a ceramic or diamiond steel every 12-14 fish keeps it sharp enough to shave with...

I prefer to fillet around the rib bones.. It saves me the trouble of picking out and cuttiing out the bones latter and it's pretty darn fast...the belly meat is not worth saving IMHO, so a few quick cuts and I'm around it and the rib cage.

I like to keep a towel or piece of burlap under the fish to let it soak the slime.. rinse it off when it gets "clogged" with gurry and scales...

once you go to skinning remove the towel, as the sliding action aids in skinning the fish...

I also like to throw the fillets in a bucket of salt water mixed with ice...as I skin them.. it helps remove any worms and blood/slime for the fish..it also firms up the fillets..

I've got an electric knife.. there is a learning curve.. but i can still use my kershaw and out fillet the electric 3:1....

MA no
RI Yes.