Bout to filet my first fish...

**BULLFROG-1** · 06-17-2012, 01:23 PM

Good luck on filleting your fish! We all started with our 1st fish with less than perfect results.Ive been practicing for several decades now! Even though i eat fish today,i still would have love to have caught a bunch that needed me to practice on them..........again!

**huntinslabs** · 06-17-2012, 04:49 PM

Yes without a doubt get a GOOD SHARP Filet knife. And real sharp is the key. It should slide right through the fish without working the knife. If not sharpen it some more. Also how well you treat the fish from hook to cutting board will make a difference as well. Either live or immediately iced real well will be easier to clean and make better table fare too. And if you take the time to rinse the fish before cutting and after you remove each side and again after removing skin and placing in a brined ice bath will improve table fare even more. Just make sure and rinse again before putting up or it could turn salty.

**RetiredRR** · 06-17-2012, 05:01 PM

Huntinslabs, you can prepare my fish anytime. I hate getting my popcorn eatin' fingers slimy.Rofl
Seriously, I clean my fish just like you do. Got to have mine clean before I eat 'em.

**huntinslabs** · 06-17-2012, 05:14 PM

Thanks, I treat them the best I can to insure I am eating the best tasting and freshest fish possible. And a lot of the fishy taste is in the blood and slime from the skin. I cringe when I see people with a bucket or cooler of fish that are just in water with no ice and gills turning pale from settin there for hours dead.

**mjm76** · 06-19-2012, 07:37 AM

Originally Posted by ChrisCarter

Naturally i messed up the catfish, then i couldn't figure out if i could cut the filet from the skin of the fish. So that was kind of a mess.

Cut around the back of a catfish's head and pull the skin off the with a pair of skinning pliers, then fillet the meat off just like you did on the crappie. Looks like you're on the right track from the results of your crappie.

**LA CrappieMaster** · 06-19-2012, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by mjm76

Cut around the back of a catfish's head and pull the skin off the with a pair of skinning pliers, then fillet the meat off just like you did on the crappie. Looks like you're on the right track from the results of your crappie.

X2. I have never been able to cut the skin off with a knife, but have an uncle that is great at it.

**Scott Hemstreet** · 06-19-2012, 12:38 PM

Catfish are actually pretty easy to fillet. Like a lot of heavier boned fish, don't bother trying to cut through the ribs or mess with the belly meat. Keep on ice until cold and dead, not nearly as bloody that way. Put on side and make a cut behind the head, I find that from a little in front of the dorsal fin down past the pectoral fin will miss most bones. This cut is really just to give you an ending point for the fillet.

Cut down at the tail to the spine, turn the knift and run it up the spine to the rib cage. Move to the top and follow the rib cage to your first cut. Then pull out on the top of the fillet and scrap along the ribs until you are basically at skin. Cut through skin and down the the end of your first cut. Fillet is free and boneless and the body cavity should still have skin over it on the carcass. Put fillet skin side down and run your knife along the fat between the skin and meat. Finish by trimming off as much red meat as you can.

Sounds complicated, but really all you are doing is filleting around the rib cage, and I find it easier to go tail to head if I am doing that. For crappie I go head to tail and through the rib cage, then cut out the ribs from the fillet before skinning.

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