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I'll admit it. I have gone through 5 smaller bluegill that i just butchered. I cut the filet off, but there was so much more meat leftover. Hopefully with this 8" bluegill, i can have better luck getting the meat portion off. They are still full of eggs here in Nebraska.
*update*
It didn't go well. Least i didn't cut myself.
Youll get the hang out of it, try bigger fish mabey like catfish instead of little bream
You need to be sure your fillet knife is good and sharp (I have 3 so I always have a sharp one handy). You could probably find some good videos on YouTube to watch that might help. If you're new to filleting fish, it's like anything else, you'll get better with more practice.
Yes check out youtube..alot of Fillet vid's..
Don't give up!
I disagree with the above "try bigger fish" comment. If you get the hang of cleaning small bluegill you can clean anything. Sharp knife and patience... and a few dozen bluegill. By the end you will be an expert and have the feel for hacking up a fish. Then get an electric knife... whole new world with much less work.
the problem was i was leaving a lot of meat up near the dorsal fin, so it could be how sharp the knife is or the angle i have the knife. I've watched a few of those vids on youtube. But it couldn't have been said better, i do need the practice.
Then you're not letting the knife ride along the spine. After I make a cut behind the gill (throat to back) I start down the spine, and hold up on the corner as I go, once past the ribcage, poke the knife all the way through, following the spine, until you come off at the tail. Some fillet over the ribcage, I cut around it (not much meat there). I skin mine as opposed to scaling, but that's a matter of personal preference.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisCarter
You need to "feel" the spine with your knife, but not so much you dull your knife too quickly.
Hang in there it will come to you . After you have done a few it will get easier for you
I spend the extra time to scale, gut and take the head off before filleting . The skin is the game changer in taste to me . Used to spend hours bass fishing , went to pan fish ( crappie/bream ) and have never looked back . Try entering the top about the middle , push knife through the fish and let the knife ride the backbone to the tail . Turn the fish up and place thumb in the area between backbone and fillet section and trim back to head . Following the rib cage .hope this helps and makes sense.
just me but i use an electric fillet knife and really never had any trouble
I use the electron driven knife too and can go through crappie and bream in about 30 seconds per fish.
:Hands ClappingGlad to hear you didn't cut yourself. You've started out right.
we just cut the heads, gut, scale--then fry whole--can't beat it
the tails and fins are like potato chips.
You might consider buying one of those "fillet gloves", if you intend to use a regular filet knife & fear doing more filetting of your hand/fingers, than fish. Be aware, though ... they are NOT intended for use with a elec knife !!!! And, I can't even guarantee that they'll protect you from a regular filet knife, as I've never used one (since I use a elec knife on any fish I clean, regardless of size). I just remember reading the package disclaimer, that says it's not for use with a elec knife !!
Don't try to filet in record time. Take your time & perfect your technique, first. Speed will come with repetition, once you've figured out what techique works for you.
You probably already know this, but .... I've seen so many people cleaning fish & making an almost 90deg cut down the side, that I feel it worth mentioning :
When running the knife under the gill plate, to cut the fillet/side of the fish off ... I start by entering the middle of the knife blade under the gill plate, & cut in until I hit backbone. Then, I roll/curve the knife around the gill plate & up over the eye of the fish ... then roll/turn the knife blade under & back towards the tail. This cuts off an added nickel to quarter sized piece of meat (depending on size of fish), on each side, that many people just leave on the carcass. banghead
I've seen so many people just make a straight cut down the side of a fish, that I have to bite my tongue & stick my hands in my pocket to keep from "saying something" or snatching the knife outta their hands & filleting the fish for them Rofl .... but, since not everybody is accepting of "constructive criticism", been doing it that way forever, and/or "prefer" to do it that way .. then I just stay out of it & teach by example (since I know that people "watch" other people, when they're cleaning fish ... not only to check out the size of the fish, but also to mentally critique their cleaning technique)
Now, as I said ... I use a elec knife, so the cutting technique I explained above is in reference to using the electric version. However, even when using a regular filet knife, making the cut run above the eye will still get you a good % more meat ... and may even out any loss caused by an errant cut, elsewhere.
... cp :cool:
In the hands of a beginner, asking them cut a fish with an electric knife is like asking a 12 year old to cut up a deer with a chainsaw. :)
Yea, im not going for speed. I just want better quality with the cuts that i make. The best filet i got was starting at the dorsal fin and cutting down towards the rib cage, instead of cutting behind the gill and back towards the tail.
Just keep at it.....is probably the best advice. I think some others have eluded to it as well, but make sure to let that knife flex.....that's the point of them being so thin. It took me a while to latch on to that idea, my grandpa had always pan dressed bluegill with an old case pocket knife and taught me to clean fish the same way as a kid. So for a good spell I was treating a fillet knife the same as a pocket knife and wondering why I was having trouble. I also agree with the guys who said to keep on with a conventional fillet knife. It's alot more forgiving to learn that way, but once you perfect that you may want to go electric. I've been filleting panfish with a regular knife since I was a teenager and was convinced that I wouldn't be any faster with an electric knife. Finally bought one this year and man was I wrong, you can absolutely rip through a mess of fish with those things.
And, IMO, get more meat and consistent fillets. Once you're a few 1000 fish down range with electric you go on autopilot.Quote:
Originally Posted by mjm76
Just give me the fish and I will de-scale,gut,cut their heads off and fry them:cheers2 While you all watch them fillet videos on U-Tube! lol:biggrin
Chris,
You seem like a 'glass half full' kind of guy. (least I didn't cut myself)
Look at it glass full full; you caught fish that needed fileting! I'm a new guy to the forum and to panfishing, congrats on your catch, I got to filet my first few last week, so I know how your feeling.
As a side note, I was 100% better on the second;third;fourth once I found that a sharpener would help yield twice the filet than a dull knife.
Welcome aboard Roan444! I agree that a sharp knife is a must, and you don't have to be in a hurry. Take yiu'r time and you'll get the hang of it Chris!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrJohn
Thank you Sir! I am glad to be here. Like most people, I lurked around for a couple weeks first, and found it to be a real 'pull up a bucket' kind of place. I like that.
It takes practice...and next year you'll have to go thru the practice again until it becomes as easy as riding a bike. You'll get it though. Stay after it.
Been sick with a bad cold ever since last Tuesday. So i haven't been able to get it much practice. Hopefully with me back at 100%, i can catch some fish and keep practicing.
Welcome! i just practiced and practiced and im still practicing every time i get some fish that are big enough to fillet..Also got some great tips by Watching a guide on Toledo Bend in the early 90's clean our catch.His name was Chris and he was lightning fast with a electric knife.......
You have to relearn a bit with an electric knife and that is best based on being experienced already; so it is best to start with a regular fillet knife, a good sharp one and keep it sharp. I always take the steel with me into the fish house, unless I only have a couple of fish to do. And I use it, too. But the steel is an additional skill, other types of sharpeners work almost as well. The ideal is a sharp enough edge on your knife to shave with.
As far as I am concerned you can keep your scaled meat, I will take mine skinless and boneless. If it aint big enough to fillet, IMO it aint big enough to keep, either, and I am not one for "fry-hards". Filleting once learned is both faster and far less mess than scaling fish, but there is a learning curve, although not much of one for anybody with any knife experience.
I thought the same thing prior to buying my first electric fillet knife. I found it to be better and safer (for me) because I didn't try to force the knife through the fish.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisCarter
Fillet Knife Havalon Baracuta-ZQuote:
Originally Posted by NeonMoon
I have these and they work well when I'm on the river with no electric. If I'm near electricity then the Mister-Twister shows up.
Pappy always takes the time to give excellent advice. I know things are much better for you now. I also use electric and can fillet a Shellcracker or Crappie in under a minute. Perfect practice makes perfect fillets.Quote:
Originally Posted by crappiepappy
Caught a 10" crappie and 14' catfish today. Took them both home to filet. I think the first thing that popped up in my mind while fileting, maybe i should get an ACTUAL filet knife. Not some $5 knockoff i found on a shelf at Bass Pro Shop. Fileting the catfish was hard, by hand at least. No doubt if i were using an electric knife it would go smoother. 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.
The crappie turned out much better, and probably the best out of everything i have attempted to filet. Still not perfect to my standards as i felt each side of the fish and realized i could still pick meat off that.
Couple of images: WARNING! SECOND ONE IS GORY!
That's not the knife i use to filet with. I use that to gut the fish
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This one is gory.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...5/Junk/004.jpg
Finished product from both sides.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...nk/006-1-1.jpg
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!:cheers2
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.
:popcornHuntinslabs, 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.
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisCarter
X2. I have never been able to cut the skin off with a knife, but have an uncle that is great at it.Quote:
Originally Posted by mjm76
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.