Filleting Perch

[Big E]

There's been a few posts on how to fillet a perch.  I thought I'd do up this pictorial on how I do it.  I'm by no means an expert but I thought it might help those who have been asking.

Start with your perch (substitute your fish here).  I being right handed like to start with it in this position.


Start with a cut diagonally ending at the pelvic fins and as close to the gill plate as you can.


Cut down to the backbone and flick your wrist and run the blade along it.


Go all the way until the blade is about to cut thru the skin at the tail.


Flip the fillet so its skin side down.


Skin the fillet.  Don’t be afraid to put some pressure here so that the blade cuts as close to the skin as possible (my blade will be bending at this point).


One side done.


Flip the fish over and do the same…make your initial cut…


Run to the tail…


Flip and Skin…


After you are done with all your fillets, I then start taking out the ribcages, using a fork to hold the fillet.


Completed fillet…


Hardly any waste…


Bag and Tag (I use a vacuum sealer)…


Hope you found this helpful.

[empty hook]

There's been a few posts on how to fillet a perch.  I thought I'd do up this pictorial on how I do it.  I'm by no means an expert but I thought it might help those who have been asking.

Start with your perch (substitute your fish here).  I being right handed like to start with it in this position.
(Image removed from quote.)

Start with a cut diagonally ending at the pelvic fins and as close to the gill plate as you can.
(Image removed from quote.)

Cut down to the backbone and flick your wrist and run the blade along it.
(Image removed from quote.)

Go all the way until the blade is about to cut thru the skin at the tail.
(Image removed from quote.)

Flip the fillet so its skin side down.
(Image removed from quote.)

Skin the fillet.  Don’t be afraid to put some pressure here so that the blade cuts as close to the skin as possible (my blade will be bending at this point).
(Image removed from quote.)

One side done.
(Image removed from quote.)

Flip the fish over and do the same…make your initial cut…
(Image removed from quote.)

Run to the tail…
(Image removed from quote.)

Flip and Skin…
(Image removed from quote.)

After you are done with all your fillets, I then start taking out the ribcages, using a fork to hold the fillet.
(Image removed from quote.)

Completed fillet…
(Image removed from quote.)

Hardly any waste…
(Image removed from quote.)

Bag and Tag (I use a vacuum sealer)…
(Image removed from quote.)

Hope you found this helpful.

Nice job with the pictures. I think it will help those that haven't fillet fish before.  The fork works good doesn't it.

[Thriller]

Nice pictorial.  Just a quick note of caution before everyone follows all of your directions though...in some jurisdictions, you have to keep a patch of skin on any stored fillet so that the species and size is identifiable.  Here in Manitoba, completely skinning, then packaging for the freezer or whatever, is illegal.

[doggbiter]

 Well done BIG-E.........good instructions!

 That said my ice-family........dearly love to fry up them egg sac's

 Not my thing......but something for you to try...they love them!!

 Batter and fry like a fillet.

[biggeorge50]

The egg sacks are great.  My sister prefers them to the fillets.  I take the egg sacks out using the gut hook on my deer knife before filleting - prevents breaking them.

[happy perch fisher]

My grandpa does it a different way and i think he get more meat out of it

[hardwater Rick]

good job,,,,   one thing I do is not  turn the fish aound   to cut back the other way
that seams awkward   just flip it over and cut in the same direction,, as the first side
does this make sense.....  very nice job....

[bigdave1018]

the way i fillet, you dont get any or very little of the eggs and or milt on the fillets. i rinse them throughly afterwards,but just the idea of the guts and reproduction parts on the fillets dont do it for me. great pics though. i try and release the obvious females by select harvesting but still i keep a few. tight lines, bigdave out.

[slabcrab]

Its ok, save the eggs though, man are they good eating!!

[Big E]

My grandpa does it a different way and i think he get more meat out of it

I don't really know how you could do it differently and get more meat as there isn't really any usuable meat left.    

I'm all ears though...

[Big E]

good job,,,,   one thing I do is not  turn the fish aound   to cut back the other way
that seams awkward   just flip it over and cut in the same direction,, as the first side
does this make sense.....  very nice job....

Cutting it the way you describe though would mean you are cutting the belly with the tip of the knife running the backbone, yes?

I prefer to have the backbone closest to me as I feel that I don't have as much control of the end of the blade as I do the part closest to the handle.

Thanks for the props.

[perch-man]

I do pretty much same except I cut over rib leaving it on the fish. You cant do this with a electric knife. It takes a sharp flexible knife to feel that rib and stay over top of it

[Profishing]

Making me drool here sheesh those look good!

[jimmygunns]

Great job on everthing.  Just need to make sure not to cut to far into the backbone w/ the electric!!  I'm guilty of that on more than one time, esp after a few golden pops!!

[lotwfisher]

I love the pictorals. I take the skin completely off though and I take the ribs out before I remove the skin. Thanks for taking the time to show all the steps, I think it will help alot of people that dont like asking how to clean a fish.

[Big E]

I love the pictorals. I take the skin completely off though and I take the ribs out before I remove the skin. Thanks for taking the time to show all the steps, I think it will help alot of people that dont like asking how to clean a fish.

I used to do it that way as well but found that leaving it attached at the tail gives you more to grab onto when skinning.  I take the ribs out after as that's the natural progression.

[billybono]

with perch that size, your wasting a lot of meat with the electric.

  it would be just as fast with a regular knife


   billybono

[mcully]

You've opened yourself up to the ice shanty critics. Nice pictures for those who struggle. For those of you who are perfect keep doing what you're doing and disregard this post.

[mcully]

Especially with tip ups! And it wasn't directed solely at you.

[EGR David]

after cleaning 50 perch, wasting a little meat is excusable.  I don't use an electric fillet knife.  after i may a cut along the backbone, i pull the meat out and run the tip of my knife along the ribs down to the belly, then i fillet the skin off.  Yeah, you do waste a little meat, but if i'm hungry after 20 fillets, I'll have another one.

[vermonner]

I don't really know how you could do it differently and get more meat as there isn't really any usuable meat left.    

I'm all ears though...

I don't know if this gets more meat or not, but here's how I was learned (and it ain't filleting)
1. off with head
2. up the belly
3. Fish on it's side, point of knife along backbone from tail to where head was--exposes backbone meat and you now have 2 sides of skin, separately
4.  Peel each side of skin like a banana (works best when fish are firm/frozen--I clean as soon as I get home)
5. Scrub interior of backbone w/little toothbrush type thingy ( I was told that's like a liver)
6. bread and fry--falls right off the bone--might have to try filetting this year--honestly, this is the first place I've ever heard of it

[teacup13]

I love the pictorals. I take the skin completely off though and I take the ribs out before I remove the skin. Thanks for taking the time to show all the steps, I think it will help alot of people that dont like asking how to clean a fish.

agreed.... b4 i take the skin off i "scoop" out the ribs with my knife... knife needs to be sharp

[huntercam]

Is there anyone out there that can do the same thing showing how to take the Y bone out of a Northern?

[vermonner]

look in tips r.e. pike and check out the post by grump called something like painless pike filleting or something like that.  Pics and everything.  tried it this year, works great.  Grump's the man

[reubenpa]

for all the people that claim they can do it faster than I can with an electric and that includes the wasting of meat... Come to Canandaigua and we will go at it together... I don't believe you!!!!!!!!!! When there isn't any meat on the bones when I am done and it takes me literally about a 5th the time or less to do it with the electric.............. .....................  Awesome pics....  I do it in a slight variation... I start with the belly toward me head to the left and I slide my left thumb into the gills to leverage and fillet it... then flip it over and insert the index finger into the gill and repeat .....   

[Stump Puller]

I got to get me one of those electric knives

[BAZOOKAJOE]

Its ok, save the eggs though, man are they good eating!!

 

[WANNAKETCHUM]

There's been a few posts on how to fillet a perch.  I thought I'd do up this pictorial on how I do it.  I'm by no means an expert but I thought it might help those who have been asking. Hope you found this helpful.

Yea, Big E thats pretty much how I do it...only difference is I use a very sharp straight edge fillet knife to remove the ribcage only because I tend to get a little heavy handed with the electric on that... usually have the wife or a fishin' buddy taking off the ribs while I'm taking off the fillet's.....WK

[WANNAKETCHUM]

Its OK, save the eggs though, man are they good eating!!

I have eaten Perch eggs and they are good. Kind of like cornmeal....I will only eat them from a clean (if there is such a thing nowadays) body of water...none from the bigger perch from Ontario or anything connected..... WK

[PCB]

whenever my buddies are backpacking, they eat the eggs out of any decent eating fish... fry em up in bacon grease... i havent had em yet, but the said they have the texture similar to cornmeal, but tasted like the bacon