Proper fillet technique

[Trout Sen-Sei]

I need help on explaining the proper way to fillet the gills and panfish. I always end up losing most of the good meat and butchering them. Then i get frustrated and not keeping them. But there is nothing better to make a meal of!

[OZZY]

Its actually pretty easy once you get use to it. The best bet is to have them slightly frozen, put them on  a fillet board with a clamp, take your knife cut straight down behind the gills from bottom to top, take the tip of your knife and run it straight in at the dorsal fin, cut right along the dorsal fin stabbing the knife in till you feel the rib cage stopping you (dont cut through the ribs) working your way towards the tail until you feel the knife not hitting the ribs anymore, thats when you want to send the knife all the way through the bottom of the fish, continue cutting the fish right to the tail but dont cut the tail off. Take your fingers and pull the meat up off the dorsal fin and begin lightly shaving the meat away from the ribs, when you get to the top of the ribs you should be able to hold down on the fish and pull the meat over the top of the ribs, then start shaving the meat down towards the bottom of the fish, cut right through the skin on the bottom and then you can flip the whole fillet back towards the tail with the meat side up. Take your thumb and hold down on the tail piece that is still connected and shave your knife into the meat with level down pressure cutting the meat from the skin. You should have a boneless and skinless fillet! Hope this helps  

[Lobes]

Hey that's pretty good Ozzy! I could show someone but don't think I could give somone a step by step like that in writing. You even made it sound easy (like it really is).

[daffydone]

I couldn't have said it better myself!

[OZZY]

Hey thanks guys, I got to go fillet some more again tonight now, lol, stay in practice  

[perchnfool]

Once you try a electric fillet knife you won't ever go back mister twister makes a good one ,cuts cleaning time in half on a mess of crappie ,gill or what ever ! ****perchn 8)

[OZZY]

I always wondered how those 2 bladed panfish fillet press thing worked,I cant imagine it works any good, every fish is a different size theres got to be bones in the fillet. Anyone ever try this thing?

[acsacmboy]

what ozzy says works. when shaving off the meat, make sure you hear clicking sounds when you are cutting around the ribcage. an old timer showed me. im still trying to master this. thanks Tom.

[tomf]

I always wondered how those 2 bladed panfish fillet press thing worked,I cant imagine it works any good, every fish is a different size theres got to be bones in the fillet. Anyone ever try this thing?

I have one and it works great!!   Its called the Panfish Panhandler Filleter or something like that.  Its a little pricey (about $40) but you'll be amazed at the job it does.  I can do a very good job filleting on my own, I live right on a small lake loaded with bluegills and crappie so I have a lot of practice. However, this thing gives you 2 perfect fillets with no lost meat.  You simply cut the head about 1/2 way down and then pull the head down and out and the entire entrails will come out attached.  Then you lay the fish into the PanHandler, insert the 2 bladed knife and slowly pass the blades thru.  Open it up and you have 2 perfect fillets with the skin on with no waste.  You then remove the skin and whola.  It is much faster than any other method Ive tried.  If you only have a few fish, do it the old fashioned way, but if you have more than a few this thing can not be beat.
PS: it will only work on panfish (bluegill, pumpkinseeds, etc) and crappie.

[GILLCRAZY]

OZZY has it down.  I use an electric to take the fillets off and I cut them all the way off the carcass.  I make a pile and then use a fork to hold the fillet at the tailend and an ultra sharp fillet knife to remove the skin. The fillets then go into a bowl (big one if I have lucky:) with water.  From that bowl into clean water then into the freezer bag or bowl for cooking.  The fork trick works great because unbless you're good at stopping short at the tail it's very easy.

[reelcharacter]

Taught myself to fillet Bluegills. It was a labor of love for a while. Used to spend longer cleaning 50 Bluegills that my sons and I caught that it took us to catch them.

I think the key to whatever filleting variation you use is practice and repetition. I still do not consider myself a pro at it, but am much better and more efficient than I used to be.

-Reelcharacter

[TroutFishingBear]

Once you try a electric fillet knife you won't ever go back mister twister makes a good one ,cuts cleaning time in half on a mess of crappie ,gill or what ever ! ****perchn 8)

I always end up butchering them with an electric knife, so I just use a sharp regular knife. I am fairly slow at it but I haven't been fileting long and I am definitely improving. For real beginners like me I suggest a regular knife so you can learn yourself step by step how its done. Later after you see each seperate step I'm sure an electric is much better.

[rgfixit]

I'm with Gillcrazy,
He and I use pretty much the same method except I use the electric to remove the filet from the skin as well.

I use a cheap Hamilton Beach electric knife....around $18.00 at Target....I've burnt up a Mister Twister and a Berkley (at twice the price) and this one has outlasted them both.

Next batch I get I'll take some pics as I clean them.

RG

[reubenpa]

I have a Rapala knife that was giben to me ($40 version) and I did 68 perch in 60 minutes, boneless and skinless.  That was also while talking ot my wife and trying to teach her for a few mintues. 

I use a glove to protect my hands from the panfishes gills and spines, and I start belly toward me. I shove my left thumb into their gills to get a solid hold, and cut down to the back bone through the ribcage, and then in one motion I turn the blade sideways and cut along the backbone through the ribs to right before the tail ends and then Iuse the blade to flip the fillet over and then cut the meat off the skin.  then it is a simple thing to cut around the rib cage. perch have a little row of bone sticking out of the rib cage so I give it a slight angle toward the belly and leave the belly meat there, as it is normally not the greatest anyway.  I do this with 6 inche gills to my 34 inch salmon, jsut that salmonoids have pin bones, that angle up toward the top of the fish, so I find the row. put my knife on the top side of itand cut with a curving angle up just a little curve though.  Then on the other side of the bone is easy, just angle up again and the knife will ride the bones through the fish.  Do that back to where the bones end and boneless skinless piece of YUMMIES.   I timed myself at one perch approx 12 inches and it took 35 seconds.  beginning to the picking up of the next fish.  I think I will take pics also RG, give people to variations of this method. 

PS on a bigger fish like a walleye etc, the belly meat is easy to get if you want it. After you cut out the ribs, flip the ribs over so the meat is toward you, and allow a 1/4 inch or so for bones and cut down to the ribs and angle towar the bottom of fish riding along the bones.   

Some might call me a fish hog, but I have kept 213 perch in the last month and a half and over a thousand gills etc last spring, and I have had this knif for almost 2 years and it is still going strong, and I have not sharpened the blades, although they could be replaced... not quite as good as they used to be. ( I either eat the fish or give it to those who won't or can't fish or those who I want to get hooked ont he fish so I wil have someone to go with!! )

[rgfixit]

I sent my Mister Twister knife back to the factory and they sent me an "Oh Well" kind of letter.
So I sent them an "Oh Well" I won't buy your stuff any more letter.
RG

[leon]

        I learned a nice fast way to clean bluegills with out the mess, and i can clean 50 in about 30 min.
 I start by holding the fish in one hand and cut the fish starting above the gill (on top of the fish) . Make the cut down to the ribs and back to the tail but not going down through the bottom of the fish. Do this on both sides of the dorsal fin. This will leave a pocket on both sides of the fish ,with the meat stuck to theskin, not the bone.now here is the trick, lay the fish on a hard surface with the head away from your body. now you take a tablespoon, yes a tablespoon and cup the blade of it in your other hand. place the spoon inside the lower slot in the fish(the one nearest the table) , starting at the head end of the fish scrape the meat off of the skin. do this on both sides.
what you are left with is 2 nice boneless pieces of meat,no guts.
I go through and make all of the pockets in the fish, and then use the spoon. when you do a few you will get the hang of it ,spend less time cleaning,more time fishing!
I will try to take pics to show a little better.



                            leon

[farmer ted]

Another good way is to first, cut off the head, then with a pair of pliers start at the back of the dorsal fin and pull it off with the pliers. Next take the skin at the top of the dorsal fin and with a crank type peeler or pliers work your way toward the tail ,It should come of with one pull. flip over and do other side, next remove lower fins and make sure all the inside have been removed, leave the tail on. When cooked use a fork to remove the meat. I start at the center of the fish and pull up towards the dorsol and down towards the belly. The fork kind of combs all of the meat off the bones. You waste no meat , and this method allows smaller fish to be kept because you are not wasting meat trying to fillet.

[farmer ted]

I just do bluegill that way, everything else gets the fillet process. Good step by step fillet post Slipbob.

[walleyeslayer]

i just saw right through the rib section, then flip it and skin it.  when i remove the ribs, i go right to the top of the ribs and cut straight down.  i get small fillettes, but it saves alot of time for me to do it that way. 

[walleyeslayer]

also it is alot easier for the fish to be partially frozen, especially the smaller ones.

[Mr.Seaguar]

I got an awesome method. I set my bucket on the floor. I tell the person how many. I pay them 25 cents apiece. I leave and go do more fishing. On way home, i take fillets home and dont have to fool with the mess. Way way faster than any other method I have tried. And cleaner. Really nice fillets from someone who has done thousands.

[Paradice]

Ozzy's first post describing the proper way to fillet a fish was great, EXCEPT:

Your initial cut should not be straight as you cut from the belly up to the spine, once you around that fin, angle toward the back of the head, there is a substantial chunk of meat right behind the head. 

I still give ya an A.

[OZZY]

Thanks for A! Paradice

I guess I should of worded that a little differently, you're right, you kind of make a half moon type cut behind the fin from top to bottom. That is how I do it also, try not to waste any of that precious meat!! 

[RM fishin]

Quickly scanned replys, all good advice. In the summer I either put them in really cold water when I get home until all the gear is put away or keep them on ice in the boat. The meat is so much firmer and filets very nice. Winter takes care of the chilling for me.

[gillmanwi]

your mister twister probbaly didnt burn out the swich probbaly burned up my uncle has a mr twister i think and he said it quit running and he took it apart and they used a very very thin piece of brass or copper and it arcs each time it is turned on and off it eventually melted this piece he replaced it and it worked like normal
just a little info you can spread so you dont have to keep buying new ones at $40 each knife

gillmanwi

[Boob Dinkelman]

A sharp, narrow knife is the key.   Don't mess around, go buy a good filet knife.  I prefer a short one for Gillys, about a 4" blade, but I now am using a longer one, after accidentally throwing my shorty away with the fish guts the other day.   

Also, the first cut behind the gills...if you angle that cut towards the front of the fish from the top, you get a little more meat.

I cut the meat from the fish with the filet knife, and use the electric to skin while holding the tail edge down with a fork.   I've tried the whole process with Gillys and they just seem too small for the electric.   Crappies I can do with the electric, but Gillys I prefer to use the filet knife to cut the filets.

[NickP]

Once youve done a fillet- go back throught he fish (I usually jsut do the neck and back area) and cut out the little pieces- on a good 12in bass you get little 1 by2 by 1in scraps of thick meat that you can toss in some eggs and on sokme italian bread crumbs with parsely salt and pepper and into the fryer for bit sized tasty!(really quite tasty and shouldnt be thrown out)! bitS!

On big stripers I make sure I do this as well as remove the "cheek meat" theres a pocket of 2in by 2in meat behind each eye on the striper and bluefish- works fine with walley too if there over 18in there perfect.

Never tryed it on bass- i guess you should just poke it until you find the soft spot and carve it out. I dont even bother feeling anymroe and ive been doing it for 2.5years (only 16) most fish taste better when cooked hole- just gut and take a pair of clippers(like branch pruners) and cut off all spikey fins and tail - you get a beautiful smaller fish with skin which is great if your in the mood. All meat peals right off the bone if it has been cooked right/good. I steam trout on the grill like this with a shot of water-pepper- salt-adobe-onions (very small part)-garlic in the gut and on the skin (only a little) as well as a tomatoe or so between 2-3 fish- if theres not enough on each side it will burn but if its done right the fish will pull from the bones and nothing is better then trout this way. Its the main reason i target trout- although it is nice to go for some deep fryed gills  to mix it up- id eat fish 240 days of the year if I could... stupid school and work

[GILLCRAZY]

Just like Ozzy says!  Manual or electric, same thing.  Only thing I do different is take the fillet all the way off and set them aside with skin on. When I am done filleting I use a fork at the end where thte tail came off to hold the hide, and then take the fllet off the skin and toss it in a bowl and the skin in the scrap heap.  Found it saves time:)  Good eating to Ya'

[bigredonice]

here is a picture guide of what I do with an electric knife...it might be a walleye, but you get the picture

http://www.myfishfinder.com/fishing_forum/index.php?topic=7592.0