Cleaning fish

[waterwalker1]

I’m curious about what you do if the fish you keep are still alive when you start filleting. Do you kill them first?

[JonPerry]

Some do, I don't. Most twitching is nerves.

[HWeber]

You must've missed the perch eye thread, if you don't kill your fish immediately after catching you're a savage fish torturer.

I prefer to clean bled fish, fillets are whiter and the table stays cleaner. When I don't bleed them they seem to fillet the same dead or alive. As mentioned they're dead pretty quick a lot of movement is nerves

[nindo24]

My grandfather taught me to whack them on the head with a steel to kill them.

[greenbackhunter]

Bleed them, then a good hit at the base of the neck to kill them. No need to make them suffer.

[Hillsfisher]

If I catch a fish that I am going to keep I give it a wack on the head, cut the gills, let it sit on the ice a few minutes to bleed, then into a bucket with ice chips from my hole. 

[JonPerry]

Apparently I've been a savage for years. I've never been concerned with what other people think or do

[Gills-only]

Apparently I've been a savage for years. I've never been concerned with what other people think or do

.    Same here, just clean them !!

[R.S.]

i line them up and run over their heads with my truck to be sure they dont feel anything.

[SLAYERFISH]

Yup, put their heads in a vice and squish them first!

[Hatandboots]

Always kill them. Why wouldn't you? It takes 5 seconds and saves on unnecessary suffering.

The note on bleeding them is great too. I always bleed pike and walleye and it seems to greatly improve the taste.

[Hillsfisher]

The latest In-fisherman magazine has a good article in the latest issue regarding this subject.  Worth the read... 

[Ranger275]

If I catch a fish that I am going to keep I give it a wack on the head, cut the gills, let it sit on the ice a few minutes to bleed, then into a bucket with ice chips from my hole.

  I do the same

[MumbleSEED]

Never considered myself a savage until threads like this comes up.  The only fish I'd gill would be a walleye for taste reasons...otherwise they be floppin until they meet the blade.

[iceman260]

Couple wacks on head does the job.

[JohnnyO19]

Yup, put their heads in a vice and squish them first!

Only after you pop their eyes out 

[krispcritter]

I'm not a marshmello. I've never worried about it.  Fillet many a flopping fish. One flipped once and caused me 6 stitches but still filleted it.

[R.S.]

in all seriousness, they pretty much die from the first stab and slice of the fillet process.  is it different to let them flop in a bucket, for couple min., after "gilling" them? 

[Doeslayer]

I slice and dice when i feel like it not when the fish have stopped flopping.... Got no time for that... If they aint dead yet, they bout to be

[Gills-only]

I slice and dice when i feel like it not when the fish have stopped flopping.... Got no time for that... If they aint dead yet, they bout to be

.     Well said !! Lol

[dsupercat]

It depends on the fish. 
Winter:
Salmon, Trout bleed them out immediately
Panfish/Walleye/Northern in the bucket no bleed or kill

Summer:
Salmon, trout bleed them out immediately, then on ice
Panfish in live well put in bucket when ready to clean no kill
Walleye in live well until cleaning then hit in head to kill.  If water is warm will bleed out and then put on ice.
Don't keep Northern in summer just hate the slim.

[DR.SPECKLER]

Yup,bleed salmon and trout.walleye too .i rarely keep fish in the summer months.mainly keep fish during icefishing and real early spring.i only keep pike thru the ice also.

[Chawk190]

Ice fishing I usually only keep panfish and occasional walleye. Don’t bother bleeding and clean at end of day
Open water is 99% salt and kept fish get bled for 5-10 minutes in fish box with raw water pump running to clear blood slurry and drain overboard. Then into the other fish box on ice and cleaned accordingly back at the dock.

[Rebelss]

Guess I don't bleed 'em, unless I think of it. I usually keep 'em alive in a 6 gal bucket , then do 'em when I get home. Guess that tells ya how many BIG ones I get. 

[FishGut]

When it comes to filleting, rigor mortis makes it easier. If I'll be home within an hour or two, the fish go into a dry bucket.

If I'm lazy, they're sitting in a pail full of water until I whap 'em and start dissecting.

[ran7ger]

 i just don't get the guys that would rather fillet a live flopping fish with a razor sharp knife.  bonk em bleed em cut em fry em...simple.

[JonPerry]

[ran7ger]

 notice mr. aykroyd had dispatched the fish before using the bass-o-matic  guess it's a canadian thing!

[Doeslayer]

Ill bleed any larger species i catch..... But i rarely go after panfish.... I love eating gills but hate cleaning em.... Scales like armor.....and i gotta clean too many of em......

[RyanW]

I only keep fish in the winter and it’s either bluegill (and all of the variants…) or crappie. I catch them and just throw them on the ice to freeze. Put them in my bucket and take them home. Fill the sink with water to let them thaw. When some reanimate and start swimming around again, I just spear them in the top of the head with the fillet knife. Doesn’t take much.