The 2nd Fillet

[Batanga]

When I fillet fish, my first fillet is nice and thick.  Then I flip the fish over and cut my second fillet, but I never get the same thickness on the 2nd fillet as I did no the 1st...so I feel like I'm not getting all of the meat.  Does anyone else run into this problem?  I have the most problems with this on trout and salmon...not quite as bad on perch and other pan fish.  If so, any advice or tricks to get a better 2nd fillet would be great.

Some of the tricks I have tried that have helped are:  1) making sure my fillet knife is super sharp (of course!), 2) I have been only cutting the 1st fillet half way at first, flip fish then fully cut the 2nd fillet (with the 1st fillet still attached under), then go back and finish the 1st fillet....did I just confuse everyone!  Thanks in advance!!

[laker24taker]

For the trout I use a board with a nail that I put the fishes head on and I make a shallow cut down the back and down the stomach so it looks like I'm fillet it... Than I take pliers and peel the skin off like you would a cat fish than I take and actually fillet it off the fish.. I get the majority of the meat that way

[Mtwolfer]

Funny you should mention this, I been filleting for decades and just this summer a friend showed me that if you take the first fillet off with the belly away from you the second fillet will be bigger.   p.s. we were filleting limits of perch and walleyes !

[pmmpete]

When cutting both the first fillet and the second fillet, tip your fillet knife so the blade runs as close as possible to the centerline of the fish's back, so you don't leave a thick strip of meat above the fish's backbone.  In other words, if the fish's back is away from you, raise the handle of the knife; if the fish's back is towards you , lower the handle of the knife.