CLEANING YOUR FISH

 

Cleaning Fish

If you're going to eat your catch, you have to keep it fresh. Keep caught fish in a live well, a cooler or on a stringer in the water. And always fill your cooler or live well with the same water you're fishing in.

If you're not going to eat your catch, unhook it carefully—while it's still in the water—and release it.

Fish spoil quickly if you don't handle them properly from the moment you land them. You'll end up with softened flesh, a strong flavor and a "fishy" or sour odor.

In this section we'll give you some basic fish-cleaning tips. And some more detailed information on scaling, filleting, steaking and storing your catch.

Things You'll Need to Clean Fish

    * Work table
    * A good fillet or fish-cleaning knife
    * Scaling tool, either a dull knife or a spoon
    * Container for the cleaned fish
    * Bucket for scales and discarded fish parts.
 

Cleaning Fish 

1. Most freshwater fish will die after being out of the water for about ten minutes.
2. Larger fish and saltwater fish may need to be killed before you clean them—but that involves something called an "icky stick" and brain puncture—so we'll leave that for another time.
3. Small pan fish can be held in one hand during cleaning, large fish should be held on their back on the table.
4. Insert the knife tip into the fish's belly near the anal opening and move the blade up along the belly, cutting to the head.
5. Keep the knife blade shallow so you don't puncture the intestines.
6. Spread the body open and remove all of the entrails, locate the fish's anus and cut this out in a "V" or notch shape.
7. Some fish have a kidney by the backbone. Remove it by scraping it out with a spoon or your thumbnail.
8. Rinse the cavity out with a good stream of water and wash the skin. Some fish have a dark tissue lining the abdominal cavity that can be scraped off to prevent the strong, oily flavor it causes.
9. Remove the head if you like, trout are often cooked with the head on.
10. Clean your fish-cleaning table immediately, collect the guts, heads, and scales, and bury them

Scaling

Scale the fish on a flat surface using one hand to hold it by the head. Rake the scales from the tail toward the head with a fish scaler or a large spoon. Remove the scales on both sides of the body.

Fish with very fine scales, like flounder, take a great deal of patience to clean. Take your time—some people are very sensitive to getting scales in their mouth while eating.

Skinning

Removing the skin improves the taste of many fish. It also removes a layer of fat just under the skin. Catfish, bullheads and other bottom-feeding fish are usually skinned.

1. Hold the catfish by its head firmly on a flat surface with a clamp—it's a good idea to snip off the spines before skinning.
2. Cut through the skin behind the head and pectoral fins.
3. Use pliers to remove the skin from the body, pulling from the head toward the tail.
4. Grasp the head of the fish with one hand and the body with the other, break the backbone at the head.
5. Pull the head and guts away from the skinned body.
6. Wash the fish in clean water—it's ready for cooking.

Filleting

Filleting means getting the meat of the fish without the bones. Larger fish, like largemouth bass, northern pike, salmon and walleye are usually filleted. A filleted fish has its skin and all of its bones removed before cooking. Scaling isn't necessary.

Fillet knives have a long, thin blade that's very sharp and specifically designed for filleting fish. To work properly, they must be really, really sharp. If you have any slime on your hands or the fillet knife handle, wash it off to prevent slipping.

You can also wear metal-mesh fish-cleaning gloves to protect your hands.

1. Lay the fish on its side on a flat surface.
2. Cut the fish behind its gills and pectoral fin down to, but not through, the backbone. 
3. Without removing the knife, turn the blade and cut through the ribs toward the tail using the fish's backbone to guide you.
4. Turn the fish over and repeat the steps.
5. Insert the knife blade close to the rib bones and slice away the entire rib section of each fillet.
6. With the skin side down, insert the knife blade about a 1/2-inch from the tail, gripping firmly and put the blade between the skin and the meat at an angle.
7. Using a little pressure and a sawing motion, cut against, but not through, the skin.
8. Remove the fillets from the skin.
9. Wash each fillet in cold water.
10. Pat dry with a clean cloth or paper towel. The fillets are ready to cook or freeze.

Steaking

A large fish is often cut across the body into thick steaks. First clean the fish and skin or scale, if necessary (salmon steaks are often prepared with the skin still on). Before steaking, chill the fish or put it in a freezer until it is partly stiff for easier cutting.

Cut through the body working from the tail toward the head. Make each steak from 1/2-inch to 1-inch thick. After steaking, trim away any belly fat or bones you can see, but not the backbone.

Tips, Tricks, and Warnings for Cleaning Fish

 * Fish fins can be very sharp and cause serious puncture wounds.
    * Some exotic fish can be toxic if not prepared properly, like puffer fish.
    * Some fish are too bony or strong flavored to be considered edible.
    * Some fish have very sharp teeth, be careful if you're holding a fish by the head during cleaning.
    * Research the area you're fishing to determine if the fish are safe to eat, some bodies of water are polluted with mercury and other heavy metals that fish absorb.
    * Lakes, ponds and streams are the best place to catch fish for eating because they're usually fed and drained by a larger contributing river or underground spring.
 

LANDING THE FISH.

Landing

As your fish gets closer to the boat, drop your entire rod and reel to your waist. If the fish goes under the boat, get your rod tip in the water and follow it. If you can see the fish, you'll know when it's tired. It'll roll over on his side. And if you can't see the fish, you'll be able to feel it.

Mouth Pick-Up

Carefully avoiding hooks, many bass anglers use the thumb and index finger to grip a bass by its lower jaw. This holds the jaw wide open and temporarily paralyzes the fish. You can also land pan fish by pulling the fish towards you with the rod. Then grab the fish by the mouth or around the belly to remove the hook.

Gaff Landing

Don't gaff a fish unless you're planning to take it home. In most cases, you should try to land your catch with a net. If you gaff a red snapper or a grouper that's too small to take home, you'll be releasing a fish with a gaping hole in its side that's not likely to survive.

Today's nets are made to withstand a lot of weight when handled properly. 

Netting

Always try to land a bigger fish with a net. Place the net in the water and lead the fish into the net head first. Don't stab the net at the fish. If you don't get it the first time, re-aim and try again. Keep the fish in the water if you plan on releasing it. If you plan on eating the fish, get it out of the water as quickly as possible and take the hook out away from the water.

To handle a fish with sharp teeth like a walleye or northern pike, carefully hold it around the body. Other fish like chinook or Atlantic salmon have a strong tail and you can grasp them in front of the tail fin.

Eye Pick-Up

Never hold a fish by the eyes or gills if you plan to free it.

Beaching a Fish

Beaching a fish involves leading it into increasingly shallower water and gradually sliding the fish on its side onto dry land. In salt water, time your retrieval with an incoming wave. As the wave recedes, quickly grab your beached fish and pull it ashore.

Unhooking a Fish

If you're practicing catch and release, try to remove the hook without exciting or harming the fish. The eyelet (small hole) of the hook is the best place to grab the hook. Back the hook out the same way it went in.

There are special tools designed for taking out hooks. But needle-nosed pliers work pretty well. If you need to, use a hook remover or pliers to flatten the barb. Depending on how the fish is hooked, you might be able to cut away a small amount of flesh to get the hook out.

Professionals sometimes flatten the barbs on their hooks before they start fishing to cause less harm to the fish they catch. In some areas, you can only fish with barbless hooks.

Resourse from takemefishing

PLAYING THE FISH.

When a fish feels the hook, it struggles to get free. This might involve jumping, making a long run, swimming back against the line or swimming around obstacles. Each species of fish fights differently.

Fish hooked in shallow water are more likely to jump and behave more frantically than those hooked in deep water. Deep-water fish often seek the bottom.

It's possible to land many small fish just by reeling them in. They'll fight, but they aren't as strong as the line and the rod. Use lighter tackle and you can get some fight out of the smallest fish in the lake.

If you're catch and release fishing, don't fight too long or the fish will die from exhaustion before or after you release it.

Fighting Bigger Fish

Setting the Drag

If a fish makes a run for it, don't panic. And don't try to reel in while the fish is swimming away from your line. Relax and let the drag and rod do the work. After you've set the hook, set your drag. If you're using 12-pound test, you should use about 4 pounds of drag. Just keep the rod at about a 45-degree angle to the water aim it straight at the fish.

When the fish slows down and stops taking more line, it's time to go to work. The best technique for the catch is to gently pull the rod up and then reel down as you lower it, using a pumping motion. Do it in small, smooth strokes rather than large abrupt sweeps because it will help keep both the line tight and the fish much calmer.

If the fish runs again, let it go and you will probably notice that this run is shorter and slower. But don't let the fish rest. If you can't hear your drag working, you should be reeling.

Don't be anxious. Even if you get the fish close to the boat, that doesn't mean it's done fighting. If it turns and runs, let it go. Your line is pretty short at this point, and pump-and-reel action could break it.

Fishing Technique.

Longline Fishing Technique

 

Captains Fishing Commercial use long queues to catch a variety of fish. In contrast to recreational fishing - a person using a pole - long-line fishing uses a main line and many leaders of catching an abundance of fish, it requires only a small number of people to work. Blue water you fish for swordfish and tuna or bottom for grouper, snapper and shark longline fishing is a very productive way to commercial fishing.

      Types of long-line fishing
   1. There are two types of long-line fisheries: pelagic or "Blue Water" fishing and demersal species, or "bottom" fishing. catch longliners float their hooks Blue Water shallow-water oily fish such as swordfish, tuna and shark negotiable. Longliners set their equipment, so that on or near the bottom of the geological fault, such as submarine ridges to catch fish, including grouper, snapper, sharks and other demersal species hooks. 

      Defining a Long Line
   2. The main line is set at a high flyer buoy, which is then thrown overboard. The GPS coordinates for later use and, accordingly, to the captain in a position to re-write buoy. Modern technologies have led to the buoys with integrated GPS functionality. Once the buoy is released, the boat slowly motors and voltage records the buoy the outline of the coil. As the line leaves the ship, hooks and leaders with baited longline snaps are attached at intervals. After working a given amount of hooks on the main line were, is a small buoy to the main line has support on the line and to facilitate recovery in the main line to be broken. If these - known as "cutting" - should occur, the master may proceed to the next buoy and continue the recovery process saving devices wherever possible. In bottom fishing, weights added to help the line down. 

      Getting a Long Line
   3. The species you for a direct impact on fisheries, as long as you allow the hook "soaking". After the brackets in the water for the allotted amount of time, the high-flyer is recovered. The subject line and one eye on the coil. At that time, the process begins in reverse - the boat moves slowly along the line, while the coil is spun and recovered the main line. Now, carbine away and the fish are introduced into the boat. unmarketable fish are released and empty hooks, buoys and weights are stored for further use baits and replaced.