cleaning crappies and bluegills

[greebs]

what's the best way? in the past I've always fillet'ed out crappies but don't end up with much meat. is there a better way? I haven't targeted gills much before but may this winter. Whats the best method for them? Seems like I've tried filleting them but it didn't work very well .

[CrappieJohn]

Everybody butters their bread differently, but for me if I cannot fillet them I won't keep'em. Corey Bechtold showed me a stunt to use while filleting these critters this fall that shows some real promise for smaller fish. It involves a fork and he can whittle a pile of these fish away in no time flat. And it requires no transfusions when I am done with the fish cleaning chores.

[FI Guide]

well that means you haven't caught enough to practice on. Thats ok personally i like to fillet them i worked at a bait store up north and had many of the people come in and i would clean their fish for them practice helps in learning how to clean.

[Corey Bechtold]

Shoot me an e-mail and I'll try to point you in the right direction. Maybe I'll send you some pictures to your personal e-mail address because the pictures would be too graphic to post on this site. It's not too hard once you get the hang of it.

Corey Bechtold

[delmuts]

greebs. just keep practicing ! at first, i turned many a nice gil or crappie into a little fish chip too! just be patient and keep at it ! del

[CrappieJohn]

FI...I made the statement in jest.....cleaned thousands of fish by filleting. And can slip the sides off those critter right down to about five inches pretty handily.

I have been cut more times with gill plates than by knives while cleaning fish.

[Muskieguy]

Crappie Tom,

I would be interested in hearing the fork trick for cleaning fish?

Thanks,

Muskieguy......

[CrappieJohn]

It would be great if Corey would do this....he's the fork master. I'll e-mail him and see if he'll share this with everyone. Check back here later tonight or tomorrow and we'll see if we can get him motivated to do so.

[Corey Bechtold]

Well,, I'm back from doing some Christmas shopping! Let me tell you, shopping isn't exactly my idea of fun (unless it's for fishing stuff ).

OK, here we go!

1) Hold the fish down on the table by the head.

2) Take the knife and slice right behind the side fin and push down to the spine.

3) Turn the blade and push the blade all the way through the fish, removinf fillet ribs and all.

4) Repeat on the other side. (I prefer to do all the fish first and then remove the ribs and skin at the end)

5) Take a fork and hold the fillet just above the ribcage and with a little flip of the knife the ribs will come out. (Try to lift up a little with the blade to get all the meat)

6) Take the fork and hold the skin on the far end of the tail. Slide the knife through the meat holding the knife at an angle that doesn't break through the skin but takes off all the meat.

The fork will save your fingers from the knive and also keep your fingernails from becoming all soft from handling the fish.

If anyone would like any more advice or possibly some pictures sent to your e-mail I would be happy to help. I figure that you work hard to catch the fish and if you are going to keep some to eat you might as well get all the meat you can.

Good Luck,

Corey Bechtold

[deeky]

I do the same, but just don't quite cut all of the way through when you are cutting along the spine and get to the tail. Just flip the fillet over and use the body to hang on to the skin while you slice the meat off the top. A little practice and you know exactly how far you can make the first cut along the spine without breaking the skin.

Another note - this doesn't work nearly as well on fish that have been frozen. I've found the skin is too brittle to be flopped over and still hold.

[decoy]

When I'm filleting a "pile" of sunnies or perch, I use the nicknamed "fish shucker" you know it as a townsend fish skinner. This little baby works like a charm. I usually do the fileting and have someone else use the townsend. It really shucks 'em. If you want to see it google search for "fish skinner".

later

decoy

[The Grebe]

I don't know if there is a best way? There are a couple of different ways?

There really is'nt alot to it, practice is the thing that will lead you to becomming a better fillet meister.

One thing that can make it easier for you is a sharp fillet knife...not to limber, not to stiff, but sharp! Does'nt hurt to give it a lick on the stone, or the iron, while you are doing up a batch of fish.

Myself, I have kind of gotten away from the standard knife and have went to the electric fillet knife. I use the small blade and I'm getting pretty good with it. If I only have a few fish to clean, I use the standard.

No matter which knife you use, you will still have to get a feel and a concept of what you are doing. By feel and concept, I mean things like not cutting to deep, not turning to soon, not moving to fast, not gauging to much.

Gauging? I guess that would be a better word then concept, as everyone pretty much has a concept of what they want to achieve, but gauging the proper application of the steps to get there, now that is another thing!

Practice my man,practice!

[Muskieguy]

I too use the method deeky uses...tail flip...I thought Corey had some new way to filet only using a fork...that was why I was so interested, never heard of fileting without a knife. Anyway.. I received an electric knife as a gift recently but haven't used it yet, hopefully after this weekend I will have a few crappies to test it out on.

Muskieguy......

[delmuts]

grebe when you clean fish with the electric, do you cut through the ribs and take them out after the fillet is off, or do you cut over them ? i've always used a regular knife and cut over the ribs, but have wondered about an electric. del

[The Grebe]

Delmuts....Heeey, how ya doin? You know, when I fillet a fish, I don't want any bones in it, not even one!

A couple of my friends give me the business about my cleaning methods..." Ahh, a coupla bones ain't gonna hurt ya? Why, I kin do up 23 craps in 38 seconds! Ya Waste to much fish gittin out all da bones"

I watched my one friend do up some sunnies one night and I dam near busted out laughing! I did start laughing when he cut his thumb! He dam near stabbed me when he flipped the knife!

The speed he thought he had, wasted more fish and produced more bony chunks, then I would ever think of doing! All odd sized chunks? I want something that tastes good and looks nice.

I don't want to bite into a pin cushion, I want to be able to make a sandwich with the fillet, if I so choose.

For the last several years, I have been using the fork method, or a version of it....On sunnies and specs, I cut behind fin at slight angle toward head, down to backbone...flip it over and do other side...slit from vent to cut...With dorsal toward me, I cut along backbone, through the ribs, all the way along and off at the tail section.

I do them on the kitchen counter, so I sprinkle a little water on the counter, take the newspaper and lay the 1st. half page in the sprinkles, stops it from scooching around. I bring the second half sheet down and get to work, I can usually get 2-3 fish per half sheet, then I fold down a new half sheet over the old. When I run out, I get some fresh paper and start over. Helps get rid of some of the slippriness also.

I do one stage at a time to all the fish...once I have all the fillets off the carcasses, using fresh paper, I start step two...I make a cut along the top of the rib bones, front to where they end...I make another upward cut from the bottom, where the bones end, to the cut I made on top,

it is vee shaped.

Step three is next, using the fork, I press it down at the tail section and start the blade down to the skin and zip it off, back to front... sometimes you can go around the vee and the ribs will stay attached to the skin. This usually only works on one side, as I work left to right.

"Voila" a truely boneless fillet! On the bigger Panfish and Walleyes, I use a more traditional approach, I cut out the rib bones and add a hitch...I run my fingers along the center of fillet, find the lateral line bones and make a cut on each side, removing them, again, "Voila" sandwich fish!

You will find them to be no problem for the kids, or older adults and you will find that they will eat more fish if there are no bone! May as well make it an enjoyable experience!

[delmuts]

interesting !thanks

[Kylersk]

Corey, if you wouldnt mind, I'd like to see some pictures. Kylersk at yahoo dot com.

Thanks.

[CrappieJohn]

I do this chore lke Grebe does, except when I get to the tail while removing the fillet, I stop, turn the knife in one motion, and buzz off the skin. Then I simply make a sweeping cut aound the ribs.

I think that the belly meat is too full of fat to keep and that the potato-chip-like flaps of meat left when cutting around the ribs is nuts. And if there are contaminants to be found in those fish, they will be store in those two area first and most concentrated there. I do not do bones when eating fish.

I use this method with waldos, sauger, crappies, sunfish, perch and not on northerns or bass as I do not keep those fish. My only exception to this method lies in how I do my lakers and salmon. They are larger fish and are easier to negotiate the bone on.