Red northern fillets

[Jethro80]

I just finished cleaning my fruits of my labor this weekend and I had come to find out that one of the fish I cleaned had red fillets.

Is this common or should I scrap this one?

*Note* This fish did swallow a hook but there wasn't any blood visible at the time it was pulled out of the water

[Deitz Dittrich]

You caught it this weekend and are just now cleaning it? That could be the cause of the red fillets?

[Jethro80]

I usually keep them on ice and really never had a problem in the past but I might have been lucky, and I've only done that with pan fish

[LOTWSvirgin]

You caught it kept it waited several days before cleaning Yah you should eat it. J/K Does it smell funny? I have seen red fillets before and been just fine eating them But I didnt let them sit for days so I really dont know

[Jethro80]

They were completely frozen, rock solid.

[croixflats]

Being frozen the meat crystallizes then when thawed soaks up any moister, in this case it was blood. Should be able to eat it.

My theory anyways.

[Big Buck Buster]

He just turned a northern fillet into a salmon fillet. J.K. It should be OK to eat. That has happened to northern that my grandfather gave me after they were frozen solid. I even cleaned them the next day after they thawed, and they were reddish color.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

How red are we talking? I cleaned some crappies the other day that had some reddish coloring to some of the fillets. I ate them and they seemed fine to me.

[Jethro80]

Salmon will work Thanks guys!

[Sandmannd]

Wouldn't worry about it if it doesn't stink. I've cleaned fish that have been a week in my freezer, never had any turn red, but they never tasted bad at all.

[dougr1969]

Shane,

Might be heading to the Croix this afternoon. Any good new out there?

[Sonicrunch]

Red I would eat. I had blue fillets once. Those went in the garbage. It was on a blue stringer, but I'm sure that was coincidence.

[andrew chadwick]

try soaking it in ice water for a bit, or even better milk overnight. this is what I do with my catfish fillets.

[Sandmannd]

Shane,

Might be heading to the Croix this afternoon. Any good new out there?

I don't have any Doug. Been so busy with leagues and tourneys this year, I haven't been on the river since early Jan.

Go to the Croix forum, there's lots being posted down there.

[CANOPY SAM]

Red all the way through, or just red on the exterior of one side? Many times I've seen pike, as well as catfish, with a reddish fat layer on the skin side of the fillet. Some refer to this as a "mud-line" I believe. It's seems to be an anatomic extension of the lateral line running deeper into the flesh of some species of fish.

With cats it's a good idea to remove this "outer" red layer as it tends to make the meat taste a little off. I'd recommend doing the same with the pike, if indeed it is just on the outer portion of the fillets.

If they're actually red all throughout the fillet I might have some second thoughts about eating them. Not too sure why this would happen, but we know it's not a Tuna so it probably shouldn't look like one - ya' know what I mean.