Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: wrongwayric on June 13, 2008, 08:22:36 PM

Title: Cleaning fish
Post by: wrongwayric on June 13, 2008, 08:22:36 PM
Check this out! I tried this today down at the river just warming up for my trip. It actually works! Takes a tad bit of muscle and practice, took me 3 fish to get it right, but it does work.

http://www.upfishing.com/cleaning_catfish.html

The simple explanation, insert knife behind the head about even with the gills or just slightly forward, run down to the back bone then slide it to the tail section. Insert fingers in the gills or grab the head, break the backbone, pull down (bottom side of the fish) and pull the whole front part to the tail. This will pull all the skin/guts away along with the head and leave you with nothing but the meat and skeleton. You might need to do a little clean up in the belly area but most of it is gone.

I made fillets out of the 2 i did successfully and they were tasty. :aok

P.S. Watch out for the stingers/fin horns! Them suckers hurt! Maybe i should have killed the fish first?
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: DiabloTX on June 13, 2008, 08:44:01 PM
Or you could just watch Office Space, learn how to clean fish and watch a good movie at the same time! 
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: Jackal1 on June 14, 2008, 09:04:18 AM
.........................and then they invented the electric fillet knife.
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: Curval on June 14, 2008, 09:10:22 AM
I have a great fish cleaner...my wife.
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: Leslie on June 14, 2008, 09:31:58 AM
Will have to try that method Wrongwayric.  Have used pliers to skin catfish.  Don't like trying to filet catfish using a knife.  I end up wasting too much meat.  Even saltwater hard heads, which most people throw back, have a small amount of meat which is good to eat.  I'll sometimes keep a large one if nothing else is biting.


Les


Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: boxboy28 on June 14, 2008, 11:58:27 AM
kinda the same why i do trout, cept you gut it then cut under  the gill plate and pull it off the top sideinstead.
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: AWMac on June 14, 2008, 01:00:49 PM
Screw that... I just put them in a blender and hit the Puree button.

No mess, no fuss.

Don't sip it, chug it.
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: Dago on June 14, 2008, 01:09:25 PM
Toss them in the dishwasher with a little soap, and let the machine get them clean and shiny.
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: Nilsen on June 14, 2008, 01:43:19 PM
I have a great fish cleaner...my wife.
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: bcadoo on June 14, 2008, 01:59:58 PM
Screw that... I just put them in a blender and hit the Puree button.

No mess, no fuss.

Don't sip it, chug it.

Ahh...the super Bass-O-Matic '76

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3126958731905386014&q=bass-o-matic&ei=5hRUSMfEIpTqqgPDgrTzDg&hl=en
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: AWMac on June 14, 2008, 02:17:19 PM
Went thru 5 of them so far.

Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: Angus on June 15, 2008, 04:44:50 AM
I've gutted some...well, I worked on a trawler  :D
Never saw this method, but might try it in the summer. I would think it only works on some fish or rather small fish.
BTW, a typical cod where I was fishing (N-Atlantic) would be some....15 lbs. And alive. We would  basically put it on the back, cut in infront of the gills, then open um the belly, first at the chest, then cut backwards.
If it was a female, we would gently remove the "eggs" (Caviar) into a seperate container, then simply tear out the rest.
End result is a fish with no life and no guts...
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: wrongwayric on June 15, 2008, 10:10:16 AM
Not sure if it will work on other fish but works pretty darn good on cat and bullhead fish. The larger the fish though the tougher it is to pull back and strip the skin. Mine were all around 9-10 inches and not to hard to do.
Pliers sux, and filleting as someone stated you have a tendency to lose meat.
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: Angus on June 15, 2008, 10:19:22 AM
hehe, no wonder that the fishermen don't do it with cod, - there you are dealing with some 25-40 inches :D
(and on board, working on a conveyer line, - oh Ford)
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: Shaky on June 15, 2008, 05:59:46 PM
(http://content.ytmnd.com/content/0/1/d/01d03ae703ddb29c70156152d9ea699c.gif)
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: Getback on June 15, 2008, 07:33:53 PM
Will have to try that method Wrongwayric.  Have used pliers to skin catfish.  Don't like trying to filet catfish using a knife.  I end up wasting too much meat.  Even saltwater hard heads, which most people throw back, have a small amount of meat which is good to eat.  I'll sometimes keep a large one if nothing else is biting.


Les




Aren't women also suppose to skin deer and bear.
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: Leslie on June 15, 2008, 09:43:31 PM
Skinning a deer requires upper body strength once you get down to the shoulder area.  It would take a hefty woman to do so, but I suppose it's possible.  Not sure about bears.

I thought we were talking about fish, but I will say the most prolific fisherman I ever saw was a woman.  I was with my Dad fishing on the Dauphin Island pier several years ago and we hadn't caught a darn thing.  It was about night time and as we were leaving to go home we witnessed a most unusual phenomenon.  As far as the eye could see, in both directions, was a solid dark mass underwater.  This water was about 3 feet deep and the dark mass was mullet, averaging about two feet in length, some around two and a half feet long. 

There was a woman there wearing rubber boots and she had filled two 55 gallon plastic garbage cans with mullet.  There were mullet scattered all around the deck of the pier.  I had a weighted triple hook about an inch and a half in size, and lowered it into the water and snagged up three large mullet before we left.  Now this was not as easy as you would think, but I managed to catch some fish as we were about to leave for home.  Took me several tries, but the woman was snagging at least two at a time every time and probably caught at least 150 fish within 30 minutes.  She had the grappling hook technique down pat.  Never seen anything like that before...that many fish concentrated beneath the pier or someone catching them so expertly.


Les


Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: wrongwayric on June 16, 2008, 09:41:51 AM
Well just to point out, most Native American Indian women used to do all the skinning of game. Everything from fish to deer to buffalo. Never under estimate a woman! :salute
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: Ripsnort on June 16, 2008, 09:46:38 AM
(http://pic4.picturetrail.com/VOL767/2726312/19804464/319824286.jpg)
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: Angus on June 16, 2008, 10:07:01 AM
Skinning is mostly technique. A big bull is no problem at all for a woman....
Title: Re: Cleaning fish
Post by: derelict on June 16, 2008, 12:26:13 PM
Skinning a deer requires upper body strength once you get down to the shoulder area.  It would take a hefty woman to do so, but I suppose it's possible.  Not sure about bears.

Not really sure how you're skinning them then :)  Hang them up high enough, then once you get the pelt to the shoulder area you make a small "pocket" at the back of the leg (armpit area), put your foot in and step down.  Pulls the hide right off the shoulder and down to the ground.  I've had small kids (12-13) do it with no problem.