Do you rinse your fillets?

[svnmag]

I’m interested in the saltwater and lemon. What does that do? Just pull out some extra dirty stuff?

 

[CatDaddy]

Do you have the one from Clam?

Whoops, forgot the link. Yes.

Amazon product

 

[CrappieHunter]

Whoops, forgot the link. Yes.

Amazon product

Thank you, I'm definitely going to pick one up for ice season

 

[deleted___account]

Call me a snob but I'm quite picky about who's fish Ile eat. Some people just don't take care of their meat well enough.

 

[Slappy]

Yeah I’ve been looking to buy one of those ice fishing live wells for a while. Not fun defrosting 20 frozen crappie bricks when you get back from fishing at 11

I have a plastic container about 10 inches deep and 5 inch diameter. Fits down the hole and holds enough water it doesn't take too many scoops to partially fill the 5 gallon fish bucket. Cut fish before dropping in the bucket. Lid is nice to keep from splashing. When it's time to leave dump the bloody lake water somewhere it won't bother people. Throw some snow in the bucket to keep fish cold and insulated from freezing.

 

[CrappieHunter]

Call me a snob but I'm quite picky about who's fish Ile eat. Some people just don't take care of their meat well enough.

I’m building up my tolerance, got a freezer full of mystery fish with no dates on them

 

[CrappieHunter]

I have a plastic container about 10 inches deep and 5 inch diameter. Fits down the hole and holds enough water it doesn't take too many scoops to partially fill the 5 gallon fish bucket. Cut fish before dropping in the bucket. Lid is nice to keep from splashing. When it's time to leave dump the bloody lake water somewhere it won't bother people. Throw some snow in the bucket to keep fish cold and insulated from freezing.

Yeah that’s a good idea, slush keeps fish colder than just cold water, or ice

 

[Allen]

No. I package mine in the blood, slime, and guts that get on them during the fileting process. If they are too clean, I roll them around on the cleaning table to help season them.

It adds a bit of extra flavor.



Seriously, WTH?

 

[Weekender]

I bleed my fish out in the livewell, place the filets in a bowl of water while cleaning, and rinse prior to packaging.

 

[Davy Crockett]

Before zip locks were invented we used to save milk cartons and froze fish in them with water.

 

[NDSportsman]

Walleyes get bled out, filleted, rinsed, soaked for a bit, then rinsed again and bagged in water to freeze.

Perch or panfish get the same only I don't bleed them first.

 

[NG3067]

Freshwater, rinse and soak in ice water. The saltwater people I fish with say the less water the better, especially tuna and salmon.

 

[SLE]

Typically, I pull the live fish from the live well, they get a quick wack on the ol noggin, fillet, then rinse with cold water, pull the ribs and center line out, rinse one more time and into zip locks and to the fridge until I I vacuum bag them.

With that said, I know when we salt water fish in FL, they only get rinsed quick with ocean salt water. Been told many times the chlorine in tap water starts breaking down the fish, especially tuna. A couple of our guides have been pretty specific telling us not to rinse with tap water.

edit: NG3067 beat me to the punch, as we were both typing at the same time!

 

[Bfishn]

The one time I deep sea fished and came in with Yellowtail and Wahoo they cleaned them and told us to not even rinse them at all, just cook them as is. Still some of the best fish I've ever had.

For walleye, clean, rinse, sit in cold water for a bit to get rest of blood out and either eat right away or freeze in water.

 

[Silver]

Not only rinse, but soak overnight in the fridge in water. Draws out any remaining blood and firms up the meat. Then I eat or freeze in a bag of more water.

I agree with Sluggo 100%!

 

[johnr]

Rinse, put in bowl, add a bit of ice and water, dash of salt, let sit over night, then bag up or eat.

 

[LBrandt]

Rinse, put in bowl, add a bit of ice and water, dash of salt, let sit over night, then bag up or eat.

ditto LB

 

[Allen]

One thing I will say is that I started to bleed the fish just a couple years ago. It's been quite the difference maker in the appearance of the filets. If bled out in the livewell, there's very little to no blood on the fish, and that beats the heck out of having to scrub the blood off in the sink.

For just a few bucks at Menards, these make quick work of cutting the fish:

 

[luvcatchingbass]

As already mentioned, bleed the fish out before you fillet. If you haven't tried it, you'll be a believer after you do. No more blood on the table, on the fillets, etc.

Keep them alive in the livewell and cut the throats before heading in. Zero blood on the cleaning table or in the fillets.

Yup have been doing this ice fishing for quite a few years now, cutting board and everything stays so much cleaner as well. Depending on time I also cycle water a few times with a little bit of salt mixed in and or like stated before cold water soak in the fridge overnight. It's amazing when you cycle salt water and mix the meat around a few times how much gunk gets pulled out.

 

[luvcatchingbass]

Yeah I’ve done that for walleye before and feel like it makes a difference. But I don’t usually do it to the crappie that I mainly keep. I’m not sure if it makes a major difference on panfish but I’ll be willing to try it again

It makes a big difference in panfish as well in my opinion, gills can be kind of bloody sometimes. LM through the ice it really helps as those suckers can be a bloody mess.