Northern fillets

Deerhntr71

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I filleted two Northerns the other day. One the fillets were firm but the bigger northern the fillets were kind of jelly like. Any idea why? I am wondering if it is from warmer water?
 


Sum1

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I’m not sure what it is but I’ll bet white people have something to do with it
 


Allen

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Did they come from two different bodies of water?

If they came out of the same lake, they should be similar. If not, I'd probably chuck the jelly-like one at a sea gull.
 

espringers

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i assume they were kept in a livewell or on a stringer for a bit and not on ice. but, like was said above, i would have put them both on ice water for a while and if they didn't firm up, toss the one. they should firm up though.
 


guywhofishes

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I’ve occasionally fileted a mess of fish and there was one soft textured one in the mix - all stored same and alive until dispatch.

Down the hatch they went. Couldn’t identify the oddball after frying.
 

thriller1

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This has always been "if one was dead longer than the rest"in my opinion.
 

Retired Educator

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I always soak my northern's in salt water and then rinse before storing. By soak, I mean at least 4 hours or overnight. Firms them up, whitens them and just improves the texture. I've done this with northerns caught in mid summer and they eat fine. If you know how to get the bones out of northerns I find them very good eating. I prefer 4-8# northerns as I think it's easier to get the y-bones out. When a little bigger than a 2-3# fish you can feel the y-bones easier with your knife. Bleeding all fish also helps.
 

Deerhntr71

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They came out of Lake Metigoshi and were both alive in the live well until cleaned. Thanks everyone for the help.
 

Lou63

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I dont use the livewell, I have a large cooler and ice and have had no issues even with the fish being on ice almost 24 hours
 


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