bleeding out fish

This is new to me and I am sure its been talked about before but just encase…

while on a recent trip to red lake I mentioned to the rest of the guys in our group about “bleeding out” your fish rather than just throwing them on the ice to die and if it made any difference in the meat. no one in our group had ever done it before so we “cut” some of our fish and bleed them. while cleaning our fish there was a very noticeable difference! we haven’t fried any of them yet to see if there is a difference in taste but you can surely tell which ones we cut!

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Let us know if you can tell a difference in taste or I could come over and help you find out.

You’ll never go back.

What is the proper technique for bleeding a fish?

You will never go back to bloody, messy fish cleaning
Best way for me is a game shears on bigger fish. (scissors will work also, esp on panfish… just clip through gills on both sides. I think a knife too risky

In the summertime we cut ’em right away, drag on rope stringer over the side to bleed, then pack them on ice in a cooler … absolutely clean and fresh fillets. Have bled in livewell on cont. flow b/4 putting on ice. (Some concern about blood clotting in drain lines, but had never been a problem on cont. flow) Icing in hot weather “essential” in my opinion, rather than having them float around in warm lake water all day

our good friend Joel shows us how

GoldWinger wrote:

You will never go back to bloody, messy fish cleaning
Best way for me is a game shears on bigger fish. (scissors will work also, esp on panfish… just clip through gills on both sides. I think a knife too risky

X2

My favorite way is to use a Fiskars Multi Shear. (Way safer than a knife!) Clip the gills and they are bled out in minutes. There is no need to cut the actual fish in any way. Unless you like your fish to look mutilated for pictures.

https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/fiskars-premier-quick-release-multi-snip/0000000232710?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_tCU5YPi1wIVk15-Ch0MqgOnEAQYFSABEgJMU_D_BwE

GoldWinger wrote:

You will never go back to bloody, messy fish cleaning

It really does make for a lot less mess at filet time!

-J.

They don’t flop around and Accidentally fall into the grinder when bled

we just used a small pocket knife and cut the upper belly area right where the gills meet. very similar to the video up loaded

I have been doing exactly the way Joel explains right down to the timing, right before heading to shore, for about 3-4 years now and I’ll never go back!! Clean snow white fillets every time.

I bet everyone would be right over!!

I prefer to clean fish alive.
Makes cleaning the Pail or cooler I bring them home in easier to clean.

We’ve found that bleeding them out in the lake water (on stringer or I’ll livewell as referenced above) for a while eliminates most of the slime you get when you just toss them right in the cooler

Bleeding vs cleaning alive….

I have found nothing easier as far as cleaning up anything when filleting any fish that’s not been bled. Bled out fish are very clean/tidy to fillet, and they produce a very clean looking, white fillet. I bleed em out in the live well, then ice ‘em in a cooler during the summer. Bleed on the ice and bucket them or burlap bag them depending on travel mode in the winter….

Timmy wrote:

Bleeding vs cleaning alive….

I have found nothing easier as far as cleaning up anything when filleting any fish that’s not been bled. Bled out fish are very clean/tidy to fillet, and they produce a very clean looking, white fillet. I bleed em out in the live well, then ice ‘em in a cooler during the summer. Bleed on the ice and bucket them or burlap bag them depending on travel mode in the winter….

^^^^^
this,it is amazing what it does for the flavor as well as the filet not being mushy when you cook it.
fish that are kept alive in the livewell or on a stringer will have a different flavor to them from the adrenaline and stress hormones they release when in a restricted environment.

I always bleed fish. Makes for easier cleaning, less mess, and snow white tasty filets.

It looks like I have something new to try.

Bleed in summer, throw to ice. Summer fish get mushy and muddy and this helps.

Cold water, why go through the hassle? Fish are delicious!

Nice white fillets? Are we not wanting all that icky blood all over our pretty fish making it all, icky? <—sarcasm

Bleeding your fish is the only way to go. Snow White fillets and a much better taste!

So to have white fillets and no slime, you say to cut the gills right away then toss them on the ice/in the livewell immediately? Slimy fillets bother me much more than bloody fillets.

Cutting the tail is really effective on channels, gills on anything else, immediately. The more alive they are the more they’ll bleed!

nhamm wrote:

Bleed in summer, throw to ice. Summer fish get mushy and muddy and this helps

Yeah that’s why I don’t keep fish in the summer heat. Sep/October through May is walleye harvest time for me!

In the summertime, I would not advise bleeding them and letting them sit in warm water for a long period of time.

I recommend 1 of 2 things.

1. Bleed them out right after catching them. After 15 minutes take them out of the livewell and put them on ice. This is my top choice.

2. Wait til the end of the day and bleed them all at once before pulling the boat out of the water.

I just don’t recommend letting dead fish sit in warm water for long periods of time.

just started this year. i wait until there are enough fish in the livewell that i’m actually going to keep them then i’ll pull them out and bleed them and toss them back into the livewell. then i toss em in a bucket once everything is drained.

the fillet taste is noticeable in my opinion and my wifes (the most important opinion) and cleaning a fish with no blood in it is a dream.

does anyone do it with panfish?

Eelpoutguy wrote:

It looks like I have something new to try.

x2, but I think I am already sold

biggill wrote:

I recommend 1 of 2 things.

1. Bleed them out right after catching them. After 15 minutes take them out of the livewell and put them on ice. This is my top choice.

2. Wait til the end of the day and bleed them all at once before pulling the boat out of the water.

This is what I do as well and works like a charm. In cool/cold temps I usually bleed them all at once before we start loading the boat. IMO it only takes about 5 minutes to bleed out a fish if you properly cut a gill. Safety shears are safer than using a knife but both work if you’re careful.

that’s funny NHAMM lol!! Those slimy fish are just yucky! lol