Jiggle the spike or knife around in the head to ensure that you fully cut through the brain. While you can kill a fish by repeatedly striking it with a blunt object, spiking the brain is considered to be the most humane method of dispatching a fish.
If you’re using a cleaning station, always discard the carcass and guts in the grinder, and clean up after yourself when you’re done. You can wear rubber gloves if you want to keep your hands clean while you work.
Depending on the species, the dorsal fins may be particularly long and hard to remove. Cut lengthwise through them in small sections to make the process easier. You can really use any sharp knife to clean and gut a fish, but a flexible filet knife is preferable because the thin blade will keep you from shredding the flesh.
Rinse your fish after scaling it to keep any loosened scales from getting into your fish’s abdominal cavity. You can scale the fish after you’ve gutted it if you prefer.
The vent is the lowest portion of a fish’s underside. [5] X Research source The fish’s anus is the small opening near the bottom of the tail section. It is usually a different color from the rest of the fish’s vent.
You don’t want to cut too deeply into the fish’s belly as you’re cutting it. If you rupture the intestines you’ll end up with a nasty mess inside of your fish. You can choose to cut through the throat and the gills as you’re finishing the cut if you plan on removing the head later.
Inspect the body cavity for any remaining organs and remove them by hand. Discard the organs in an appropriate trash bin. At a cleaning station, drop them in the grinder to get rid of them.
Wash your fish for at least 1 minute to ensure that every part of the fish’s abdominal cavity gets rinsed.
If the head isn’t fully removed by your 2 cuts, you can grip it and twist it off to fully remove it. Some fish, like trout, are traditionally cooked with the head still attached.
Repeat this process leaving 1 inch (2. 5 cm) of flesh between each cut to steak an entire fish. [14] X Expert Source Michael ReynoldsProfessional Fishing Instructor Expert Interview. 26 February 2021. The difference between a steak and a filet is whether or not the bone was cut through. A steak is a cut through the bone, while a filet is cut around the bone. [15] X Research source
You may need to bend over a little bit to get good angle for your cut. You can place your nondominant thumb on the opening created by your initial cut to peel the skin back and make cutting easier.
You can carve around any bones that you encounter if you’d like. Depending on the fish’s species and size, you may want to do this when you’re preparing to cook though to avoid accidentally removing any flesh. Rotate the fish as you flip it over so that you stay facing the spine. For the second fillet, start at the tail end and cut towards the head. You can peel or cut the thin layer of skin off of your filets if you’d like to, although many recipes require the skin to stay on during cooking.
