Walleye Express
04-10-2008, 11:04 AM
Took this off another board and thought it worth posting.
Is this how most of you guys fillet your bluegills? I usually cut right through the rib cage, quickly dulling my knife I'm going to have to give this a try, good video... Steve. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_GGcgIFUlw
Steve.
Thats the same way I fillet my walleyes. And heres another cleaning suggestion for you guys. I first fillet all the fish like he did and skin them after, and in my case on my charters it can be an impressive pile of fish. But I use a set of channel locks when I get to the skinning part, to both grab and hold the skin near the tip of the tail section. This prevents the skin from sliding on any slime on my board and/or out of your grasp when using just your finger tips to hold the skin. Slide the knife under the skin and in a couple of forwards swiping/cutting motions from top to bottom the skin is off. Flip the skin in the bucket with the head, guts and spine, the flesh back in the cooler of ice I have nearby and start the next one. I average about 1 walleye filleted and skined per minute. I use two different knives, one for each job. My fillet knife is about 7 inches long with a stiff temper. Better for strong straight cuts next to the dorsal fin and down to the rib cage. The skinnning knife is about 12 inches long with a medium temper. You need a little bend in a knife for clean skin removal. Both were custom made by a friend and are kept surgery sharp. He also made me a bluegill/crappie knife 5 inches long that negates having to risk choking up on a very sharp knife. Capt. Dan.
Is this how most of you guys fillet your bluegills? I usually cut right through the rib cage, quickly dulling my knife I'm going to have to give this a try, good video... Steve. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_GGcgIFUlw
Steve.
Thats the same way I fillet my walleyes. And heres another cleaning suggestion for you guys. I first fillet all the fish like he did and skin them after, and in my case on my charters it can be an impressive pile of fish. But I use a set of channel locks when I get to the skinning part, to both grab and hold the skin near the tip of the tail section. This prevents the skin from sliding on any slime on my board and/or out of your grasp when using just your finger tips to hold the skin. Slide the knife under the skin and in a couple of forwards swiping/cutting motions from top to bottom the skin is off. Flip the skin in the bucket with the head, guts and spine, the flesh back in the cooler of ice I have nearby and start the next one. I average about 1 walleye filleted and skined per minute. I use two different knives, one for each job. My fillet knife is about 7 inches long with a stiff temper. Better for strong straight cuts next to the dorsal fin and down to the rib cage. The skinnning knife is about 12 inches long with a medium temper. You need a little bend in a knife for clean skin removal. Both were custom made by a friend and are kept surgery sharp. He also made me a bluegill/crappie knife 5 inches long that negates having to risk choking up on a very sharp knife. Capt. Dan.