Bleeding your fish

[EZM]

About 10 years ago I began bleeding and icing my fish and have noticed that the meat is so much firmer, better tasting and fresher.

I absolutely gag when I see people at the fish cleaning shack throw down a warm hammer handle pike that has been on the stringer all day long in the hot sun and it's dripping with snot and all the flesh is discolored.

No wonder people say certain fish taste bad ........ they are not treating their fish properly IMO.

We did a taste test a few years ago with some guys at camp and the difference was amazing - two of us who were preparing the fish knew which one was which and we had 6/6 vote in favor of the bled fish in a blind taste test.

To me that proves what I already knew - try it - see for yourself.

Here a neat video - short 3 min video but worth watching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFFJtbuYHzs

[MountainTi]

Always bleed. Super easy. Why not take the extra 10 seconds?

[Camdec]

Yes makes a big difference. Good video. Simple and to the point.

[Flyingfisher]

I always kill the fish that I intend to keep as quickly as possible. I usually cut the gills off to promote bleeding once I've used the knife to stab the fish in its brain. I ice the fish during the warmer month once I've gutted it immediately upon the fish's death. Honestly, I've never had a fish that I didn't enjoy eating, and I fish for table fare first and foremost.

[Etownpaul]

I went recreational cod fishing in Newfoundland about 5 years ago. The captain was grabbing the cod off our lines as soon as we landed them in the boat, slitting their throat and tossing them in a cooler half full of sea ice. I remarked how I found it odd that he was bleeding them out, and how I’d never done so in Alberta.
He snapped back “ I don’t come to Alberta and tell you how to raise beef!” Fair enough bud.

We had those fish out of the ocean and into the frying pan in under 3 hours, best fish I’ve ever tasted. I bleed and ice my 1 or 2 keeper walleye a year and totally agree it makes a huge difference.

[marky_mark]

Ice makes the difference

If you want to do the next step
It would be dressing the fish to remove all the intestines etc

Whitefish will get a brownish tinge if they are left round for too long

But the biggest difference will be from ice

[marky_mark]

This is from doing 10’s of thousands of lbs of freshwater fish

[Smoky buck]

Supplied high end restaurants in the past when I owned an aquaculture outfit the main factors on flavor

1) water temperature

2) water quality/oxygen level

3) gutting fish right away

4) get the cooled off fast

I tested the bleeding thing and found no major difference. Lots of guys swear by it but they are usually guys who keep them iced too

[lromanchuk]

Never tried it before, but those results speak for themselves. Will be doing it going forward. Thanks.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by marky_mark

Ice makes the difference

If you want to do the next step
It would be dressing the fish to remove all the intestines etc

Whitefish will get a brownish tinge if they are left round for too long

But the biggest difference will be from ice

I have bled fish for the past 10 years, about the time I started carrying a cooler full of ice when I wanted to keep fish. Big difference. Which was it? I don't know and don't care, for the time it takes I will do both. Decision to keep the fish is made as soon as it is in the boat. From there it is slashed and into the cooler. Maybe time to gut right away as well?

[cube]

Originally Posted by EZM

About 10 years ago I began bleeding and icing my fish and have noticed that the meat is so much firmer, better tasting and fresher.



We did a taste test a few years ago with some guys at camp and the difference was amazing - two of us who were preparing the fish knew which one was which and we had 6/6 vote in favor of the bled fish in a blind taste test.

To me that proves what I already knew - try it - see for yourself.

Here a neat video - short 3 min video but worth watching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFFJtbuYHzs

A number of years back I saw a video on ike jime so though I would give it a try. I did indeed found that bleeding the fish left it with less of a fishy taste which I liked. My father who likes the fishy taste did not care either way and ate both preparations readily. I now bleed all my retained fish by cutting the gill arches because I found that cutting the throat like in the video made cleaning the fish more difficult unless you waste a bunch of meat.

(Note the video is incorrect stating that bacteria are in the blood. Pathogens are in the blood only when an animal is very sick. Even then proper cooking would take care of them)

[Freedom55]

Years ago a guy in B.C. taught me to press my thumb against the large blood vessel at the top of the gills before tossing the fish on ice, soonest. If I'm keeping fish that's how it goes. I presume the knife thing is due to the sharp edge of the gill cover.??

In fairness, the same guy taught me to clean the fish in the boat. Three of us caught 65 kokanee (of a 75 fish limit) one day and as the young buck on board it fell to me to do the dirty. I'm not sure if that is allowed these days.

Free

[fisher Gord]

Bleeding the fish also makes the fillets cleaner with no blood left in or on less rinsing to do.

[buckman]

Originally Posted by Flyingfisher

I always kill the fish that I intend to keep as quickly as possible. I usually cut the gills off to promote bleeding once I've used the knife to stab the fish in its brain. I ice the fish during the warmer month once I've gutted it immediately upon the fish's death. Honestly, I've never had a fish that I didn't enjoy eating, and I fish for table fare first and foremost.

This is the best way by far. Stringers should be banned only promotes swapping a bigger fish out for a smaller one.

[marky_mark]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

I have bled fish for the past 10 years, about the time I started carrying a cooler full of ice when I wanted to keep fish. Big difference. Which was it? I don't know and don't care, for the time it takes I will do both. Decision to keep the fish is made as soon as it is in the boat. From there it is slashed and into the cooler. Maybe time to gut right away as well?

How do you find fish in a store?
Headless or head on, but dressed and on ice

They do this for a reason

Last longer, taste better

[Bushrat]

Originally Posted by marky_mark

How do you find fish in a store?
Headless or head on, but dressed and on ice

They do this for a reason

Last longer, taste better

They only leave the head on in the stores to enable them to sell 4 pounds of fish for the price of 5 pounder. 99% of people throw the head in the garbage.

[marky_mark]

Originally Posted by Bushrat

They only leave the head on in the stores to enable them to sell 4 pounds of fish for the price of 5 pounder. 99% of people throw the head in the garbage.

You would have to leave the head on in alberta to be able to prove it’s legal

[Smoky buck]

When I sold fish in the past some customers wanted the head on for presentation and others liked to have it because the eyes showed how fresh the fish was

[Coiloil37]

Most of my fish come over the side, small cord gets tied through the gill plate/ mouth, knife goes up and cuts both gulls and they get thrown over the side to bleed out. As soon as they’re done bleeding it goes on the gunnel and I gut it and remove the gills, then back in the water to wash it off. It then goes in the kill tank that’s got 25-30 litres of ice in frozen 2 litre jugs and about 30 litres of saltwater.

Toothy fish like wahoo and Spaniards don’t get the rope because they’ll cut it off (ask me how I know) so they get their gills cut and go head first into a 5 gal bucket to bleed then get the same treatment.

Tuna get their brain spiked then I cut down in a soft spot on the head to see the spinal cord and feed a piece of 300lb mono down the spinal cord to paralyse the heat generating vibrations they create. Then they get a cut on either lateral line just behind the pec fin to bleed them out before gutting and putting on ice.



Saltwater fish never ever see fresh water on them which is why I keep the ice frozen in jugs.



Before reading this thread I honestly thought everyone handled their fish this way although I never gave it much thought. It’s no wonder I won’t eat fish I didn’t catch and handle myself.


Rope through the gills




Bucket treatment.

[akn]

Originally Posted by Coiloil37

Saltwater fish never ever see fresh water on them which is why I keep the ice frozen in jugs.

Whats the reason for this? Just curious.

[SNAPFisher]

I bleed some but not that many. No issues. I think bleeding is wayyyy over hyped. Or, I just really like fish and don't care.

[Coiloil37]

Originally Posted by akn

Whats the reason for this? Just curious.

I don’t have a scientific answer for that. It’s something I’ve been told since I was young and read in dozens of places through the years. If I ever read a proper explanation of why I’ve certainly forgotten by now. Ideally I wouldn’t leave my fish in water all day but I don’t have the refrigeration onboard to freeze them and I don’t want to make room for another esky of ice that I could put them in after they’ve been chilled. The slurry cools them fast and they’re in the same water they came out of which is as good as I can do.
Most saltwater slurries involve ice and “X” amount of salt. I didn’t like doing that because then the ice melts faster. For a while I would bring in a couple buckets of nice clean, blue saltwater from 50+ km out and freeze it but that was to much hassle. A dozen two litre frozen jugs in the kill tank with a bucket or two of saltwater does the job and keeps the salt content as natural as possible. The jugs are easily rinsed at the end of the day and put back in the freezer and if I ever had to I could drink the freshwater out of the jugs after it melted.

When I was reading about prepping and storing sashimi (and fish in general) the Japanese discussed never putting fresh water on the fish either. I don’t hold my sashimi in the fridge for a week plus while I’m eating it like they do but I’ll happily eat it up to about the third day.
I’ve also fished with a guy who won’t rinse the fillets in fresh water before he cooks them. He rinses in the ocean after he guts it and then pats the fillets with paper towel before cooking. I don’t go that far. I’ll give them a quick rinse after filleting and pat them dry before cooking.

When I lived in Alberta I wouldn’t leave my dead fish in water all day either. It was bled, gutted and put into ice that drained as it melted. We got away with that in the motherland because freshwater fish are pretty small and it’s not that hard to keep them in ice. Try that with a couple hundred pounds of saltwater fish and you’ve got a logistical nightmare on a small fishing boat. Prob has something to do with bacteria growth but like I said I can’t remember.

[The Fisherman Guy]

A quick death after capture by snapping the neck also bleeds the fish. No need to bonk, or pull the knife out while bobbing in the waves.

Sideways for pike, vertically for walleye. Works great - I find it makes a difference in meat quality.

[roosterman]

Be careful bleeding a 49.5 cm walleye if your filling a B tag. they do "grow" a bit when you cut through the gills.

[Fishwhere]

Does anyone have consistent success bleeding pike. I tried cutting throat area, clipping gills, and hitting the heart with a knife between the pectorals. None of which worked that great or consistent

Let me know,

Thanks!

[mlee]

My uncle commercial fished BC for 30+ years and when it came to salmon he used to say that it was the involuntary muscle contractions as the fish was bleeding out that did the most damage to the meat. He would spike the brain, cut the gills and sever the spinal chord at the skull at at the tail before they went into holding. I guess it's a Japanese thing but he swore by it.
I bleed my fish but other than that I'm not too particular.

[-JR-]

Great post .
Big game and in fish ,they should be bleed

[-JR-]

na

[does it ALL outdoors]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

Always bleed. Super easy. Why not take the extra 10 seconds?

Agree, I gut em and bleed them before they even make it into the cooler.

[EZM]

Originally Posted by akn

Whats the reason for this? Just curious.

Salt water keeps flesh firm - I have a buddy who soaks our freshwater fillets in cold salted water for at least 45 min before patting them down with a paper towel and freezing them. Same Idea as salting your minnows I guess.

And as mentioned, the Salt also helps keep any bacteria down.