Keep your fish dead or alive????

[MtnMuley]

Depens on the fish...

Salmon - Light bonk, stringer over the side, bleed out, then toss on ice.  Yesterday just had cold ocean water, they were fine.

Lake fish/rockfish/ling - I've never bled them, rockfish/lings go in the cooler if I have one, otherwise in and out of the water as needed to keep them alive and move the boat, lake fish have always been kept live until getting home.  If not staying on lake, then they go on ice until home.

Not sure why the urgency to gut fish out to "cool them down" unless you are catching tuna or fishing in really warm water since the fish are the same temp as the water....   

Your rockfish and ling will look and taste better if they are bled too.

I totally agree with that. I try to bleed all fish these days I plan on eating.

[WAPatriot]

Ideal way to do salmon is to cut gills do not bonk keep that blood pumping get gear back out then clean fish important step most people miss is to massage blood out of veins

[7mmfan]

Why do people insist on cutting the gills themselves? They bleed well for about 5 seconds before the blood coagulates and clots everything, stopping the flow.

Cut the jugular right in front of the heart and the heart will literally shoot blood 3 feet out. When cut that way, the heart will pump all blood out of the body in a matter of 10-15 seconds.

This also makes it so much easier to clean the fish because the gills don't come out in pieces, just one nice clump of gills.

If its cool and I have access to cold saltwater, I bleed in the saltwater (which also helps facilitate bleeding and keeps blood from coagulating), and then gut/gill as soon as possible and into an ice/saltwater mix.

If I'm in a river, I bleed on a stringer and then clean immediately and into ice in the cooler.

A properly bled fish that is cleaned and iced immediately is 1000 times the table fare that an un-bled fish laying on the beach, or even in the water is.

[j_h_nimrod]

I worked with a commercial live bleed processor in AK for a couple years. Cutting 2-3 gill arches of a stunned fish and then getting it back in the water to bleed out is very effective. Fish blood clots much more quickly in the open air. The problem with trying to hit the "jugular" is that it is a more difficult target to hit. It is very effective if done correctly but it is a lot easier to hit a few gills.

Though a topic for another thread this makes me think of bleeding big game. Don't cut the throat!  The only good that does is collapse the circulatory system and keep a lot of blood in the body. Much better to use a small blade and punch it with a little upward slice in the pit of the throat (hollow of the sternum/ribcage). If done right I have never seen a more complete bleed.

[Stein]

Why do people insist on cutting the gills themselves? They bleed well for about 5 seconds before the blood coagulates and clots everything, stopping the flow.

Cut the jugular right in front of the heart and the heart will literally shoot blood 3 feet out. When cut that way, the heart will pump all blood out of the body in a matter of 10-15 seconds.

Where do you slide the knife in?  I've always cut gills with scissors and it seems to work fine but always open to learning.

[7mmfan]

Cut inside the black circle. If you pull the gills back so you can see behind them, you can actually see the blue color of the jugular under the skin. I stick the knife in and cut down and out. You should be able to see the forward heart valve if you do it right and blood will be a pumpin! If you cut to far back, you will actually cut the heart, so its better error forward towards the gills. If you don't see it pumping blood out like crazy, cut up a little further behind the gills.

If all else fails, just stick your knife in around the midpoint behind the gills and cut down following the arch of the gills, you will cut all major veins and arteries connecting to the head/gills.