Where do you clean your fish?

[MikeFishes]

So, you get a big one and decide that he'd make a good dinner for tonight. Where do you clean him? Right there at the lake, or when you get him home? If the former, what do you do with the gibblets?

[fishnislife]

I always bleed'em right away after catching by cutting the gill rakes. Normally I will clean them at the lake and toss the insides back into the water. (free fish food) If I get home and clean them, I will dispose of the fun stuff by throwing them into a ziplock bag and putting it the trash can right away.

Why do you ask? Do you have some recipe for the gibblets you want to share? Are we wasting good stuff?

I do know people who throw the whole fish into a soup. Yes, eye balls and all.


fishnislife

[A9]

Depends on where I fish and what kind of fish I catch....

[TroutCowboy]

good question, i'll be curious to see the other responses...

i typically clean them @ home, but if there are facilities where i've been fishing i'll take advantage. i guess i've gotten good enough at my technique and cleanup skills because my wife doesn't put up too much of a fight when i bring them inside to do it. i do it in the kitchen sink but put all the "goodies" in a ziploc bag and they go straight to the can outside. i rinse out the really big freezer bags when they're on their last use (had raw meat in them or something and can't be recycled again) because you can kind of prop the mouth open and clean the fish right over the opening.

i would be curious to know if there's any advantage (freshness, flavor, etc) to cleaning them any earlier, like at the lake. either way, i'm pretty consistent about one thing -- getting them on ice as soon as possible. i guess that might be the advantage to cleaning them at the lake, you can get the inside of the fish chilled sooner?

food for thought: (ok, bad pun) i know that with some species/states/lakes you must leave the head (and tail?) intact, so if you clean at the lake you may need to modify your technique if you're a head-chopper-offer. i would imagine that's to both aid in the identification of the fish and, more importantly, determine if it was a legal keeper by size.

[MikeFishes]

good question, i'll be curious to see the other responses...

i typically clean them @ home, but if there are facilities where i've been fishing i'll take advantage. i guess i've gotten good enough at my technique and cleanup skills because my wife doesn't put up too much of a fight when i bring them inside to do it. i do it in the kitchen sink but put all the "goodies" in a ziploc bag and they go straight to the can outside. i rinse out the really big freezer bags when they're on their last use (had raw meat in them or something and can't be recycled again) because you can kind of prop the mouth open and clean the fish right over the opening.

i would be curious to know if there's any advantage (freshness, flavor, etc) to cleaning them any earlier, like at the lake. either way, i'm pretty consistent about one thing -- getting them on ice as soon as possible. i guess that might be the advantage to cleaning them at the lake, you can get the inside of the fish chilled sooner?

food for thought: (ok, bad pun) i know that with some species/states/lakes you must leave the head (and tail?) intact, so if you clean at the lake you may need to modify your technique if you're a head-chopper-offer. i would imagine that's to both aid in the identification of the fish and, more importantly, determine if it was a legal keeper by size.

I do clean at home, but I think I'd prefer to clean at the lake and let the ducks/fish eat the insides. At least that's what I'm used to, backpacking and cleaning right there, then slapping the cridder on the fire.

You're right about keeping the head, especially for salmon. I'm sure that there are those whould be able to identify the fish by the smallest bit, but for the rest of us, it's the head that gives us the clues. Also, don't some salmon have some sort of ID in the head? No problem, not like keeping the head is too much of a problem. Becides, there's the cheeks.

[beerman1981]

I clean my fish at home, just because I like to utilize every moment of fishing possible. I guess I could clean all of them when I am done for the day, but it's a lot easier for me to do it at home, with running water, a cutting board, etc. However, as soon as I catch a fish that I plan on keeping, it goes in an icechest FULL of ice (the beer needs to stay cold too)! I have heard that if you bleed your fish out and discard the guts as soon as you catch it, it will have a fresher taste. Whether or not this is true, I do not know. The second I get home, I clean my fish and toss out all of the guts into the trash bag. I'm sure my neighbors love that, especially in July, lol.

[Bodofish]

I spent 16 years in the fresh fish processing business. Time and temperature is everything. But to every rule there is an exception. If fish are actively feeding they have all the enzymes and acids going like crazy so as soon as they die they start to digest / decompose themselves. Getting them cold (just below freezing) will slow this to some extent but not stop it. The best is to gut them as soon as you know you're going to keep them or as soon as you can get to it.

[Shane]

I clean them at home and throw evrything in the trash out side when done. Chances are nothing is going to eat whats left. I dont like to go to a lake and smell dead fish guts.

[The Quadfather]

Good thread,

I was always taught by my dad as a kid,, that it was sort of bad woods ethics to leave your guts in the lake. I'm talking about alpine lakes, hiking in etc. So we buried them and far from the tent, and hoped the bears didn't come. So I have carried that over to any kind of lowland lakes too. I am all aware of the crawdads who need to eat etc. But I think it's sort of crude when I come upon a place like Spectacle lake Resort that has a cleaning station right at the dock, and then alll the guts go right into the lake at the dock side. So, I just clean them at home. Keep chilled in the snow when in the alpine lakes, keep them on ice or in the water in live well or shade etc. I also kind feel like,, as far cleaning before or after getting home, and all that stuff about taste diff. Common, for the most part of what your catching is still 10-14 inch trout. I don't know that I would taste that much difference. Of course with a 3-4lb fish I guess I would.
(disclaimer)******* I said 10-14 inch, I know many of you studs out there only catch above 18":cheers:

[gpc]

OK here is what you are "supposed" to do:

1) kill the fish immediately. When you put the fish on a stringer or in a fish basket they try to fight for their life to get away. When this happens they release lactic acid into its flesh, this is the same stuff that humans release when they work out which in turn makes them soar. So in more or less words your eating "soar" meat. Also when you keep them on a stringer you are keeping them in the upper water column which is the warmest part of the water so it is better to keep the fish out of the water, and kill them right after their caught

2)Bleed the fish. When the blood is left in the fish this is what makes the "fishy" taste. This should be done right after being caught, by cutting the gills and making a slice by the tail will drain the fish completely. If you wait too long to bleed the fish the blood wont all come out. If you eat the fish fresh than you wont taste a difference but if you wait to eat the fish (especially if you freeze it) than the fish will taste a lot better

3)Keep the fish cool. Fish can begin to deteriorate with in minutes during hot weather. You want to keep the fish at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. So a cooler of ice is the best thing

4)clean fish a s quick as possible. It is illegal to fillet fish in the field. As is to decapitate a fish with a size limit, but if the size limit is 12" and you have a 20" and the overall length of the decapitated fish is still bigger than 12" you should be all right.

So here its is

Catch the fish
Whack the fish over the head
Bleed the fish
Put fish on ice
Clean fish ASAP

The reason why I say this is how your "supposed" to it is because I only do this with salmon or bigger trout. While fishing around my house I will wait and bring the fish home and clean them in my kitchen and keep all the guts/heads for crabbing. The way I look at it is I don't want to waste any of the fish. I took its life so I should at least show the fish enough respect and not waste any of the fish (not that I have a problem with taking the fish guts too the trash can, but buying crab bait can get a little expensive) But when I'm fishing at a far away lake I will clean the fish right at the lake or at the fillet station. I don't see any problem with throwing the guts in the water but 90% of the time I bring the guts home for crabbing. I have an old freezer in my back yard FULL of guts

[hewesfisher]

When fishing for the eastern WA trout that I will keep (only from deep cold waters), they get bled immediately upon coming out of the net, and gutted as soon as possible thereafter. Then they get placed on ice until we get home to process them. Innards find there way to the bottom of the lake.

If we're panfishing, they go on ice and I simply fillet when we get home. Carcasses go into a plastic trash bag and are then dumped in the garbage.