i'm sure this has been covered, but help a girl out? what is the best way to kill the fish b/f filleting? i use an electric knife. can you just put them on ice and wait, or tell me what the proper method is.

We always used what we call a fish-bonker, it's about the size of a minature wooden bat. One whack across the ole melon, and nighty night.

Good-luck

Marc

You will get lots of comments but I'll start out first. Here's what I recommend. Recently I tried to fillet a bunch of blue cats that were flopping around and I got nearly beat to death and they bled everywhere.

This is what works for me. Ice them down. Period. It puts them to sleep and the heart stops pumping. The fillets come out snow white because there is no blood to mess everything up. Now, I skin my cats and fillet them with a knife, never opening up the rib cage, stomach area. The fillets are perfect. My hands get cold but I'd much rather deal with that, than worrying about flip flopping and the blood everywhere. You have to make your own choices.

I wouldn't even kill them. Just bob them on the head with a blunt object to knock them out, and start your filleting. I grew up in Louisiana, and this was/is how they do it at the fish market. They dump a bunch on the floor from a tank, you point out the one(s) you want, they bob 'em, fillet 'em (or dress 'em) and wrap 'em up.

FT

one of the guides out of anchor inn knows the spot to stick a knife in their head that kills them instantly but i did not watch him enough to tell you where that spot is
if you don't want to bang em on the head, do what seigrest says

We always cut the tails while hanging them in a tree. We use bailing wire that stays in the tree and hang about 10 at a time. it only takes a minute or two and the cat is dead.

The meat taste better when you have bled them. The hanging part makes for easier skinning if you go that way or just take them down and fillet. Wire is easy to push thru the lip also, or you can poke you knife thru first, then run the wire thru and take a coupe of twists on the wire.

Matt

FT, that is basically what i have been doing. it is just so barbaric.......but if that is what we need to do.....i'll do it.

seigrist, are you cooling and using an electric knife?

for me it's important to bleed the fish else my clients go home with a bloody mess of gallon bags of fillets ... when ya bleed them that also kills the fish and I use an electric fillet knife and cut one of the gills then put them back in the livewell to bleed out ... gotta put them back in the water for this to work very good and then the fillets come off with very little to no blood at all and the fish are limp and easy to fillet like that ... in the winter it takes about 30 minutes for them to quit kicking .. in the summer it only takes about 10 to 15 minutes ... without the blood all over the place and the fish not flopping around like crazy it makes it a lot nicer

There is a tiny split in the center of the skull that runs lengthwise at a place slightly higher than their eyes. It is not very long and is located in varying distances from the mouth according to species. You can sometimes find it by pressing with your finger. I take the tip of my knife, just to penetrate the hide and insert a broomstraw, small stiff twig, or stiff blade of grass in towards the spine at a slight downward angle and when you hit the central nervous system the cat will straighten out and quiver for a few seconds. When you hit it with the twig, leave it there until the quivering subsides.

now that is just freaky sounding, eagle.....but i'll try. i'll also try cutting one of the gills off. some old schoolers really believe in bleeding these things. i understand not wanting the blood to soak into the meat, but it seems like if you have them in fresh water as you are cleaning, that wouldn't happen. maybe i'm wrong. my dad is adamant that they be bled first.

Mine usually just go straight on ice when they come off the stringer. I just like to ice them down well for a few hours before filleting.

Eagle is right, and a very thin bladed knife will also hit that spot.

ICE,is the best. The blood will colagulate and the meat will be nice and white.

Just fillet them alive.

i like to bleed big cats.
i will hang them up and cut there tail off.
but for killing them i fish the Brazos and if it is not too hot we just throw the fish in the bottom of the boat.
but if it is too hot we will put them on a stringer and find a tree to tie them too.
on the way home the fish will sometimes die and sometimes not.
we just dont worry about it and go ahead and filet them.
we have about a 25 mile drive from the brazos to my house.
and most people know it is hard to kill a cat.