smaller fish I will fillet one side and skin the other, that way you have the fillet for those that don't like to eat fish off the bone and a whole fish (half of one ) for those that do.

copy that on the belly meat, but i think this method is intended more for the "box sized fish" in which case belly meat is not worth messing with.. on a bigger blue or yella, say 10# and up.. i say it may be beneficial to skin em and chunk em out..

Lets examine this a second.. its august.. 105 in the shade now. if we cut the gills and toss the fish back in the "live" well to expire and bleed out.. and back to catching we go.. at some point during all the fun we ought to put some ice in the well with them.. casue they aint alive no more.. and 88-90 degreee water is all that stands between me and a livewell full of spoiled fish.. so im thinking.. whats the point in keeping the live well running on fish with no gills? what if you were to cut the gills and put em straight on ice.. who needs the live well for fish with no gills?

the fish won't bleed out properly if you don't throw them back in the water ... the heart will "air-up" just like any other pump and then it'll just quit pumping before all the blood is pumped out of their bodies ... I'll explain how I do everything in this thread but I keep them alive as long as possible during the summer ... a lot of times they'll die anyhow in this heat no matter how much you run your livewell ... I keep an eye on them and if one kicks the bucket while fishing in this heat I'll throw the dead fish in my ice chest.

I don't cut the gills on the fish until it's time to go to the ramp. if you cut them when you catch them they'll spoil in the summer months ... I do have to cut them when I catch them in winter because it takes a long time for them to die even if they have no blood left in their bodies. the way I do it during all other times of the year is I remove the fish from the livewell and lay them on the floor of the boat ... take a pic sometimes and then as I throw them back in the livewell I cut their gills ... the 15 minute ride back to the boat ramp is usually enough time for them to kick the bucket unless the water is cold and in that case, when the water is 45 degrees or lower I keep my electric knife plugged in and when we catch one I just slit the gills and throw them in the livewell ... all of them will be dead except for the last few we catch but I just leave them in the livewell for last and usually they're dead by the time I get done cleaning the others that are dead.

i do
and on top of foil with some lemon butter and other seasonings

Not wanting to start anything at all here but this is one area where i do not agree with Tiny. I think the way he cleans fish, while very neat and effeciant, I think it wastes to much meat. If I had to clean fish for a living like him and do it everyday i might do it this way but for the amount of times I get to put fish in the freezer, I am going to get every last shread of meat off that fish which means that most of the time I will go ahead and skin it first. When I do fillet them I cut through the ribs.

you might want to try it. i had to figure it out on my own before i saw his video. if it gets right down to it, little fish have next to nothing as waste, and a bigger fish there is nothing stopping me from trimming out any meat missed. i have done it many different ways now and it seems to me the only waste might be the belly meat which on channels and blues i dont want anyway.

Old habits die hard, so yes sir, I do skin them before "backstrappping" them.

My uncle showed me the "East Texas" way to clean catfish, as he calls it. He's from Lufkin.

Put 'em on a nail in a tree or a stainless hook hanging from a chain. Slit all the way around just under the side fins and skin all the way past the tail. Then he takes his knife and cuts just above the dorsal fin, this is where the back bone is the thinnest, and breaks all the way through. Here he twists the head off and discards it along with the innards. Then he cuts it into steaks, meaning he turns his knife perpendicular (like a T) to the fish and cuts the entire fish with bones into 1 to 2 inch steaks. From here they get breaded and fried. Then as you eat, you pick out the bones and leave them on your plate. He even throws in the tail. He says it frys up just like a potato chip.

Admittedly, I'm not a fan of this style. I grew up a city boy. I've done my best to move more country as I get older, but I just can't bring myself to eat a fried catfish tail...

To each his own.

tails are the best part

Depends on how many we catch. 5 we skin. More we fillet. Flanks are easy to fillet on larger fish. Smaller fish are better skinned.

I always have.