Filleting Fish
Filleting fish takes a little more time and skill with practice and is often used on larger fish such as salmon or walleyes. But the rewards are having a clean, skinless, and boneless “fillet” to bake or fry. A sharp “fillet knife” is key to successfully cleaning your fish.
Step #1 – Cut along the dorsal fin from head to tail and along the anal fin from anus (or vent) to the tail.
Step #2 – Just behind the gill cover make a vertical cut through the flesh down to the bone. This cut extends from the back to the stomach. Deepen the cut made along the dorsal fin working from head to tail. Hold the knife nearly parallel to the row of bones extending upward from the spine to the back. This cut should extend downward only as far as the backbone.
Step #3 – Repeat this procedure on the stomach side. Cut first from behind the gills to the anus, then along the anal fin cut you made earlier. These cuts should be just below the surface of the belly skin to avoid rupturing internal organs. As you cut up toward the backbone your fillet will come free.
Step #4 – Do not cut the fillet from the tail. Flip the fillet so that it is lying skin-side down. Hold the fish down with one hand just in front of the tail fin. Beginning at the tail carefully skin the fillet, working away from your hand. Work slowly and patiently; cutting too deeply will result in slicing through the skin and not cutting deeply enough will result in lost meat.
Besides the fillet knife, “sharpen” your aquatic science by “exploring” the various internal organs of your fish. Check out your fish’s stomach contents! Examining a fish’s last meal will help you become a better angler. Knowing what the fish was eating can help you better match your next lure to this species’ diet. We’ve also included some lessons below that you can share in class that should help you on your way to becoming a fish biologist, or at least knowing their basic anatomy.
