Bleeding Of Fish

[lonkm]

How many of you bleed a fish that you are going to keep, right away? I have been looking for ways to improve the quality of my fish and according to some articles I have found, bleeding and icing are recommended for certain species, like trout. I have heard of this for crappie too but haven't tried it myself yet.

[Gavin]

I bleed mine right away. I usually rip a gill out after I put em on the stringer.

[Al Agnew]

That's cold, Gavin

Kill them and get them on ice immediately. I don't see any reason for bleeding fish like crappie. The quicker you ice them down and get them really cold, the better.

[RSBreth]

That's cold, Gavin

Kill them and get them on ice immediately. I don't see any reason for bleeding fish like crappie. The quicker you ice them down and get them really cold, the better.

Agreed. The best Trout I've ever had have been times when I could konk them on the head, put them on ice, and cook them within the hour. No bleeding.

[rps]

Bleeding fish has merit if you are talking about strong tasting, oily ocean fish like mackerel. For fresh water fish, with the possible exception of very large catfish, the best thing you can do is ice them immediately.

With trout, the largest single factor in their flavor is how long they have been in the river or stream. "Silver bullets" will never taste like anything but Purina fish chow. However, once the fish have been in the river long enough for the flesh to turn pink/red, the flavor improves.

While I don't bleed white bass, if I keep them to eat, I remove the the red blood line down the center of the skin side of the filet. I also remove the brown blood line from the center of the skin side of salmon and large trout. If I prepare trout or salmon with skin on I advise my guests to only eat the brown flesh if they like very strong fish flavor.

Hope this helps you enjoy your fish.

[Bird Watcher]

I think catfish are best when bled out. The meat changes from pink to white when you clean them and I think tastes a lot better. I wait until I am about to leave the lake and clean fish, then I cut the throat where the gills attach. The fish will be snow white and dead in about 10 minutes. FWIW.

[KCRIVERRAT]

Saw some guys from Illinois a few years back on Truman who made the trip once a year to set trot and limb lines. They slayed the big cats and bled them by cutting them above the tails and having them hang to bleed out. I think that's the ticket for the big ones, especially cats. Crappie, like the others said... just get'em on ice. Trout i've never thought to bleed out, but if you can eat'em the day you catch them... so much the better.

[ozark trout fisher]

I've never bled fish.... Never seen the need. But they might taste better that way, who knows.

[duckydoty]

I bleed silvers, sockeye, and kings. Ripping a gill or inserting your fillet knife and cutting a gill works great. Makes cleaning the fish a little less bloody. I once cut a kings gill and the blood squirted 6 feet across the boat for at least 20 seconds. Never seen anything like it from a fish.