Humane fish kill/cleaning??? And to bleed them?

[sh00ter]

For larger fish (probably catfish), I read a whack to the head with a club or hammer right before filleting. What about for smaller fish like crappie?

Also, I have recently read that fish taste better if you bleed them before cleaning them. So let's say you were catching a mess of crappie and keeping them in your livewell. At what point and what chronological procedure would you use to kill/bleed them (or would you)?

I read some people use an ice chest but I would want to keep them in the livewell alive as long as possible before cleaning. I have read all sorts of procedures. I doubt I will take an ice chest on the boat just for keeping fish. So that begs the question that if you have a fish die in the livewell, how long can he be dead and still be okay to clean & eat in a non-winter season?

How do you guys do it all??? I grew up with a step dad who just took the catch and put them in a non-iced bucket and let them suffocate on the ride back from the lake and then cleaned them whether alive or not OR just cleaned them all straight from the livewell at the boat dock which I remember as a kid thinking was cruel. Then later in life, my other buddy would use a claw hammer or a sawzall on the catfish we caught before cleaning. Now that I'm back into fishing as an adult with a boat, I need my own system. Much of my fishing will just be bass catch/release but I do want to try crappie again as I know it is supposed to be the best.

 

[CHenry]

 

[Glock 40]

It doesn't take much of a blow to a fishes skull behind eyes to knock them out. Amazing they aren't that robust when it comes to impacts. Some people talk about bleeding larger fish like if you have big cat fish or something due to taste. With Crappie you can clean them so quick I wouldn't worry about it. Then put them in some icy salt water it will pull any blood or funky taste out. Then you can soak in milk prior to cooking if you like. Lots of opinions and choices out there.

As for health safety. If its cold they will last a while without issue. If a fish has died, and sat in a live well all day. I will pass on it. If its hot I have seen a fish dry out hard as a rock in a 20 minute drive in someone basket in a boat. If your fishing in the heat with no live-well buy a cheap styerfoam cooler and bag of ice to be sure. You can make your own ice with empty milk jugs just toss them in the freezer or deep freeze if you have one. Look at the gills if they don't look good, the fish is mushy or smells extra funky. Then don't chance it. Not worth eating imo. Personally I have rarely kept fish in the last 20 years. I am not a big fish eater. My father and a couple buddies love to eat them so if I go with them they can have them. The few times I want fish a year I just go have it prepared at a restaurant. No telling how many 1000s of fish I watched my dad fillet as a kid with flopping on the board. still flopping with no meat on them then still flopping as they were buried in the garden.

 

[Cowcatcher]

I've heard some folks talk bout cutting a catfishes tail to bleed him out. On da Gulf my family always throws fish straight on ice after catching em. I suppose they freeze to death. Be sure they are flat on ice. A frozen curled up fish is a pain to filet!

 

[sh00ter]

Thanks for the replies; on the cold salt water for the fillets, I recall my stepdad always froze the meat in water in baggies when putting in the freezer. I don't think he used salt...are you suggesting to use salt only if you plan to eat the fillets as never-frozen? Also, regardless, if soaking in salt water, how long? Perhaps I could do that 100% of the time even if I then freeze them in fresh water after soaking???

 

[LBnM]

Crappie are about all I keep any more and not a lot of them. I also keep smaller catfish I catch while crappie fishing and treat them both the same way. However, crappie are a very delicate fish while catfish are pretty robust. If the water temp is under 70 degrees they go in the live well till the trip home on ice. If the temp is above 70 degrees the keepers always go immediately to an ice chest on the boat. By the time to filet them they are already dead. When cleaning the fish the fillets go directly into an ice water bath until time to cook or freeze them. Handling crappie this way pretty much keeps them from getting mushy. I don't use salt. That was a way the old timers (I now are one!) used to soak blood out of a fish or small game. It works but is not necessary on what I keep. We never froze in salt water, just soaked. Something else I do is freeze in either good well water or bottled water. I don't drink city tap water and don't want my fish frozen in it. If you are interested in crappie fishing go to Crappie.com and join up. There is an Okie section and you will learn lots of stuff about crappie fishing. It is a family oriented site so if you are not inclined to do that don't join, just lurk.

 

[swampratt]

I eat all kinds of fish and No salt water was ever used.
I just rinse my fish off after filleting and stick the pieces in a baggie NO water in the bag but the bag goes on ice.

If you soak in water the meat will soak it up like a sponge and if you bake the fish or just season and fry in a skillet like frying an egg or pancake that water in the filet will steam the meat more than fry it.

You can dry it out well with paper towels.
I freeze in baggies for much later but i lay fish flat and get the air out.

Worried about freezer taste getting into the meat then wrap with Good aluminum foil.

Fresh fish gills are red and dead fish will turn white or very light pink in the gills.
There is a point when the red is gone and the pink gets too light and the fish needs to become fertilizer.

I do not worry about bashing fish in the head.
I do not like to poke the brain that is a bit hard and if you slip with the knife you could do yourself harm.

I tried bleeding big catfish and it did nothing for the blood in the meat..So I skip that and filet them and rinse with water and that works fine.

DO not stick too many fillets in a baggie in the ice chest.
I filled up a bread sack one time and stuck it in the ice chest when i got home many hours later the meat in the middle of the bread sack was not cold the outer meat was very cold but insulated the innards and those went bad as it was summer time and they stayed warm and almost like they cooked inside the sack.

Horrible smell and I had to toss a lot of meat.
Small bags and layer the ice.

Do not forget to take the iron skillet and some eggs and grease and cornmeal and some seasonings to the river with you to cook fresh caught fish. just a bit better than PB&J or a Bologna sammich'.

 

[Glock 40]

Lots of good info. If you do use the salt water to pull out the blood you can do 6 hours or overnight is what my dad always said. When I was kid we kept a lot of fish. We crappie fished during the winter. Ran trot lines all summer and bass fished in between. I preferred to bass fish or bow fish as I got older. So I had no desire to keep anything really as crappie was my favorite to eat. Dad would keep old paper milk cartons or orange juice cartons to freeze fish in. He would wash them out and then fill with fish and water. That way water was over the top of them. He didn't add salt to water that he froze with. Now he will put them in freezer bags full of water when he freezes them.

 

[dennishoddy]

If you are interested in crappie fishing go to Crappie.com and join up. There is an Okie section and you will learn lots of stuff about crappie fishing. It is a family oriented site so if you are not inclined to do that don't join, just lurk.

I'm a long time member of Crappie. com as well as another member or two on this forum.
Now, for the bleeding the fish. Crappie/walleye/saugers/saugeye don't require it. When I catch large catfish, I've nipped a couple of gills or cut the tail for them to bleed out.
Same with Hybrid stripers, Stripers. Fished the discharge at sooner lake as an employee almost every day while working there and ate a lot of them. Bleeding them out makes a difference in cleaning them. Not a lot of blood and I think it makes them taste better.
All of the stripers/sand bass/ Saugeye require removing the red meat on the skin and along the lateral line of the fish. If not, it will taste fishy and that is what puts a lot of people off eating fish.
I even remove that red lateral line on salmon. Makes it much more mild.

 

[sh00ter]

Thanks for all the good info; I guess a teaspoon to a gallon for a soak is good or would it be more/less? I think if I soak I would catch, clean, soak, freeze so hopefully an overnight soak in the fridge before freezing in fresh water in freezer bags would be fine?

I also found it interesting to have an ice chest for the keepers on a hot day. I'd "want" to use my livewell if I could and have them alive as long as possible before I froze them. That begs another question of if ice is necessary under that scenario? Let's say I went bass fishing (catch/release) and then decided to try for a few crappie or cats before I went home. Surely I could keep them alive in the livewell and then toss them in a bucket and take home with no ice if I live 15-20min from the ramp? I'm sure the catfish would be fine as they are more robust as mentioned but the crappie could spoil how much time in spring/summer/fall temps above say 50* if I have to load the boat and get home and maybe 45min before I could get them on ice if I didn't come prepared? Does anyone fish in spring/summer for keeper crappie with no ice on-hand?

Finally, Dennis, on the Sooner lake thing; I did that once more than 20yrs ago while snowing and was catching good hybrids and say a lady catch the largest black bass I have ever seen (it had to be 15lbs guys) and then it came off up on the bank and flopped back in after she landed it. Long walk at that time to get where we needed to and had to use surf rods to cast far enough towards the plant.