Do you all make it a point to kill your fish before filleting them? I think it's the more humane way to do it, but I've tried in the past with everything from a hammer to the head to a knife to the brain and I just didn't seem to be able to get it right. I felt like I was causing them more suffering than just filleting them and letting them die.
I just fillet and go on. With the numbers I fillet any more time than necessary is a waste. I can fillet a 12 to 14 inch sand bass and debone the fillets in under a minute.
I cut the heads off, then fillet.
We catch some pretty large blues out of grand lake. if you don't eh, dispatch them first...watch the arteries!
You don't have time to whack a fish on te head wit the back of a knife that's already in your hand to fillet?
Crappie and sand bass I just cut away. But I like to kill the cats first. A catfish guide told me to take some snips and cut their gills. Then just put them back int the basket/livewell for a few minutes. They bleed out and are good to go. I've noticed on the blues we catch that the meet seems whiter when we do this.
That used to freak my wife out. Frozen fish coming back to life in the sink when getting ready to clean them. Oh, and she used to freak when the catfish would beg to be spared too. She sure did like catching them though.
