Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations BEST TASTING FISH

I have been a offshore charter captain( retired) for a long time and have a way to process any kind of fish, fresh or saltwater. First we add lots of ice, then add enough water to make a slush. Then add enough salt to make it very salty. This will drop the water temp around 32 deg. Chunk the fish in alive as you catch them. This will set up hyperthermia in the fish causing the blood in the fish to go into the organs and out of the flesh,death is quick and after awhile when you clean them all the blood will be in the innards not the meat, causing better tasting fish, this method is used by commercial folks on tuna that will be sushi grade.... Try it and good eating


Pat

Dang Pat, thanks. That is a great tip. I used to do the same with Crappy to keep the flesh firm.

Bob, I'm 62 years old and dangit why sit on something that makes all the Dif in the world how Fisk will taste... Never been one to keep stuff to myself . I've been doin it for years and it really works

Pat, I'm 63 and winter in Fl. If ya ever get to the good side of the gulf, let me know. Bet we could exchange lots of good secrets and probably some good lies.

Bob
I know that is for sure and probably would have a time doin it, I know we have seen a lot of cool things in the gulf that people prolly wouldn't believe . Good fissen

Pat

Im a fan of this cooler method. Firms the meat for easier filleting too.

Thanks for the tip. Might have to try that.

Proper handling after the catch, storing until cleaning, cleaning, and storing after the cleaning are so very important for good tasting fish. There are few fish that are not delicious when properly cared for.

We had a church pastor who brought some autistic/ADD/ADHD kids, and some of their parents and grandparents to our ponds this past Saturday and Sunday evenings.

One of the grandparents asked how long I'd been fishing and how often we eat fish. I told her that it goes back to before I was born - looking out my mother's belly button at a bobber! We joked about it, but I told her I could never remember a time in my life when I wasn't fishing or eating fish. I'm 66, quickly heading 67. My wife and I eat fish about twice a week. We have many recipes. Our recipes range from the equivalent of steak or pork chops (fillets or steaks), to McNuggets (beer-battered fish chunks), to hamburgers (fish patties using crab cake recipes), to soups/stews (our favorite is fish poached for 8-minutes in homemade tomato/jalapeno/onion salsa), and smoked fish (think jerky).

As one of the kids caught a 3 lb. channel cat we had our first lesson in preparing a fish for dinner. We threw it in a cooler of ice and water in the back of my UTV. I explained why I was doing what I did, starting with it being humane way for the fish to die in peace. We got several other catfish, a few eating size LMB, and some nice HBG and BG from the two ponds.

When it got too dark to fish anymore, we took the iced cooler of fish to my cleaning station. It is a sink at the edge of the woods, down hill from the house. By then, the fish were all dead, or at least comatose. All watched as I filleted and skinned them. We went through anatomy and identification lessons. We examined the skeletons, gills, and heads of each type of fish. We looked at the air bladder, intestines, stomach, liver, and heart. One of the catfish hearts was still pumping. We found good sized pariah sunfish (offspring of my HBG) in some of the catfish stomachs. We mostly found fish food pellets in the stomachs and intestines.

The rinsed, skinned, and boneless fillets went back in the cooler of refreshed ice water. We took the cooler into my "game kitchen" where we half filled the large stainless sink with at least five gallons of water, and then added about a cup of kosher salt (non-iodined is OK too), and a bunch of ice cubes. Wew stirred it up and let it sit for a while as they played pin ball.

The bluegill and LMB fillets went straight into the sink. The channel catfish fillets were cut down the lateral line, and the dark red meat was carefully sliced out from the top and bottom halves. It can be very strong tasting due to the heavy concentration of blood. Soaking in saltwater helps take out the remainder of the blood.

The catfish bellys were skinned inside and outside. They are like lobster.

The fish were divided up and put into zip lock bags filled with water and about a teaspoon of kosher salt. All the air and bubbles were squeezed out of each bag.

Everyone went home with sealed bags of fish in water. All were told they could keep the fish for a day or two in the bags before preparing them for dinner. If not, they should be frozen. They will retain their freshness for several months. Freezing them in a water bath without any air prevents freezer burn and drying. When thawed, they are hard to distinguish from fresh fish.

All species are a little different. There are only a few kinds of fish that aren't good, either because of bones, or very strange tastes. Saltwater fish, like puffers, need special attention because there are parts of them that can cause poisoning. But, most everything else can make a pretty tasty meal.

Last week my wife and I enjoyed a number of different kinds of ocean fish we caught when we were at the beach. Bluefish, speckled trout, flounder, croaker, etc. By themselves they are good. Mixed with fresh caught shrimp (head still on), clams, etc., they sure are hard to beat in a low country boil.

Ken

We have friends that live in Slovakia on the river between Slovakia and Hungary (Danube). Right on the river in a floating house. When talk got around to fishing and eating fish I ask if they ate a lot of fish and what kind. There were mostly catfish and carp caught. I ask them if they ate the carp. "Oh yes, very delicious". A lot of Asians also eat carp. Yet around here they are considered a trash fish, mostly left on the bank by anglers.

Wife pressure cooked carp once, and the results were very similar to canned white Tuna. Carp Salad sandwiches were hard to tell apart from Tuna Fish Salad sandwiches.

Not going anywhere particular with this post, other than to say that it is interesting to see the different cultures that eat foods that others wouldn't touch.

Personally, I'll go for the Hogfish (Bocaneti in Mexico) when it comes to ocean fish.

Ken:

Remember the waxed paper milk cartons? My grandmother ALWAYS froze her fish in water, in those cartons.

Esshup they laugh but it still works today! Sometimes the old ways ain't so bad at all


Pat

Neat posts guys. Pat, thanks for getting it started.

Yes. When I was a kid we also froze our fish that way.

I guess the next time I get some larger catfish and some 2-4lb range I will video my cleaning method. Quick, no blood, no guts.

40 years on the gulf and you're bound to pick up a few things that work... I also have a way to filet the fish where you get all the meat and no bones and never cut into the guts or ribs or skin... Even works on catfish...

Pat

Pat, is it similar to how a Tuna is filleted into 4 fillets?

Now, getting on to taste, My #1 and #2 preferred fish is Wahoo followed by Bluefin Tuna. Both cooked fresh, not after they are frozen. I think freezing changes the taste/texture.

Bluefin is almost like steak.

Could someone please start a new thread on best ways to fillet fish? This would be SO helpful.

I've heard some have worked out new ways to filet bluegill with little waste and no bones. I'm sure everyone has their techniques, probably a description is good but a video is better.

Then Bass, LMB, SMB, is this different than stripers, wipers, or HSB or are they the same?

Then we would need one for catfish, one for walleye

I hear pike are a different beast to filet but not sure how many people eat pike.

I think I would enjoy KEEPING fish much more if i felt like I could do justice to fileting them and not butcher everything into a mess. because I tend to feel like i'm wasting the fish, I tend to throw them back more. If I had a good filet technique and a good batter/prep my wife might even warm up to serving fish more.

Thanks in advance!

Canyon

It has taken me many years to perfect fileting of fish . I have a method that leaves just a boneless ,skinless peace of fish it is a little slower than just hacking away but gets the max fish. I will try to write it down where it can be understood. In the meantime a sharp thin blade is a starting place. My fishing buds now filet the way I do


Pat

Are there any good You Tube videos of fileting fish?

Esshup

There is only one fish that even in the same room with fresh tuna... Crappie... Even then it is distant... Fileting is basically fine surgery you have to have a sharp knife

I found a couple of good films of filleting Stringrays on Utube. Have'nt been able ta get one yet tho. Rumored to taste like Scallops (YUMMY) Any experience with em Pat?

Bob
I've heard that same thing before, I tried one once and it close to...... Shoe leather...
So I haven't tried another. Maybe mine was having a bad hair day . Te he

Tuna...
Mahi
Yellow Perch

Tuna
Wahoo
Mahi
The rest we can argue about

Fresh winter bluegill
Fresh summer bluegill
Bluegill that's been refrigerated
Everything else is good, just not great like bluegill.