How do you fillet/cook the catch?
 

I was wondering how you guys do the fillet/steak with your catch. Went on the hunt for the WSB on Friday PM and there were about 10 PB's out there at 1230 AM near the Scripps Pier, Plenty of squid!, no bites so we decided to settle in the kelp about 3 AM. Picked up some GOOD size kelp bass, sand bass and rock fish.... Scaled them and cut off the head & fins, tail, gutted and BBQ. Picked apart for fish tacos....

Is there a better way for these tasty guys. Fillet seemed difficult as the rib bones were every where?

Post your videos so we all can learn to fillet various fish! Would like to see the major players WSB, YT & HB! Caught a HB in Mission Bay 2 weeks ago barely legal my first!

Tight lines!

:you_rock:

I was out there in a skiff all night friday to saturday morning. I was paranoid about hitting kayaks after being night blinded by those squid boat lights as they roll up and down the swells.

Saw a couple unlit yaks. Not sure I'd be out there w/o some kind of light. I was probably being especially careful because I kayak the area myself. Has there ever been any PB vs yak incidents there at night?

We were fishing live squid too with the same results. Lots of calicos, sandies, a few rock fish, but none of the 'right kind' of bites we were hoping for. Well, there was one big bite around 1am, but I lost it to a bad knot.

Back to filleting, there is a better way, but I don't have video. I do 2 cuts on each side. One from the back of the head to the belly passing just behind the side fin and then all the way back to the tail. Next cut is putting the knife back in the first angle of the first cut and slide the knife along the back bone towards the tail, removing the fillet from the fish. Slide the knife up and down so it slices easier, don't just force it straight back. Flip over and repeat.

If you're out in the water, be sure to leave the skin on in case DFG needs to ID the fish. I think there's a certain size the fillets have to be but I honestly don't know. Anyone?

Skin should be easy to remove with a knife when you're ready. No need to scale and gut. I learned this method not too long ago myself. I'm sure a video would be worth 100xs more than me trying to explain it. :)

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I am NO expert on filleting a fish.

I do know a couple of things.

1 Have a SHARP knife, sharpen frequently, less waste this way.

2 The technique used by a deckie who has to clean a hundred fish in an hour on a moving boat maybe slighly different than yours at home.

3 On YT, never waste the belly flap meat, this is the fattest part of the fish and best for Hamachi.

4 Use a soup spoon to scrape the rib area of the filled fish and you'll get A LOT of meat to make fish balls, fish burger patties, soup, etc.

5 Hali seems to be one of the easiest fish to fillet without waste. If you leave any meat on a hali skeleton, you did it WRONG. Watch some friends or videos.

Matt

I was filleting some Halibut a couple weeks ago and my buddy told me not to forget the cheek meat. That was the first I heard of that for halibut. So I cut out the cheek meat. Personally I didn't care for it but others may like it.

Check-out this approach. . .
 

Cleaning fish has always been a pain in the arse for guys like me (always catching small fish), where a fillet just won't do.

Anyhow, ran across this video that inspired me. I tried it on a sandbass and it worked fine (if you don't mind bones).

But in a pinch, an easy way to prep a fish for the grill/pan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjTlFwQb7D0

:cheers1: