# Bleeding fish



## JamesF

We have all heard that, bleeding out fish, keeps them fresh tasting. I watched a video about this. The procedure was performed on saltwater fish. Being larger size fish. The method of reaching under the bottom of the gills with your fingers and finding the main artery. Then, just pull on it to separate it, and just pop it. That simple. The fish bleeds out. I just saw this. And I am not sure if this will be a good idea for panfish. I can see it for Walleye and larger fish, but might need some kind of tool for smaller fish.


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## sherman51

JamesF said:


> We have all heard that, bleeding out fish, keeps them fresh tasting. I watched a video about this. The procedure was performed on saltwater fish. Being larger size fish. The method of reaching under the bottom of the gills with your fingers and finding the main artery. Then, just pull on it to separate it, and just pop it. That simple. The fish bleeds out. I just saw this. And I am not sure if this will be a good idea for panfish. I can see it for Walleye and larger fish, but might need some kind of tool for smaller fish.


i've never eat a panfish that needed bleeding. except maybe a rock bass. i've eat larger ones from dale hollow that sure could have used something.
sherman


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## JamesF

We usually ice panfish. However there are places where the fish live in a poor environment, and I don't think anything could improve the taste.


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## 1MoreKast

If you carry around hemostats those work really well to get in there and get what needs done. But for panfish, ehhh not necessary if you ask me but to each their own.


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## JamesF

That's kind of what I thought of it. Some times I think about bleeding out, but I usually end up forgetting about it at the end of the day. Ice works for me when I keep a few.


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## chopper

I was taught to do it on catfish by a good ol Alabama guy. He however cuts the tail off with a little of the meat. They will pee a stream of blood till they die. Works and tastes great


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## parkerss3nm

chopper, only on catfish?


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## Mickey

I am 68 and have cleaned thousands of fish.....walleyes, saugeyes, saugers, bluegills, perch, crappies and have never "bled out" a fish. They have all tasted great. I think the general filleting process works just fine. Once the fillets are put in ice water the little bit of blood comes out. Why complicate things?


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## miked913

It takes an extra 1 second to rip a Gill, when you have 18 filleted fish on the cleaning table and only 17 got bled there is no doubt which was the one that didn't. Your fish cleaning table has nearly zero blood on it, and you fillets are so much whiter and beautiful, the question is why wouldn't you?

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## Redheads

miked913 said:


> It takes an extra 1 second to rip a Gill, when you have 18 filleted fish on the cleaning table and only 17 got bled there is no doubt which was the one that didn't. Your fish cleaning table has nearly zero blood on it, and you fillets are so much whiter and beautiful, the question is why wouldn't you?
> 
> Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk


I agree.....Even if it didn't make a difference with taste or appearance of the fillet just the fact of not having to deal with a $hity,slimy,bloody cleaning table is well worth the two seconds it takes to cut the gills.


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## joekacz

Mickey said:


> I am 68 and have cleaned thousands of fish.....walleyes, saugeyes, saugers, bluegills, perch, crappies and have never "bled out" a fish. They have all tasted great. I think the general filleting process works just fine. Once the fillets are put in ice water the little bit of blood comes out. Why complicate things?


Mickey I'm the same age as you and have also cleaned thousands of fish and I started to bleed walleye's a few year's ago and it's the ONLY way to eat fish.The quality improves immensely especially on the huge ones.I also cook a lot of fish for our friend's and they're in complete agreement on the improvement of the flavor in those "HOG"S".Don't know if it's needed but I may try it on pan fish just to see.If you haven't tried give it a whirl,you'll be surprised. IMO


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## Bluewalleye

Mickey said:


> I am 68 and have cleaned thousands of fish.....walleyes, saugeyes, saugers, bluegills, perch, crappies and have never "bled out" a fish. They have all tasted great. I think the general filleting process works just fine. Once the fillets are put in ice water the little bit of blood comes out. Why complicate things?


I mostly bleed out my fish just so I don't have a bloody mess on the cleaning table. I agree that after cleaning them and putting in water, they clean up just fine. I bleed out all the fish I catch. Pan fish and bigger..


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

I don't keep a bunch of fish but I always bleed mine out anymore. Started doing it after we did some charters in the Keys. I just cut the gills with a knife and pitch em on ice before I head home. Don't know if they taste better but it certainly isn't as big a mess.


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## hailtothethief

I stab the blue spot behind the gill on both sides and clip the gills perpendicular. Then i hold the fish by the tail face down and squeeze the tail and run my hand down the fish back to the head 20 or 30 times. I hate blood. Gotta push it all out.


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## Eyes on te ice

hailtothethief said:


> I stab the blue spot behind the gill on both sides and clip the gills perpendicular. Then i hold the fish by the tail face down and squeeze the tail and run my hand down the fish back to the head 20 or 30 times. I hate blood. Gotta push it all out.


Why not just roll it like a tube of tooth paste?


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## JamesF

Roll em up with one of those fish skinners.


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## BHAPPY

can i ask how you guys bleed walleyes on boats with no livewell ?


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## 1more

Wait till you get to the fish cleaning station and they are just fine!


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## DiverDux

On a stringer over the side of the boat.


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## joekacz

I do mine right in the cooler and we rinse 'em off when we get home.A little messy.I think this year I'll carry a 5 gal. bucket and do it on board.


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## Saugeyefisher

BHAPPY said:


> can i ask how you guys bleed walleyes on boats with no livewell ?


If u have room carry a 5 gal bucket. If not use a stringer. If u dont mind a bloody a cooler,use your cooler....


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## miked913

I just bleed mine in the bait well and flush out with clean lake water. This was during cold water (January) so it didn't really matter(used clicker). My summer time process is when I get to 6 they come out of there after being bled and into the cooler of ice asap. Then I know exactly where we're at with the limits on the boat.









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## LittleDrummerBoy

Good tips guys. I catch a lot of catfish and my wife has been trimming out the bloody meat. Maybe bleeding is the way to go.


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## Eyes on te ice

BHAPPY said:


> can i ask how you guys bleed walleyes on boats with no livewell ?[/QUOTE
> I use one of those stringers with the clip hooks and hang them over the side ( I double up the hogs or use a rope).


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## Tall Tales

JamesF said:


> We have all heard that, bleeding out fish, keeps them fresh tasting. I watched a video about this. The procedure was performed on saltwater fish. Being larger size fish. The method of reaching under the bottom of the gills with your fingers and finding the main artery. Then, just pull on it to separate it, and just pop it. That simple. The fish bleeds out. I just saw this. And I am not sure if this will be a good idea for panfish. I can see it for Walleye and larger fish, but might need some kind of tool for smaller fish.


In some of the undergrad marine biology work we did, I learned about this technique and have used it ever since. Humanely killing the fish reduces the amount of lactic acid that is dispersed (from the amount of energy the fish is using while thrashing around) as well as cortisol, the stress hormone. I find this significantly increases the quality of the meat with most fish when paired with bleeding. Check out the website for their methods and recommendation for each species. 

http://www.ikijime.com/


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## MarshHawk

I started bleeding my saugeyes and even crappies last year and love the results. I usually keep everything in my livewell. When I get home I snip the fish and leave them in the water while I get my fillet knife, cutting board, garbage bags etc. About five minutes and the fish are dead, drain the livewells, and clean the fish with absolutely zero mess! Not to mention the pure white fillets are pretty nice too.


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## Burkcarp1

Every fish I keep gets bled as I put it in the live well. By the time I hit the dock even the water in the livewell is clean.


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## jbo

When I’m done fishing before heading to the dock I take all fish out of the live well and place in 5 gal bucket, I cut gills over the live well a place each fish back in live well. By the time I get back to the dock the water in the live well is clean and no blood left in live well and no mess.


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## Nauti cat

I don't bleed my fish but after I clean them I soak the fillet in ice cold water for 20-30 min. We have been taking our fish to the cleaners when I get my fish I do the ice water soak. Ok haven't fished this year (2020) due to back surgery if I get to fish I will try bleeding some to compare, I have taken large fish fillet and split them and can't tell the difference form "that's a good eater" one.


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## fishless

Nauti cat said:


> I don't bleed my fish but after I clean them I soak the fillet in ice cold water for 20-30 min. We have been taking our fish to the cleaners when I get my fish I do the ice water soak. Ok haven't fished this year (2020) due to back surgery if I get to fish I will try bleeding some to compare, I have taken large fish fillet and split them and can't tell the difference form "that's a good eater" one.


Do you guys that bleed them before docking worry about them being dead uhtil you get home to clean or ice them.It definatly makes cleaning less messy but in this warm weather and the water being almost 80 I wondered about being dead that long


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## joekacz

fishless said:


> Do you guys that bleed them before docking worry about them being dead uhtil you get home to clean or ice them.It definatly makes cleaning less messy but in this warm weather and the water being almost 80 I wondered about being dead that long


The key to quality fish is lot's of ICE,whether you bleed them or not.I bleed mine as soon as they hit the ice filled cooler,a little messy yes but we just rinse them off and fillet them.


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## baitguy

fishless said:


> Do you guys that bleed them before docking worry about them being dead uhtil you get home to clean or ice them.It definatly makes cleaning less messy but in this warm weather and the water being almost 80 I wondered about being dead that long


well, they're dead once you put them on ice  the main issue is where you want the bloody mess, but the ice should keep them fine ...


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## jbo

baitguy said:


> well, they're dead once you put them on ice  the main issue is where you want the bloody mess, but the ice should keep them fine ...


After I bleed mine I i head straight to the dock remove boat from water then stop buy ice and put it in the live well I leave enough water in well to cover them. The ice chills the water and then we head straight to the cleaning house.


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## TRIPLE-J

Mickey said:


> I am 68 and have cleaned thousands of fish.....walleyes, saugeyes, saugers, bluegills, perch, crappies and have never "bled out" a fish. They have all tasted great. I think the general filleting process works just fine. Once the fillets are put in ice water the little bit of blood comes out. Why complicate things?


do it once and you will see why


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## Barney

Bleeding fish results in cooked fillets that are pearly white. Don't bleed them and you get black lines (veins) of cooked blood in the meat.


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## Evinrude58

trick I was taught by a lady was after filleting soak in water with a bit of salt. It will take the blood right out.


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## David 7

A lot of people use their live wells and bleed 6 at a time then change water. That is for Erie walleye. Helps keep the count and the blood mess isn't in the ice chest or on the side of the boat


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## KPI

Forget to bleed one can you guess


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## chasing eyes

Nauti cat said:


> I don't bleed my fish but after I clean them I soak the fillet in ice cold water for 20-30 min. We have been taking our fish to the cleaners when I get my fish I do the ice water soak. Ok haven't fished this year (2020) due to back surgery if I get to fish I will try bleeding some to compare, I have taken large fish fillet and split them and can't tell the difference form "that's a good eater" one.


I do the same as nauticat. I have tried bleeding to be honest I can’t taste the difference. I think the cold water soak also stiffens the meat.


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## Lerie

I never bled fish until around 30 plus years ago. That's when I met Bruce DeShano who was fishing Lake Erie out of Dunkirk, NY. The walleye fishing that day was not very productive and Bruce had caught a lake trout. During our conversation he apologized and said that he had to get busy as he had to clean that lake trout and cook it on a grill. My experience with lake trout was not very palatable. I always thought that a freezer burned salmon was tastier than a fresh lake trout after I smoked them. So, attempting to make a joke I asked Bruce if he was going to plank it - a reference to cooking the fish on a board plank, then throwing the fish out and eating the plank. That's when Bruce went on a dissertation on the benefits of bleeding fish, especially lake trout.

About 6 months after that chance meeting I received my copy of the Ohio Sea Grant publication Twine Lines. In that particular copy of Twine Lines they published the results of a study that Sea Grant did on oily Texas Gulf Coast fish and the benefits of bleeding them. The results of that study stated that it enhanced the palatability of the bled fish and also increased the shelf life(lasted longer) in the freezer. Upon reading this and remembering Bruce's advice, I began the practice of bleeding fish and will always do it.

As to panfish, I found this out by accident. Some 3 to 5 years later went fishing with my son up to Chautauqua Lake for crappie. We had some 25 fish and I transported them back home in the live well. On that ride home I could not keep my eyes open as I already had a 17 hour day behind me and decided that cleaning those fish was not prudent. Prior to getting home I picked up a bag of ice, drained the live well and placed the ice over the fish. The next morning when I cleaned them, they were the whitest, cleanest and bloodless fillets that I ever saw.


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## jkiefer1362

I've never done this but see more and more of this. Going to give it a try this year 

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## AceMan1

We always bleed salmon in the water just before we head to the truck… takes the weird taste out


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## Mattiba

I usually bleed every fish that I’m keeping, it makes them look better and maybe taste better too.


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## troutmcallister

A blend fish taste superior to unbled


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## troutmcallister

Bled


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## JCarp

Just eyes. I use side cutters that I use to cut braided line. Safer for me than a knife. I just cut one or two gills. If the water is cool, I keep fish in livewell until I'm about to head in, then cut, transfer to cooler while still alive and run pump to wash out livewell on way in. It is a PIA, especially in the dark but I almost always do it. Alternatively, you can cut a gill or 2 and let fish bleed out in grass or on ice in cooler.. Doing each fish when caught in livewell is fraught with peril because I get distracted and don't promptly ice them. If water is warm, I ice immediately and cut them in cooler. The bucket program has merit. Stringer program is good in cool water. 

Fall/Winter close to home, I just bleed them in yard when I get home. When convenient, I filet and skin, soak in ice water in fridge overnight, then trim "red meat" off nice firm filets the next day. Place filets in ziplock, cover with ice water, work bubbles out, partially zip bag, squeeze out excess water with no air bubbles (saves freezer space), seal bag, flatten bag as practical (freezes and thaws quicker) and freeze as quickly as possible (spread out in freezer).

IMO, the biggest no-no is to leave dead fish in water that is not serious ice water for ANY length of time. Even if you don't have a cooler with ice, your still better off getting a dead fish out of water. Evaporation cools the fish better than sitting in water.


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## Eye Doctor

I’ve never bled one but appreciate those who bleed them on the ice. Always a good place to stop and try.


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## bhartman

BHAPPY said:


> can i ask how you guys bleed walleyes on boats with no livewell ?


I have a bucket on board and cut and put them in it for a few minutes


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## coldsteel

Bleedin


Mickey said:


> I am 68 and have cleaned thousands of fish.....walleyes, saugeyes, saugers, bluegills, perch, crappies and have never "bled out" a fish. They have all tasted great. I think the general filleting process works just fine. Once the fillets are put in ice water the little bit of blood comes out. Why complicate things?


g them is not all that complicated. Cut the gills. The filets will be perfect. No blood. I think it’s a good idea. Been doing it for years.


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## Kenlow1

Yep, no blood in cooler, filet table, and the filets are “white”. Can always tell if I forget to bleed one, the filets are pink!


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