Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: mustardman on July 18, 2009, 01:09:08 AM
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Hauled in a nice Spring today at Scale bar. As I was carrying it back a guy asked me if I bled it yet. No! He said that the fish should be bled immediately after you catch it because the second the fish dies the meat starts to spoil if you don't bleed it. I've never heard of this before. He said I should rip open the part behind the mouth which is where the main artery to the gills are. I did that but the fish was dead for a few minutes and never bled. He said the meat tastes much much better if you bleed it right away.
Anyways, Is it ok to just wait till I clean it which is usually right away or should I bleed it immediately after killing it or maybe kill it that way by tearing the main artery?
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It'll be fine. In the future you should bleed your fish, but don't worry about this one. You'll just have more blood on hand when you clean it. As long as you kept the fish cool, the flavor should be good. It is very important if you plan on salvaging roe.
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no bonking? just bleed to death?
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Bonk it and bleed it and keep cool especially in this heat. Otherwise the stomach acid will start turning the flesh yellow.
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What others have said bleed that thing ASAP and keep it cool in the shade. Dont put it in a black garbage bag as it will cook it.
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What others have said bleed that thing ASAP and keep it cool in the shade. Dont put it in a black garbage bag as it will cook it.
good point, I've never thought of that. I usually try to find a nice spot to keep my fish with a bit of current to flow over it.....after its bled and gutted and dead!!!! When my brother and I started, we would catch pinks, bonk them and then have them sitting out in the sun ungutted and unbled, we did not want to put them in the water cause we thought that they would come alive possibly.....grosses me out to even think about then eating them!!
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Most guys bonk it and then bleed it. Unless you cave in it's head it should just be stunned and the heart still pumping when you bleed it.
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http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=18731.0
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Just a side note, don't put your fish in plastic garbage bags - they are treated with a chemical deodorizer. Do you want to eat that? :-X If I don't have a cooler I'll use a burlap sack thoroughly wetted down, as the water evaporates it will keep your fish cool.
Ditto on the burlap, soak it in the cool lake/river water and cover the fish or put it right in the sac...good for carrying out and good for in a small boat/pontoon.
You can get them after buying rice in the burlap.
When finished for the day and no fish...just fold it up and you're good to go.
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Years ago I worked on a collector boat for the Fraser River gillnet fleet. Not one of our fish on board or any of the boats that flew the company flag ever bled a salmon. The fish were kept cool on ice from the netting boat than transferred onto our boat and tossed in the iced fish hold until we could make the trip to Steveston from Fort Langley area.
I wouldn`t be too concerned about bleeding as long as the fish is kept in a cool/cold dark area.
Cheers
Nuggy
You didn't bleed them because you processed many fish and simply don't have time.
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Like everybody else says the fish should be bled, I also like to clean the fish as soon as possible, it only takes a couple of min to do.
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So you think you could identify a cooked fish which has been bled out and put on ice from a cooked fish that hasn`t been bled and put on ice? I doubt it very very much.
The "on ice" part is a very important part of that equation. Hard to put it on ice on a gravel bar with no cooler.
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So you think you could identify a cooked fish which has been bled out and put on ice from a cooked fish that hasn`t been bled and put on ice? I doubt it very very much.
http://www.calkingsalmon.org/pdf/procedures.pdf
The perfect scenario is to bleed the fish properly, clean it immediately and put it on the ice.
But who among us river fishermen, can ever do this.
Especially in the summer.
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Bonk and Bleed immediately ,,,heart beat still remains long enough to purge all damaging Blood. Ice is a must if available,,,,especially on the smaller fish ,,,pinks , coho etc. A fish left in a beach rock enclosure in dead water will heat to 100 deg. (35 c) Burlap is great if you can find some bags.
The best quality quick frozen fish that come out of the commercial plants from Alaska are NEVER cleaned on the grounds but bled only. They are always heavily iced or frozen in the ROUND and shipped south . Immediate dehydration begins when the belly cavity is opened to the air. If you will be consuming the fish with in hour plz clean it and keep cold. If a time will run before you pull it out of the freezer keep it in tact as long as you can . I have smoked or filleted fish up a year in the freezer and they have a few dry fins but the flesh is still prefact.
Sound gross but it really works.........trust me . Try one of your sockeye this summer, one cleaned and put away the old way & the other left in the round............ decide then whats best..........
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Awesome link Adriaticum!!
Nice clear instructions with logical explanations.
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I carry a small packet knife, once on land I use it to kill the fish (one stick right in the top of the head straight down) and then a simply cut in behind the gills and tie it and throw it in the water. the heart is still pumping and the flowing water helps top remove all the blood
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even in the fall when the weather cools, I find icing down pinks immediately after catching them mandatory, it keeps the meat from going soft and gives you a better chance of tablefare if your not smoking or canning them
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When you catch a spring bonk it, bleed it, tag it out and take it home to clean it and refrigerate it, give up your spot to some one that hasn't caught one yet, you've had your day why be greedy. I see lots of people laying their fish in warm water in the sun till the gills have turned white and the meat has started to spoil, I just can't believe the ignorance of someone that's spent that much money on gear and gas to then let the final product spoil. I you're going to HAVE to stay at the river because you're with a group or it's in a sockeye opening and you want to get your limit ffs pack ice it isn't that big a deal, you don't want to be one of those people that winds up dumping your fish do you?
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btw if you don't have a knife with you just stick your fingers in the gills and rip a couple of em out it ain't tidy but works just fine.
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I have never bled a fish and never will,the meat is just fine kept on ice untill you get home.As far as river caught Pinks are concerned forget it thier flesh turns to mush as soon as they hit the fresh water.Better left alone to reproduce.
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some people rip the gills on both sides and hold the fish vertically with the head pointed down to bleed it.
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If you cook the fish, then bleed or don't bleed may not make much difference as long as it is kept cool or chilled. But if you intend to eat sushi or sashimi (raw fish), then bleeding is really a must. It takes away the blood stain smell and the fish meat will not be bloody taste too.
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I've never noticed the difference in taste before I found out about bleeding fish. I do it now more as a preventative measure. Curious to know if not cleaning it right away leads to the same complaints... I use ice packs to cool my fish in the cooler as ice cost money
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I have never bled a fish and never will,the meat is just fine kept on ice untill you get home.As far as river caught Pinks are concerned forget it thier flesh turns to mush as soon as they hit the fresh water.Better left alone to reproduce.
I kill chrome pinks from the river. In my experience no mush at all, smoked or BBq'd. Have you tried eating a chrome pink out of a river? I think sometimes the hype about sockies flesh taints opinions of our other four species of salmon! The health benefits of all salmon are huge.with that said ice right away after bleeding is my way to go ;D
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The best way to bleed a fish is to cut the gills while the fish's head is underwater. The blood will flow much better this way because it won't congeal. Also holding it upside down while the gills are submerged help drain the blood.
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Is there a real difference if you bleed the fish? Or is it just the benefit of gutting it right away?
Look at all the people who toss unbonked fish in coolers, or leave them on stringers to die.. They say the panic and stress chemicals the fish produce while in distress can taint the meat.
Is the bleeding thing more about gutting it asap?
I mean, fish in the markets have gills, isn't that one of the ways you check for freshness? Bright, red gills?
I don't think I've ever consciously bled a fish... now I'm wondering if I've been missing out on something.
Catch fish... bonk fish.. slit belly, pull out guts/gills.. throw guts at buddy, run finger along spine, rinse......... where did I miss the bleeding part?
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I would have to move the beer out of my cooler in order to put that fish on ice.
Don't know if I could sacrifice the beer for the fish....unless I drank it faster.
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As a rule I always bonk and bleed my fish in the salt or fresh water. When I used to use roe bleeding helps to drain the blood out of the roe skeins preventing the eggs from turning dark. As well all the guides that I've chartered with always bleed fish right away what ever the time of year.