Killing a fish

[Boulton90]

I expect there are a few ways but which works best, is most humane, quickest? I have no livewell. Do people keep the fish on a stringer? If so, then you'd have to pull the fish in every time you move to a new spot.

 

I would also expect the ways to kill it would vary depending on the species of fish. Primarily I am wondering about Bass, Pike, and Trout.

 

Thanks.

 

So no one gets bent out of shape I am talking about keeping A FISH not a whole pile. I understand it is best to C & R but the odd time I keep one to eat or because it has very deeply hooked.

[Terry]

I have had good luck keeping them on a stringer

 

I have come back to the dock late at night and left them in the water on the stringer and in the morning they are swimming around and doing fine, ready for the knife

 

most times I hit them over the head to kill them quick, I have stuck them with a knife through the eye into the brain

 

and it's best to cut their gills to drain the blood if they are going to be there a while

 

walleye are easy to just snap their backs behind their head, but I have never tried it on other fish

[Boulton90]

Thanks. I have done the smack on the head but recently was told about cutting their gills to bleed them out. The way I was told you cut the underside of the fish where the gills almost meet. I was told it was like cutting their throat and the fish would die very quickly. The added bonus was they have almost no blood in their system when the fish is cleaned.

 

I wasn't sure how effective the smack on the head would be for heavier fish like Pike.

[GBW]

the head bonk works well. I do a few good solid bonks just to make sure. I can see bleading out being a good way for big fish but all others you can bonk then blead out. If I keep a fish overnight, I did keep them on a stringer but a large cage tied under the dock works WELL. you get to keep your catch rather then another fish or animal getting a meal...

[Leecher]

There was a post about this subject back in may.... here's the link

 

http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=43345&hl=best%20way%20to%20kill%20&st=0

 

IMHO the best way to kill a fish is to insert the point of your fillet knife between the eyes and then give it a slight motion downward about an inch and lights out

 

Leechman

[smally21]

a real sharp rap right above the eye ridge - it would be the bridge of the nose if they had them - paralyzes the fish long enough to clean it. i use a sharpening steel and dont follow thru, you dont have to pound their eyeballs out. keep your fish alive right until you clean them, im not sure the point in killing them before cleaning them. lack of water seems to do the job....

[fishinguypat]

for salmon/trout i knock them out with a rock to the head, the cut above the head to release most of the blood altough i sometimes cut the gills

[mercman]

bonk em and put em on ice. keep a cooler with a bag of cubes in it. the ice keeps the flesh nice and fresh. Live wells and stringers tend to stress a fish and this may change the flavor of some fish.learned this today from a wise angler.

 

Right Roy ;-))

[craigdritchie]

For the best eating quality, kill the fish right away by braining it with a piece of wood, then clean it immediately and put it on ice in a good quality cooler.

 

Cutting the gills only bleeds out the gill filaments. When you clean the fish, remove the gills entirely, and use the tip of the knife to also scrape out the kidney, which is that black gooey strip up against the spine. That mass of congealed blood will spoil the fish much faster than any blood in the gills.

 

Put the fish on ice and do what you can to keep it out of the meltwater. Plastic bags are a bad idea because they don't breathe. Best is to pour ice in the bottom of the cooler, then put a metal cooling rack from a kitchen supply store on top, and lay the fish on that.

 

Taking a few minutes to deal with them properly will make a MUCH better meal.

[bushart]

I hold the fish so we're lookin straight at each other.....

 

Then I tell it about the last half decade of Leafs Hockey.....

 

Then It wants to die ..

[mercman]

I hold the fish so we're lookin straight at each other.....

 

Then I tell it about the last half decade of Leafs Hockey.....

 

Then It wants to die ..

 

 

good one

[gaspumper]

Slit the throat,then break it's neck,put on ice.When you clean it the meat is nice and white,not red.

[misfish]

Slit the throat,then break it's neck,put on ice.When you clean it the meat is nice and white,not red.

 

To add to this.Be sure to rip the gills out at the same time.

[Boulton90]

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize the topic had been done before. Next time I'll do a search of the topics.

 

I am fine with all the ways to kill except the "..I tell it about the last half decade of Leafs Hockey....." I asked for humane ways to kill them.

[splashhopper]

bonk em on the head... bleed em out from the thick chord between the gills under their head.

 

The one and ONLY time I left them on a stringer overnight at my friends cottage( to have a fresh fish breakfast) I awoke to find pieces of the 4 bass on the stringer only....I think raccoons or turtles got em in the night

[dave524]

I hold the fish so we're lookin straight at each other.....

 

Then I tell it about the last half decade of Leafs Hockey.....

 

Then It wants to die ..

 

Isn't it close to half a century