Caring for the catch

[efishingbooks]

Anyone who fishes salmon, especially in Alaska, here's a question for you.

We catch a lot of salmon on the Great Lakes. Standard operating procedure is to net the fish, unhook as quickly as possible, and then straight into a cooler with ice.

I've been doing a lot of research on Alaskan salmon fishing trying to pick up some tips and tricks I can use on the Great Lakes. Several outfits recommend bleeding the fish immediately after catching (snipping the gills and allowing the fish to bleed out) and then putting the fish into a salt water ice bath. Has anyone else tried this or other similar methods? If so, does it make a noticeable difference in the taste / quality of the catch?

Thanks!

Dave

[Mr Walleye]

Hi Dave

I can't comment on salmon but we regularly bleed walleye in the livewell. The fillets end up being very white in color with excellent taste.

Mike

[tsquared]

I don't bother bleeding smaller salmon, coho or sockeye heading to the bbq but I always bleed spring salmon. I caught a 34 lb spring on Tuesday and it's amazing the amount of blood that comes out. It also makes a difference as to what method you cut up your fish. If you fillet your fish, that gets rid of a lot of the blood that is in the veins just under the internal skin in the belly cavity. (I still bleed the big ones tho) but if you are cutting your fish into steaks (across the fish, perpendicular to the length) then it is VERY important to bleed your fish as those veins are still against the meat, held there by the gut cavity skin.   
T2

[manxman]

Can't comment on salmon but I do tend to bleed the saltwater whitefish I catch, I also take the guts out immediately on catching as this can taint the flesh depending on where and what they have been feeding.

In addition I also put the fillets in an 80% icy brine solution for 20 - 30 minutes prior to freezing / fridging / cooking. I think all this helps not only the flavour but the texture.  :)

[Wildcat]

I have not smoked fish yet, but when I grill, bake, broil or fry any salt water fish that have a lot of blood, I soak overnight in salt water solution in the fridge.

[shearwater]

Salmon, Halibut, tuna every fish I catch I bleed. In my mind I think you end up with a better quality product.

What I do is as soon as the fish is on the boat it gets bonked then both gills are sliced through with a knife. Now I take the bleeding thing a step further than most, after the gills are cut I will hold the outer gill plate open and pour water over the gills as they bleed. This keeps the blood from clotting up and produces the best result. Not a big fan of bloody filets especially halibut.

stevej

[TomsRods]

When I am tuna fishing or salmon fishing I have found the meat much improved when killing the fish, bleeding (gill method), then say 15 min later gutting the fish and soaking in an icy saltwater bath.