As a kid, we kept all the fish we caught to cook. Back then, everyone I knew always cleaned the fish the same way. Gut them, cut the heads off, and scale them, then pan fry. When I was around 20 yrs old, I was taught how to fillet a fish, and have cleaned fish this way for over forty years. If I have a big mess to clean, I use a Mr Twister electric fillet knife. With just a few, a Rapala fish fillet knife. Years ago I picked up a board with a clamp on one side. It didn't really work out well, and I've done best by just gripping the fish by the mouth. I always try to start the initial cut just behind the side fin, and lay the knife flat, cutting back to the tail. I was taught to not cut all the way through the tail section of the fish. Stop the cut when you reach the tail section, flip the meaty part of the fish back over, then cut the skin away. The only other cut is removing the rib( side) bones of the fish. Some fillets end up as sort of a Y shape, with no bones. The fish we cleaned as kids always tasted good, but we had to pick through bones when we ate them. An old cook once told me that he liked the old gut/ scale method better, and that he thought the fish tasted better this way, but I still like fillets the best. And, I can strongly recommend the Mr. Twister electric fillet knife. I've had mine a long time. It's cleaned a bunch of fish over the years, and still working well. Another big plus with fillets comes with young children. They can enjoy fresh fish also, with no fear of getting any bones caught in they're mouth or throat. I think this helped my own kids learn to like fish when they were young, and they still like it now. Do you do anything different when you fillet your catch? Have you found any fillet knives that have worked well? IMO, fillets are the way to go. No bones about it.
