How did you learn to fillet?

[Will Ketchum]

Many years ago the PA Fish Commission did a filleting demonstration with perch at a mall. I had read about filleting in fishing magazines, but seeing it done live and in front of me made it all seem so easy while the magazines did not.

[Jig Man]

I don’t even remember but I bet that I butchered a bunch before I got it figured out.

[MN Fisher]

My uncle would take us boys (me and two of his three sons...one was too young) out fishing. This started when I was about 6. End of the day first few times he'd show us how to fillet a fish. Then under his guidance, we all had a shot at it. By the end of that first year, we were all filleting like pros.

[GreenPig]

My stepfather taught me the correct way to fillet 20 + years ago. I'm a Ninja with an electric knife. Not kidding, I'm certified. ?

[Jar11591]

When my dad would take me fishing as a kid, I would always want to keep the panfish I caught. Well my father hated cleaning fish, so the deal was if we kept any I would have to fillet them with his guidance. I learned pretty quickly. 

[Deleted account]

20 minutes ago, GreenPig said:

My stepfather taught me the correct way to fillet 20 + years ago. I'm a Ninja with an electric knife. Not kidding, I'm certified. ?

Nice, white bass?...

[GreenPig]

5 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

Nice, white bass?...

Spotted Bass

[JustJames]

Why filet, let eat them whole.

 

Just kidding, I am Asian and normally we eat the fish whole. I, on the other hand, love filet and pan fry fish but never done it myself, store bought or at restaurants.

I started learning how to filet fish when caught a lot of crappie and heard they are so good. I watched a bunch of how to from YouTube, bought a good filet knife. My first filet fish was hard as well as my last one.

I think I spend at least 5-10 minutes to finish just one fish. I only filet less than 10 fish each year and as Asian I try to preserve the meat as much as I can.

[DitchPanda]

My dad taught me when I was 11...the same year I got my first baitcaster. I actually enjoy using a knife and took to it very quickly. So I've got almost 30 years of filleting under my belt...even took my love of knife work and made a living running the meat department in my local grocery store for 7 or 8 years before moving on to my current gig.

[TOXIC]

My grandfather taught me how to filet a wide variety of fish from crappie to catfish and walleye, and pike and bluegill, and bullheads and like him I hate bones in my fish so I got really good at filleting.  It helped when my daughter was young and the pickiest eater on the planet, she loved crappie so every outing with her we would bring home 2 limits of 50 crappie and I would filet them by hand and my trusty Cutco filet knife.  Practice makes perfect!?

[padlin]

learned correctly, if I do it correctly, by watching and helping the deck hands on the ocean charters we did in my teens and 20s. I was however doing it since a kid, probably incorrectly, from fishing at the shore, which I did a lot of with the neighbors who had a cottage at the Ct shore.

[Bankbeater]

Dad taught me.  He would fillet redear and bluegill.  The catfish got served up whole in one piece, minus the head and tail.

[gim]

Truth be told, I don't filet/clean/eat a lot of fish anymore.  I had so much of it growing up, I kind of got sick of it eating it.  Deep fried or pan fried fish is gross.  Its just hot dogs lathered in batter, dipped in tartar sauce.  You might as well just go to Long John Silvers.  Baked or grilled fish brings out the true taste of the filet.  Saltwater fish is my preference, but that's a rare treat for this guy.

 

A sharp filet knife is key.  One species I've always had some trouble with are northern pike.  They are slimy and you need to remove the y bones.

 

When I was younger, my thumb was below the fish on the board once and I cut through the filet into my thumb with the filet knife.  It was right on the end of my thumb too.  I probably have permanent nerve damage there and it took years to heal.  That incident alone has made me avoid keeping fish over the years.  Not that I think it would happen again, but it just turns me off because it happened.  I would like to try boiled eelpout someday.  I have heard it called poor man's lobster.

[Way north bass guy]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

    I would like to try boiled eelpout someday.  I have heard it called poor man's lobster.

Yup, pretty tasty stuff! I haven’t had it in a while now but we used to cut it in bite sized chunks, boil it a little bit then dip in melted butter. Fantastic eats! Won’t be long now and they’ll be getting pretty easy to catch around here ( provided we get safe enough ice to get out on). They come shallow on offshore points and humps in Feb/March at night to spawn under the ice, and you can get a ton of them at night jigging through the ice around here in some of the larger, deeper lakes. They actually fight pretty decent too, especially when you get one over 5lbs or so. 

[gim]

14 minutes ago, Way north bass guy said:

Won’t be long now and they’ll be getting pretty easy to catch around here

You let me know when you're having a big fake lobster boil and I'll stop over to try some. ?

[Fallser]

Probably when I was in college, down in NW Tennessee.  The fish we caught out of the local farm ponds helped cut down on our food bill.  I really got good at filleting flounder, bluefish and other salt water fish in the 80's  The trick is a sharp knife.  Especially if you're dealing with panfish.

[Way north bass guy]

4 hours ago, gimruis said:

You let me know when you're having a big fake lobster boil and I'll stop over to try some. ?

Man, that’s a pretty long drive for fake lobster ?

[MN Fisher]

6 hours ago, gimruis said:

You let me know when you're having a big fake lobster boil and I'll stop over to try some. ?

Why go that far when all you need is a trip up to Walker?

[TnRiver46]

I had several folks instruct me , I think I could do it blindfolded now 

[gulfcaptain]

Working on a sportfishing boat in S. Cal. Learned to cut fish and after cutting tens of thousands you get pretty good with a knife.  

[gim]

11 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Why go that far when all you need is a trip up to Walker?

I assume you are referring to the Eelpout Festival. That is no more, the city banned them because of all the trash left behind after the “party” on the ice.

[MN Fisher]

Just now, gimruis said:

I assume you are referring to the Eelpout Festival. That is no more, the city banned them because of all the trash left behind after the “party” on the ice.

Don't need the festival to go catch some...Leech is probably the lake most populated with them, so still a good place to go if you want to catch some.

[Mobasser]

I had a friend teach me on crappies about forty years ago.

[Catt]

100% Cajun ?

 

We were taught at an early age, you kill it, you catch it, you clean it, you cook it!

[bulldog1935]

25 white bass at a time - in the dark