One of Mike’s favorite things when we are at the lake is, of course, fishing. And one of my favorite things is eating fresh fish. We are blessed to be on a pristine lake and both the fishing and the eating are fantastic! Mike fillets all of the fish making it easy to cook, and easy to eat.
The most important tool you will need to fillet a fish is a sharp fillet knife (like this one). Mike’s has a 7 1/2″ blade. A cutting board and a fork are the only other pieces of equipment you will need. Keep in mind that your first few tries may not get perfect results, but keep trying – it’s definitely worth the effort.
The fish in our example is a Largemouth Bass.
First, slide your knife under the pectoral fin, angling the knife up towards the head so that you don’t miss some nice meat.
Cut straight down until you hit the backbone which runs down the center of the fish.
Now turn your knife towards the caudal fin (tail) and begin to slide the knife towards the dorsal fin.
Run the knife along the backbone, cutting through the ribs until you reach the caudal fin.
Stop cutting before you reach the caudal fin and flip the fillet over.
Now slide your knife between the skin and the meat, keeping the knife flat down on the skin.
Continue drawing your knife towards the ribs.
You now have one fillet, but the ribs still need to be removed.
To remove the ribs, hold the filet in place with a fork, and cut along the underside of the ribs.
The first side of the fish is complete.
Now turn the fish over and repeat the process for the second fillet.
Two boneless fillet’s of fish ready to cook.
While filleting a fish takes practice, the process is quite simple. And eating fish without any bones is a delight!
BTW, keep the heads in a bag in the freezer to make fish stock. It’s rich in iodine and collagen and super delicious.
Are there any fishermen in your family?
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donna says
I have the most smartest and handy son Susan, and he has very nice hands!
Susan says
🙂
Cara says
Thank you so much! I have always wanted to know how to do this, and now when my young boys want to go fishing I won’t be scared they will want to keep and eat their catch!
Susan says
What a great mom you are!!!
Vickie says
My husband and I love to fish for trout and salmon and I always let hubby do the filleting! Perhaps someday I will try my hand at filleting the fish! Please do post a “making fish stock out of fish heads” tutorial along with some recipes using it – I would really appreciate that.
Susan says
I’ll be sure to do that!
Shirley says
I have filleted fish (Bass) for years and was surprised he does it the same way I do, (keeping the tail on and taking the fillet off first! ) That works easier than trying to take the skin off when it is unattached to the fish. My question is, is there a way to show how to fillet or just to clean a catfish? My hands are not big enough to use pliers and pull the skin back and off. Love all the step by step pictures. Thanks and hpe you can help! Shirley
Susan says
Hi Shirley! Mike says that pliers are really the way to go. He suggests trying a vice grip plier because it would lock closed onto the skin and you wouldn’t have to use your own strength to keep the pliers closed. Hope that helps!
Jacqueline @ Deeprootsathome.com says
Wow! I didn’t know it was that easy, but that knife looks very sharp! Our sons have a fillet knife that they don’t use without special gloves…yikes! Great post!
Susan says
Thanks!!!
Kathy Shea Mormino, The Chicken Chick says
Very helpful and tastefully done. Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop this week!
Cheers,
Kathy Shea Mormino
The Chicken Chick
http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com
Nancy W says
I learned how to fillet a fish as a young girl when fishing with my dad but haven’t done it in years! Thanks for the wonderful tutorial. So glad you shared this on the HomeAcre Hop! Do hope you come back again this week! Nancy On The Home Front
Mike says
Nice job I’ve been doing this for quite some time now it really does work good especially with a electric fillet knife
Jeff Villberg says
I have always left the skin on catfish. I always cook them on the grill with the skin side down. The fillets fluff up and are very tasty.
Thank you for the directions on filleting. Been teaching my son and we have always had some issues the way we did it. Will try yours this summer.
Susan Vinskofski says
Thanks for stopping by, Jeff. Here’s to lots of good eating!!!