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?
