HMB 9-13-08 report

That cabbie has a blue buthole too....but it doesn't suck...only crabs&stuff.

Reminds me of that old song about brown eyes turnin' blue.   

Good fishin', guys.  Thanks for the report.

Sean got one just like that on friday...so i sang him THAT SAME song! too funny!

i was running late and told everyone at the Bean to WAIT til I get THERE!...they didn't.

Hey, we were still on the sand...for a few minutes!

Nice read you HMB fishers! Glad to see everyone stayin happy out there!

That cabbie has a blue buthole too....but it doesn't suck...only crabs&stuff.

Too funny and great report with pics!.....if you get a vermy up there, you DESERVED IT!

thanks for the good read fellas....I saw you guys down at the beach when I pullied into the baitshop....I would have stopped to BS for a bit, but i was running late and told everyone at the Bean to WAIT til I get THERE!...they didn't.

Ha Ha, I think I saw you flying south Hwy 1. I thought to myself.......
"ooo, there's a kayak.....looks like Fishunter.........can't be......... they must be on the water by now.........".

J Mairey; are these good enough for yer? No knife, I just used my bare hands and some karate. Chop - Flip - Chop - Done.

J Mairey; are these good enough for yer? No knife, I just used my bare hands and some karate. Chop - Flip - Chop - Done.

Rob...  (you'll have to blame Abking for that, now I will never remember your real name!  ) That is an improvement, but it looks like you left a few of the lateral bones in or else you chopped away too much of the meat from the lower side of the fillet. Either way, points are deducted. generally a deboned rockfish fillet will look vaguely like a Y, unless you used pliers to pull those bones instead of chopping out a slice which would get you extra points.

So you get a 7 out of 10 for general fillet beauty, with one extra half point for using only your hands for a result of 7.5!

One disclaimer is that I would have to see both side to truly judge the fillet... 

But definitely speak to the whole fish boys (SC X Factor, PJ, and others) for tips on that way to go as the waste is minimized.

Of course, if you fillet, you don't have to gut or gill...

When I fillet a fish (which I do a lot as my 8 and 11 year old and my wife and I will eat a lot of fish but they like it filletted) I do the cut along the gill plate and start the cut along the dorsal on both sides before I finish either side. The reason for that is that if you don't do it, one fillet is more difficult than the other. I use a cutting board with a hand hold slot in it and orange fish grippers to hold the fish to the cutting board firmly at the side of the mouth closing in the hole in the cutting board. I do a lot of rotating the cutting board so that my angle of cut is convenient. I keep a sharpener handy (I like a dull spoon, but a sharp knife,  ).  I would score my average fillet as 8.95 these days.

If I am freezing the fish, I leave the skin on (not quite a fillet, a "slab"), put the sides flesh to flesh, skin out and vacuum pack or freeze the slabs in water (when thawing, make sure the water can drain away so the fish does not sit in water). I finish the fillet job after the slabs thaw. the skin on helps protect the fish from oxidation and general exposure. Plus you know what kind of fish it was.

When skinning a slab, a fillet knife with a little bend in it is good. you can then press on the knife and it will lie flat as you are skinning the fillet. I suppose the knife is 'cambered' in this regard.

Note that you can slab a fish without gutting or gilling which makes it pretty efficient timewise and storage space wise, but yes cooking whole will get you more meat per fish.

Hope this helps you improve your fish cutting skills!

John

MMMMMMM that cabby looks tasty. There is some English guy who works in some European fish market. He posts videos on U Tube on how to fillet fish all the time. I don't like my knife too sharp then i cut through the skin or spine but sharp makes the job easier. I just cut back at a 45 degree angle behind the gill plate down to just behind the lower fin on both side of the fish, then cut down the middle of it stomach to its anal fin. Now i put the knife down to the spine on the cut i already made, turn the knife toward the tail and cut through the ribs to the tail, 5 cuts per fish, fast when u get the hang of it. Now u can freeze it or skin and debone it as you please. perfect 10 every time.