Bleeding fish

I like to bleed my fish in sharky area's. I'm trying to get into the "BIG FISH". 
JK...Bleeding makes a big difference in the meat. I really dislike the blood in the meat. Just puts of the taste of the fillets.

Years ago I went on one of those shark cage charters to the Farallons.  They claimed that they didn't have much success with using fish blood to attract the shark.  The shark are more keyed in on seals or struggling/moving fish than just static chum.  I'd worry more about that gill hooked ling (bleeding and struggling) you have on the end of your line than the dead ling you're bleeding out into the tankwell.

-Allen

1. Catch fish
2. Put fish on gameclip
3. Cut through gills at base of jaw
4. Dip fish in water and pump back & forth
5. Let fish hang in the water for 3min
6. Put fish in tankwell, covered with wet burlap
7. Crack a beer and repeat

If you just cut the gills and throw it in the tankwell, it will not bleed out. They need to be in the water after you cut the gills.
Also, don't bonk your fish. Because a dead fish doesn't bleed. But you're the one who has to eat it, so whatevs... 

I'm with Sin Coast.
They are also less messy when cleaning/filleting.
Blood in the water doesn't bother me, I think people worry too much about that. Guys looking for sharks chum buckets worth and still don't get them to come in sometimes.
I was out at the Bodega whistle buoy last Monday and saw a very large critter boil the water about 20 yards from me. I had nary an idea as to what it might have been, it didn't look like anything familiar to me. Now that Goat Rocker mentions a thresher I say AH-HA! It fits what I saw. Cool.
I don't think the thresher was there because of all the supposed blood, rather it was maybe there for the same reason the salmon were... baitfish.

If you just cut the gills and throw it in the tankwell, it will not bleed out. They need to be in the water after you cut the gills.
Also, don't bonk your fish. Because a dead fish doesn't bleed. But you're the one who has to eat it, so whatevs... 

FWIW, I don't have a problem with them bleeding out in the tankwell as long as I don't bonk.

-Allen

Also, don't bonk your fish. Because a dead fish doesn't bleed.

PK - Not quite sure about that. There is a difference between brain death and cardiovascular death. I don't usually bonk fish but I did bonk a salmon last Sunday because he was so wild, I couldn't get him on the clip and he pissed me off. The bonking stunned him but he was still alive from a cardiovascular standpoint. Even if the heart has stopped beating for a few minutes, if you hold them head down, you can get most of the blood out. You are correct that to effectively bleed them they need to be in the water and pump them because this prevents the blood from clotting.

Blood in the water doesn't bother me, I think people worry too much about that.

If I fished where Sean fishes I wouldn't bleed anything.  It's all realtive. If I was fishing SMC, Capitola/Pleasure Point, Davenport to PP,  or Leffingwell I wouldn't bleed fish in 10-100 FOW. But since I don't fish those areas very often, the red rain is all good, IMO.

Just reread my post and I should've clarified on bonking. Yes to halibut, and I've heard yt need a good bonking too.
Scott that damn salmon probably deserved it after eluding you for a few trips!

Just reread my post and I should've clarified on bonking. Yes to halibut, and I've heard yt need a good bonking too.
Scott that damn salmon probably deserved it after eluding you for a few trips!

If you gaff YT right behind the head, you can usually get them on the game clip without head bonking. Sarah's latest video has a nice example of fish bleeding. http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=47992.0 I hold the fish upside down and fully submerge the head. As Pat said, you do want to game clip them with a rope attached to the boat before bleeding. That way if you lose your grip while bleeding, you won't lose your fish. Sarah bleeds her fish with the net in the water then puts it on the clip. I think that would work too.

There is a difference between brain death and cardiovascular death.

Common in diving for pelagics (wsb,yt,wahoo,dorado,etc)... even if fish is stoned on impact, you slit the membranes behind gills immediately.
As Scott mentions, the cardio system still pumps blood out and the water allows it to flow freely without clotting.

Just reread my post and I should've clarified on bonking. Yes to halibut, and I've heard yt need a good bonking too.

It depends on how you bonk as well. I've seen beat downs where there's no point in bleeding anymore. I don't bonk unless it's the thrashing type and prefer them as lively as possible before gill+membrane slit.

I've been thinking about this in-the-water bleeding stuff because I don't really consciously do it.  Maybe for halibut I do, because those guys bleed a lot and tend to thrash a lot too.  But I certainly don't do it for blood flow.

Then I started thinking about power boats. I've never been on a power boat that soaked the fish in the water to bleed (with the notable exception being albacore in a bleed bucket).  And I don't see a lot of power boaters hanging their fish over the sides.

I guess it doesn't hurt to do it (unless you're scared of the sharks and seals).  So maybe I'll start doing it to see what happens.  I'll add it to all the anally obsessive stuff I already do to maintain high quality meat.     Thanks!

-Allen

I've been thinking about this in-the-water bleeding stuff because I don't really consciously do it.  Maybe for halibut I do, because those guys bleed a lot and tend to thrash a lot too.  But I certainly don't do it for blood flow.

Then I started thinking about power boats. I've never been on a power boat that soaked the fish in the water to bleed (with the notable exception being albacore in a bleed bucket).  And I don't see a lot of power boaters hanging their fish over the sides.

I guess it doesn't hurt to do it (unless you're scared of the sharks and seals).  So maybe I'll start doing it to see what happens.  I'll add it to all the anally obsessive stuff I already do to maintain high quality meat.     Thanks!

-Allen

yeah, this thread has me thinking that I will hold the bleeding as an option for when the situation is right. I have done it on halibut before, but that was over a year ago.
I do feel like obtaining the highest meat quality is always a bit of a challenge but it is becoming more and more apart of of fishing for me.
Now I look with scorn on charter boats that "only" use burlap sacks and the occasional hosedown, even though that should be adequate. After tasting the difference in refrigerated saltwater stored fish, it is night & day.

I've been thinking about this in-the-water bleeding stuff because I don't really consciously do it.  Maybe for halibut I do, because those guys bleed a lot and tend to thrash a lot too.  But I certainly don't do it for blood flow.

Then I started thinking about power boats. I've never been on a power boat that soaked the fish in the water to bleed (with the notable exception being albacore in a bleed bucket).  And I don't see a lot of power boaters hanging their fish over the sides.

I guess it doesn't hurt to do it (unless you're scared of the sharks and seals).  So maybe I'll start doing it to see what happens.  I'll add it to all the anally obsessive stuff I already do to maintain high quality meat.     Thanks!

-Allen

I was on a 23' Boston Whaler last year and I hooked a 40# albie. I bled  him in the water and almost fell overboard.  The boat railing doesn't let you bleed in the water very easily. However, if you want to kill yourself by slashing your wrists, you do it in a bathtub not in a kayak tankwell underneath a wet burlap bag.  Give it a try Allen and gut and gill them too. That's what the commercial guys do. I wasn't this compulsive a few years ago, but fishing with Ken and Etienne rubs off on you. All that peer pressure. 

I wasn't this compulsive a few years ago, but fishing with Ken and Etienne rubs off on you. All that peer pressure.