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[Swanny]

Does anyone know of a video or website that shows how to properly remove the gills of a freshly caught salmon( after bleeding)??
This needs to be done if you are transporting fish in a vehicle, correct?

Thanks 

[one more cast]

My understanding is when transporting, that you just leave the dead on,
unless I'm missing something

[river walker]

when transporting , a tail still attatched to one side of the fillet is all that is required for identification.   

[Rodney]

Legality of transporting and packaging of salmon can be found at:

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/recfish/KeyPoints/packaging_e.htm

Read it thoroughly instead of getting partial information from second sources.

Regarding gill removal, it can simply be ripped out by your hands, but if you are concerned about getting small cuts during the process, a fillet knife can be helpful.

[Swanny]

Thanks Rodney,

When packaging your catch, if a maximum size limit applies, the head and tail must remain attached until you prepare and consume your catch, arrive at your ordinary residence, or deliver your catch to a registered processing facility.

The exception to the above requirements is if your salmon has a healed scar in place of a missing adipose fin. In this case, please remove the head and turn it in to a Salmon Head Recovery Depot. The clipped fin indicates the presence of a coded-wire nose tag used for research purposes.  If your salmon is missing its adipose fin, you could participate in the Salmon Sport Head Recovery contest.

I can't find anywhere in the DFO reports where it says that you cannot keep wild Chinook, so if I catch a wild under 77cm, I would have to transport with head and tail intact, therefore removing the gills. If I catch a hatchery, I can remove head and submit it. Please correct me if I am wrong. I am fishing the Thompson--Spences Bridge tomorrow.

Thanks

[Rodney]

In Southern British Columbia, hatchery program is used to supplement most salmon populations but coho salmon is the only species (and some chinook stocks) that would be marked when the fish is raised at a hatchery. You are allowed to keep unmarked/wild chinook salmon (unless specified in a river system), as long as it is within the legal length limit. Many of these unmarked chinook salmon may also be coming from a hatchery originally, so you can certain send in their head to see if a coded-wire tag is in it.

Good luck at Spences Bridge, the fishing should be good.

[greese308]

Just leave head and tail on to be able to measure length and identify species.. i always rip a gill or two with my fingers to bleed it, fillet it at home without gutting it and then bury the remains in my garden... good fertilizer.

no garden?  freeze the remains, and dump them in the river next time out.

[Gooey]

No one really answered swanny's question so here ya go...My commercial fishing boss told me that the gills are one of the most bacteria ladened areas of a fish and for that reason (to preserve the best flesh quality possible), we removed the gills of all our fish that were dressed (opposed to sold round).

Its really easy to do, be careful though as the gill rakes can easily cut/puncture your fingers especially on bigger fish like springs.  Anyhow, this is how I do it:

1 - open fishes month and slice under the tounge to separate the tounge and gills
2 - roll fish onto its back, belly straight up and insert knife into the point where the gill plates meet
3 - cut in a "C" shape following the edge of the gills

At that point the gills wont be held on by much more that some flesh on the roof of the mouth so I'll stick my hand in, grabbing the whole mess and then twist.  Thats usually enough to rip them out.  This is the time (if its a big fish) that you need to be careful not to have the gill rakers slice you open!

[Swanny]

Thanks Gooey, thats what I was asking. I would love to see a video of how its done, but your description will definitely help when I land a fish.