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[adriaticum]

How should it be done properly and why?

Thanks

[bbronswyk2000]

Just rip or cut the gills. It changes the color of the flesh if you leave it too long, it will change the taste of the fish and the texture making it very soft.

[ratfish]

I usually try to rip,pop or break a blood vein running underneath the gills. More blood seems to come out this way. Its hard to find this vein though so i usuall just rip the gills too. Cutting the tail almost all the way through will get rid of some blood too. Shouldn't this be in general discussion?

[Fish Assassin]

I just stick a knife into the gill plate.

[Eagleye]

It is best to do it right after bonking the fish.  If possible cut the lower part of the gill underwater to prevent the blood from congealing.  Holding the tail of the fish upwards helps to drain the blood and also stroking the belly.  If you do it this way more blood will come out.  The reason why people bleed fish is so they stay fresh longer and to get rid of some of the mercury which is concentrated in the blood and fat (located between the skin and flesh).

[limit time]

I usually try to rip,pop or break a blood vein running underneath the gills. More blood seems to come out this way. Its hard to find this vein though so i usuall just rip the gills too. Cutting the tail almost all the way through will get rid of some blood too. Shouldn't this be in general discussion?

  this is gd?

[Arnie Salmonegger]

Bleeding the fish also helps to keep blood out of the roe, if you plan on using it for bait (the less blood, the better).
I find just ripping a single gill with my fingers is good enough, but on larger springs (over 15 pounds) I instead cut a gill with my knife because when I was a newbie I cut my fingers a couple of times on the hard white parts on the front of the gills of the larger springs when the gill didn't rip when I pulled on it.  A painful lesson for me.

[Sam Salmon]

Don't bonk the fish-that's the dumb mistake that newbies make.

Just slash the gills and leave it submerged-no need to stroke their slimy belly or caress their finny cheek-that is nonsense.

[eggma]

Maybe I'm a dumb newbie or maybe I just don't know because I usually don't retain anything I catch (I don't eat fish,) but what difference could bonking the fish possibly make?

[dennisK]

Don't bonk the fish-that's the dumb mistake that newbies make.

Just slash the gills and leave it submerged-no need to stroke their slimy belly or caress their finny cheek-that is nonsense.

Wrong.

Bonking the fish stops it's brain transmitters from overloading and stressing out over the pain it feels from cutting/ripping the gills.

If you do it correctly, within 5 seconds of the "bonk" (a hard hit between the fish's eyes), you have the fish in a 90%-100% painless state (brain dead)  BUT the heart is still pumping the cardiovascular system like crazy for another few minutes (PLUS hold it by the tail head down to allow gravity to help).

Salmon are relatively small animals by mass and do not require their cardio system to be working for hours (a newbie assumption) in order to be bled.

This is the best of both worlds in not unnecessarily stressing the fish AND gaining the benefit of the bleeding.

I have witnessed this technique (and seen guides/lodges in Alaska use the same bonk+bleed style) and tasted the benefits many many times and know it works.

And there is also a fair bit of literature on the topic which supports my comments.

Please DO NOT bleed a live fish, it is both unnecessary and completely goes against the spirit of improving angling methods.

There is a good summary of slaughtering practices for farmed
fish and the related causes of death in the chapter by Robb, 'The
relationship between killing methods and quality' in: Farmed Fish Quality
(edited by S.C. Kestin & P.D. Warriss). Oxford, UK: Fishing news Books, pp
220-233.

It seems clear to me that the answer to Stephen's questions are: yes, there
is definitely a benefit to the appearance of the fillets of salmon,
especially smoked fillets, in allowing the fish to bleed before filleting
and processing; and no, it does not matter - not taking account of humane
considerations - if the fish are technically alive or dead when the bleeding
occurs so long as it is soon after slaughter.

http://listproc.ucdavis.edu/archives/seafood/log0304/0020.html

[dennisK]

Just slash the gills and leave it submerged

If you leave a salmon submerged in the water the flesh will get waterlogged and lose a lot of quality.


Best way to keep a fish fresh after catching, bonking and bleeding is to put in on ice.

Now I know that is not practical but there is an excellent alternative method which keeps it actually cooler then EVEN if left in the water.

Get a burlap bag (50 lb coffee ~ my local coffee joint gives it out free - not Starbucks) and dip the bag in the water, place fish in bag and hang bag from somewhere. The combination of evaporation of the water (remember grade 9 science?) and light breeze (which we have a lot of on the west coast) will keep the fish in an excellent chilled condition.

You will have to dunk the bag (with fish in it) every hour or so to keep it moist, but it is excellent and inexpensive method that does work.

Leaving a fish submerged in the water is one of the worst things you can do to it. I saw fish being submerged last summer in the Fraser that were practically cooked by the time the fisherman left with it.

[troutbreath]

Just don't drink too many beer and use the salmon as a pillow. Seen the results of this and the heat from the guys head sort of half cooked the fish. He brought it over to smoke it and the ribs were just sticking out from the chest. Plus a dent in it.

[blaydRnr]

Just slash the gills and leave it submerged

If you leave a salmon submerged in the water the flesh will get waterlogged and lose a lot of quality.

not necessarily...it all depends on the water temperature and the state of the salmon.

if you leave the salmon whole and undressed and submerge it where the water is not stagnant, the flesh should not water log.
keep it cool at all times cover it with leaves.

of course nothing beats ice, but its not always available or convenient.

[adriaticum]

Thanks guys, most informative!

[Arnie Salmonegger]

If you do it correctly, within 5 seconds of the "bonk" (a hard hit between the fish's eyes), you have the fish in a 90%-100% painless state (brain dead)  BUT the heart is still pumping the cardiovascular system like crazy for another few minutes (PLUS hold it by the tail head down to allow gravity to help).

Salmon are relatively small animals by mass and do not require their cardio system to be working for hours (a newbie assumption) in order to be bled.

I always carry a fish bat with me so that 1 to 3 (depending on fish size) well placed bonks kill the fish quickly.  You can tell the fish is dead from looking at its eyes (they appear to be "looking down" when its alive, but "level out" when it's dead).  The fish can be brain dead but as DennisK says the heart can still be pumping.  Pulling the gill shortly after death often results in blood coming out in spurts, especially with the larger springs (sorry if I grossed anybody out here).  Note also that a salmon, particularly coho, will continue to flap around for a very long time even after it's been bled, so don't keep bonking it until it stops moving.  I've had coho start flapping around on the bank more than an hour after catching. 

Tip: if fishing on a steep bank, don't leave your dead coho on the slope unless its tied to something, or this flapping can cause it to fall back into the river, and bye-bye coho (I've seen this happen).

Many times I've seen fishers trying to bonk a salmon with a fist sized rock (over and over).  This just doesn't work very well (my bat has been loaned many times).  Also, I've seen fishers bonking their salmon (again) long after catching them because the fish has started to flap around and they think it's still alive (wrong - it's the fish's nerves).  I've had coho lay still for over an hour, then suddenly the tail starts flapping.

So please take a bat or bonker with you, and remember it's the fish's eyes that tell you it's dead, not the cessation of movement.