Cleaning Fish - How to Scale, Clean, Fillet and Store Fish

Choosing Fish to Fillet

Smaller fish may not be suited for filleting but most larger fish can easily be filleted in order to provide high quality boneless meals.

Skinning Fish Fillets

Skinning the fish and trimming any dark meat can further raise the quality of your meal. To skin the fish, lie the fillet down flat, skin side down. Using a SHARP fillet knife, make a cut using a slicing motion parallel to the skin.

Care of the Fillets

Fish should always be kept cold! Store fish in an iced cooler and clean them right away after your trip. Fillets will be best if rinsed, placed in zipper bags and placed back on ice immediately after cleaning.

Using All of the Fish

Don't want to waste anything? There's even a trick for that! You can use kitchen shears and remove the gills from the head, then rinse the head, skeleton, skin and scraps of dark meat for use in making a delicious fish stock.

Any parts not used can be added to a compost pile. Fish scraps are excellent sources of minerals and other nutrients for your garden.

Vacuum bags work by removing air from freezer storage bags. You simply place your food in the freezer bag, seal the bag, and use the vacuum tool to air from the bag. Removing excess air cuts down on freezer burn.

Several types of bags and vacuum devices exist, ranging from inexpensive hand pumps to large models for bulk freezing.

One of the most popular options is a series of an economically priced, hand-held vacuum sealers which remove air from the specially designed Reynold's food bags. To purchase a manual or electric RHV, shop online or visit major grocery stores and mass retailers.

The average cost of a vacuum sealer starter kit is very affordable and the kit includes a few quart size vacuum food bags. Refills of quart size bags or gallon size bags are available.

This technique is best for small fish that are not suitable to be filleted.

1. Scale the fish with a fish scaler or dull knife. While holding the fish with one hand, use the tool to remove all scales. You must run the scaler or knife from tail to head in order to get the scales off. The skin should be smooth when all scales are gone.

2. Cut the fish's head off. make the cut at the back of the fish's gills. Cut through at this point.

3. Cut from the belly back to the vent, avoiding all organs. Remove all organs, saving the fish roe if any is found.

4. Cut off the tail and fins.

5. Rinse the fish and place on ice immediately.

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Fish scraps are an excellent contribution to your organic garden. Fish have been used to nourish crops for thousands of years as they are excellent sources of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and other important minerals.

Fish heads, scales, skin and bones all make great additions to a garden. Fish parts can be laid in a sunny area to dry, then added to a compost pile or buried in a fallow section of the garden.

Like crustacean shells, fish scales, bones and skin release nutrients slowly, providing plants with a natural, steady dispersion.

Catfish lack scales and tend to have very slimy skin. Their sharp spines make them a challenge to clean. The easiest way to clean catfish is usually to skin the fish first, then fillet it.

Some anglers remove the fillets and then skin them. This method removes the thin layer of red meat that lies just under the skin. For larger catfish, this is said to improve the flavor of the fillets.