I once read a letter in cruising world about the best way to kill a fish when you catch them. I had told my family (wife and two young sons at the time) how vicious bluefish were and how they'd attack you after you catch one. So I'm cruising along in my Catalina 25 and the reel starts stripping out line...my first fish by trolling. I reel it in and it's a bluefish. I manage to get it in the boat and my family immediately dove for cover into the cabin. I'm holding the fish down with the butt of the reel ...and back to my original story I tell my wife ...hand me the vodka honey, the article I read said to pour vodka down the gills of the fish and it knocks them out and kills them. So I pour some in the fishes mouth and it starts jumpiong around and looking really happy, so I pour a little more and he does the same...pretty soon I am down a half a quart of vodka and the fish is better than when he was swimming. Now I don't know what to do so I tell my wife "hand me the ball peen hammer" enough of that story...my wife refused to eat the fish but the kids enjoyed it and the cockpit was a mess. So how do you all manage to kill a fish when you catch one?
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R.W.Landau
next add-on question
Good stories Dave. How do you guys gut and fillet fish and keep blood, smell, etc. in control? r.w.landau
Good stories Dave. How do you guys gut and fillet fish and keep blood, smell, etc. in control? r.w.landau
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Dick Vance
Newspapers and Rubber Gloves
David, I've seen the alcohol on the gills method and it works. You must pour it directly on the gills through the gill openings. R. W., I always pack some newspaper and a supply of surgical gloves to do my fish cleaning. Put the fish on the paper, filet, roll the carcass in the paper and put in a plastic trash bag. You can buy a box of the disposable surgical gloves at most drug stores. Just peel them off and discard them when done. Of course, If you are cleaning the fish at sea, the crabs and gulls love the leftovers! Dick Vance H-25.5 "Honey Bear"
David, I've seen the alcohol on the gills method and it works. You must pour it directly on the gills through the gill openings. R. W., I always pack some newspaper and a supply of surgical gloves to do my fish cleaning. Put the fish on the paper, filet, roll the carcass in the paper and put in a plastic trash bag. You can buy a box of the disposable surgical gloves at most drug stores. Just peel them off and discard them when done. Of course, If you are cleaning the fish at sea, the crabs and gulls love the leftovers! Dick Vance H-25.5 "Honey Bear"
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Bill Coughlin
How to kill a fish???
Now thay's a funny story. My wife thought a was cracking up when I read it. Although you can be bitten by any fish that has teeth after they are caught with proper handling blue fish are no more dangerous then another. After you pull your fish aboard keep strain on the leader holding the fish up.With your other hand grab the fish by the gills, then grab a pair of needle nose pliers or fishing pliers and remove the hook. The fish should then be placed into the fish box or cooler on ice. When you get back to the dock it will be either dead or so slowed down you can now clean it without a problem. Also this is when the vodka can properly be used(in a cool drink)sparingly or to the half bottle if you choose P.S. Fresh fish should not smell and the blood can easily be washed away at the fish cleaning station or with a hose.
Now thay's a funny story. My wife thought a was cracking up when I read it. Although you can be bitten by any fish that has teeth after they are caught with proper handling blue fish are no more dangerous then another. After you pull your fish aboard keep strain on the leader holding the fish up.With your other hand grab the fish by the gills, then grab a pair of needle nose pliers or fishing pliers and remove the hook. The fish should then be placed into the fish box or cooler on ice. When you get back to the dock it will be either dead or so slowed down you can now clean it without a problem. Also this is when the vodka can properly be used(in a cool drink)sparingly or to the half bottle if you choose P.S. Fresh fish should not smell and the blood can easily be washed away at the fish cleaning station or with a hose.
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R.W.Landau
Bill, no dock to use.
How do you do it onboard? No dock, no fish cleaning station, just cockpit. If you don't get it all, alittle sun ages fish rapidly! I have tried filling a large bucket and gutting into the bucket. Bill, your idea of being dead or docile would help here. If I am doing a weekend, I hate to use the ice or my cooler for this. Every time I filet in the cockpit, everything in the cockpit has to be cleaned. r.w.landau
How do you do it onboard? No dock, no fish cleaning station, just cockpit. If you don't get it all, alittle sun ages fish rapidly! I have tried filling a large bucket and gutting into the bucket. Bill, your idea of being dead or docile would help here. If I am doing a weekend, I hate to use the ice or my cooler for this. Every time I filet in the cockpit, everything in the cockpit has to be cleaned. r.w.landau
Try rubbing alcohol
David: Try rubbing alcohol. Then you still have some of the good stuff for your self.
David: Try rubbing alcohol. Then you still have some of the good stuff for your self.
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Ray Bowles
How to wack a fish. Quick and clean.
After have lived and fished in the Northwest for 55 years we have always terminated our fish with a very sharp, strong, blow to the spine just above and slightly behind the gill flap. Fish up to 5lbs. can be dispatched with a heavy pocket knife. 5lbs. to about 20lbs can be thumped with a heavy hammer handle. Above that weight a heavy short (5#) steel rod will work. Greater than 30lbs.....Shoot it. Good luck and let us know how eats who.
After have lived and fished in the Northwest for 55 years we have always terminated our fish with a very sharp, strong, blow to the spine just above and slightly behind the gill flap. Fish up to 5lbs. can be dispatched with a heavy pocket knife. 5lbs. to about 20lbs can be thumped with a heavy hammer handle. Above that weight a heavy short (5#) steel rod will work. Greater than 30lbs.....Shoot it. Good luck and let us know how eats who.
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Brian Pickton of BeneteauOwners.net
Fish death
Feb.2, 2001 Dear R.W., We dispatch the little fish with a sharp blow to the head. The medium guys get a shot of booze to the gills. The big guys -300 pound halibut and such - get a slug from a .22 in the head while still over the side. ( We found serving them a martini got too exciting for all involoved). Fish cleaning takes place on the side deck on a large cutting boarder covered with newspaper to catch scales. I don't clean fish in the cockpit. Fillets go iinto a plastic bag and guts go over the side. Large fish like tuna that bleed alot get hung by a line through the gills and hung over the side. I then cut through the side of the fish very near the tail slicing through the vein that runs down each side. The fish is then bled out before filleting proceeds. Since holding onto the slimy monsters can be a challenge I like to use a fish cleaning glove that looks like it is made of fine chain mail or mesh. This gives an excellent grip and is rinsed out and dried after each use. I scrape slime and scales off fish immediately to prevent that unpleasant fishy taste. I also pull out side bones from the fillets with needle nose pliers to get the best quality eating experience. Good dining. Brian Pickton, of BeeneteeauOwners.net, Aboard the Legend, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.
Feb.2, 2001 Dear R.W., We dispatch the little fish with a sharp blow to the head. The medium guys get a shot of booze to the gills. The big guys -300 pound halibut and such - get a slug from a .22 in the head while still over the side. ( We found serving them a martini got too exciting for all involoved). Fish cleaning takes place on the side deck on a large cutting boarder covered with newspaper to catch scales. I don't clean fish in the cockpit. Fillets go iinto a plastic bag and guts go over the side. Large fish like tuna that bleed alot get hung by a line through the gills and hung over the side. I then cut through the side of the fish very near the tail slicing through the vein that runs down each side. The fish is then bled out before filleting proceeds. Since holding onto the slimy monsters can be a challenge I like to use a fish cleaning glove that looks like it is made of fine chain mail or mesh. This gives an excellent grip and is rinsed out and dried after each use. I scrape slime and scales off fish immediately to prevent that unpleasant fishy taste. I also pull out side bones from the fillets with needle nose pliers to get the best quality eating experience. Good dining. Brian Pickton, of BeeneteeauOwners.net, Aboard the Legend, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.
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gary jensen
doin' the fish in
Your story reminds me of a Rooster fish I caught north of Manzanillo, Mexico on a Mexican fishing boat. I had a big fight getting him to the boat. We gaffed it and got it half way into a four foot long (huge) empty ice chest. 5 minutes later, this fish hopps out wildly and flapps across deck--headed for the water. The fishermen, who owned the boat, brought out clubs and proceeded with great difficulty to club it to death. It wasn't pretty because this fish had a lot of fight in it. In retrospect we should have cleavered the head off when we had it gaffed. Cleaner and faster!!( by the way, Rooster fish taste terrible)
Your story reminds me of a Rooster fish I caught north of Manzanillo, Mexico on a Mexican fishing boat. I had a big fight getting him to the boat. We gaffed it and got it half way into a four foot long (huge) empty ice chest. 5 minutes later, this fish hopps out wildly and flapps across deck--headed for the water. The fishermen, who owned the boat, brought out clubs and proceeded with great difficulty to club it to death. It wasn't pretty because this fish had a lot of fight in it. In retrospect we should have cleavered the head off when we had it gaffed. Cleaner and faster!!( by the way, Rooster fish taste terrible)
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Skip Skolnik
Get this --- RUM!!
I was in the bahamas chatering a 52 footer. The captian always had a fishing line off the stern. We would catch a baracuda every now and again. Usualy we would bring up only the heads, due to the fact that we would not be watching the line and the sharks thought it was just biger bait. However this one time we cought a 48 inch Mahi Mahi (Dolphin Fish) It was beautiful and HUGE. It mus have weighed 50 pounds. The captain fought this fish for about 45 min. trying to get the Steel leader. He finally did and hauled the fish on to the back of this old double-ender. He was laying on this really mad and strong fish. He yelled for the rum. We had discovered this "Plantation brand Cocunut Rum". He quickly dumped about two cups into the gills of this wild beast on the deck and it instantly became quite calm. As a matter of fact he didn't even mind being skinned and cut up. He died a happy fish. The down side of this story is that our freezer was down so we could not eat it fast enough. We did utilize the last of it to create and witness the scariest shark feeding frenze this side of the Discovery channel. Skip Cleveland, Ohio Cat 27 #1885
I was in the bahamas chatering a 52 footer. The captian always had a fishing line off the stern. We would catch a baracuda every now and again. Usualy we would bring up only the heads, due to the fact that we would not be watching the line and the sharks thought it was just biger bait. However this one time we cought a 48 inch Mahi Mahi (Dolphin Fish) It was beautiful and HUGE. It mus have weighed 50 pounds. The captain fought this fish for about 45 min. trying to get the Steel leader. He finally did and hauled the fish on to the back of this old double-ender. He was laying on this really mad and strong fish. He yelled for the rum. We had discovered this "Plantation brand Cocunut Rum". He quickly dumped about two cups into the gills of this wild beast on the deck and it instantly became quite calm. As a matter of fact he didn't even mind being skinned and cut up. He died a happy fish. The down side of this story is that our freezer was down so we could not eat it fast enough. We did utilize the last of it to create and witness the scariest shark feeding frenze this side of the Discovery channel. Skip Cleveland, Ohio Cat 27 #1885
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