Bleeding out Gills

[dan fredrickson]

Lately i've been bleeding out my largemouth bass and walleye as soon as i catch them. Then put them on ice. The bass don't seem to make such a mess on the board, and the meat is firm and almost white. Would it make any sense to do this with gills?

[steve b]

Interesting. Sharks, ya cut around just in front of tail to drain urine out. We bleed out trout and steelhead/salmon. Bluegills ? Well, just 'cuase I haven't heard of it..maybe ! Usually its done to red bloody meat type fish. Am certainly open to consider too. steve b

[Copperhead John]

Never heard of this down here in Tallahassee.

[dave in el dorado ca]

i never thought of bleeding out a centrarchid (bass/bluegill), but when trout fishing, i routinely bleed them out immediately after catching. dan, you didnt mention yer method for bleeding out, i would be interesed to hear how you do it.

for trout, i put em on a stringer, cut one gill plate, and hang over side of boat for ~5 minutes, then they go directly on ice. if you cut more than one gill plate, they bleed out too fast and the heart stops. just cutting one gill plate, you get a nice even bleed out and the meat definitely stays more firm to the plate.

[dan fredrickson]

With largemouth I cut the arteries supplying blood to the gills. On the underside of the fish where the body narrows near the gills i cut through the flesh until it opens up. the arteries should now be visible. I cut them and put fish in water till the gills are pinkish. then put on ice.

I have only done this while ice fishing, but i will try this after opener in the boat.