FILLETING A BLUEGILL IN 40 SECS (ELECTRIC FILLET KNIFE)

[Slip Sinker]

i like my little fillet knife but this might be the way to go if you have a lot of panfish to fillet...

[carl hendrix]

slip stinker;; just get with Lord of the Fly Rods;; for a little  filleting ;; 101 with a lectric knife !!  lofr;; can fillet out 3 or 4 ;; to my one with a regular knife !!

[Slip Sinker]

i heard he was fast... me ... i thought it was interesting and others might be... but i only fillet a couple dozen a year or so on avg. this year may have been a peak for me because of ice fishing and the many small perch i caught.

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

This guy is good but he is too slow and leaves to much meat on the ribs, the way I do it I make my first cut behind the gill plate and go to the backbone , then rotate the blade to slide it down the backbone to the tail ,flip the meat and leave the skin attached , slide knife between skin and flesh.  Toss filet  " with ribs " into ice water, flip fish over and repeat.   Now take fillet from  your bowl of fillets and ice water and  with a sharp fillet knife bend the tip will you are slicing out the rib bone. now you fillet is totally boneless , chilled , and ready for washing and the skillet. I have been timed at 2-3 Bluegill  per minute. I know I make it look too easy  but after you get in a  zone of cleaning 100- 150 fish at a time it's  just repetition !   LOFR

[Slip Sinker]

yeah ... i was dying... 10 fish took me a half hour ... lol

[John Sheehan]

I agree LOFR  the ribcage cut should be a smaller cut I think.

[Lord of the Fly , Rods]

 Slip , Carl and I hope to make a video of the electric knife technique at the next Rendezvous, come be in it with us. LOFR

[Slip Sinker]

are you kidding me!! i would love to be there fishing with the group... stories and pictures sounded and looked great... great times. its traveling thats the stopper for me.

[Slip Sinker]

and thank you.... looking for more medical opinions this off season etc before spring. hopefully there is a chance i can improve the traveling.

[Slip Sinker]

its just i had no idea you could do this small work with a knife like that... until you see it actually being done.

[carl hendrix]

slip stinker; my usual time is about 2 or 3 minutes  per fish ; with a regular knife;; LOFR beat me by a mile using his electric knife !!  nothing is wasted either !   and yes sir;; this coming rendevou; we;re going to make a video on how to do it;; you really need to join us ;; more fun than should be legally allowed;; not to mention;; some of the best eating any where !  even tooty loved the ohkra !  LOLOLOL

[Slip Sinker]

yep same here Carl 2.5 to 3.0 mins per fish

[Tony Livingston]

I'm going to throw out a different perspective. I fully understand the desire to speed things up, and get done asap. My own mother uses an electric knife in the exact fashion LOFR describes. But I can't see myself ever trading in my fixed blades for an electric. When I was a boy I used to hunt and run traplines. Muskrat, Raccoon, Mink, Possum, all skinned out for fur. And for me, it soon became obvious that it wasn't about speed, it was about appreciation for the animal. Sure, I got pretty good at it and things went quickly, but I still felt the need to stop and spend a moment or two just admiring that animal, and appreciating it for what it was. I feel the same way about bluegills, and I don't ever want to lose that feeling. To me they're more than a food source, and I actually enjoy taking 30 minutes to hand filet  a dozen or so fish. It's a part of the whole process, and an important part at that.

I'm just afraid that if it became a race to the finish, it would indicate that something is wrong.....maybe I've began harvesting too many fish at once, or worse, I've lost that necessary appreciation for the animal itself. I don't want to ever get to that point. For me, and just me, I need that sense of "these animals died by my hand", to keep things in focus. I don't want it to ever become easy, or quick, or meaningless.