Bleeding your fish

[Coiloil37]

Originally Posted by EZM

Salt water keeps flesh firm - I have a buddy who soaks our freshwater fillets in cold salted water for at least 45 min before patting them down with a paper towel and freezing them. Same Idea as salting your minnows I guess.

And as mentioned, the Salt also helps keep any bacteria down.

I did a little reading about it after he asked me the question and yes that’s the other reason. Their cells absorb fresh water and makes the flesh mushier which is why you don’t put fresh water on fish.


Salting your bait is to draw the water out of their cells before it freezes. If it’s not done before they are frozen the water in the cells expands and ruptures the cells which leads to mushy bait. I brine all of my saltwater caught baits in a heavy salt/sodium bicarbonate solution. The baking soda sets the scales, preserves the colour and kills bacteria. The salt draws the moisture out of the baitfish to firm them up and keep them firm even after freezing.
Salting your mushy minnows after they’ve been frozen doesn’t help much because the cells are already damaged. Unless you put them in straight salt and practically mummify them.

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by marky_mark

Ice makes the difference

If you want to do the next step
It would be dressing the fish to remove all the intestines etc

Whitefish will get a brownish tinge if they are left round for too long

But the biggest difference will be from ice

The old salts tell me to leave the guts in them until they cool down so that the worms will migrate to the intestines as that is the last place to cool.
Fact or fiction? I’ve cut the stomachs open on some fish and there is some pretty funky looking stuff in there.

[marky_mark]

Originally Posted by Chewbacca

The old salts tell me to leave the guts in them until they cool down so that the worms will migrate to the intestines as that is the last place to cool.
Fact or fiction? I’ve cut the stomachs open on some fish and there is some pretty funky looking stuff in there.

Salt water fish for sure
Fresh water don’t have as many worms or bugs
Some whitefish did from certain lakes but that was it

[Fish along]

I was born and raised in NFLD and when i went trout fishing i always had a good sized fishing creel and id half fill it with moss,and each trout i caught would be wrapped in this moss to keep the fish moist and cool no gutting or bleeding. When i got home i cleaned the fish and placed them in a container of salted water overnight they were always firm and tasty.

[3blade]

I came across this for the first time in Australia, ended up fishing next to a NZ Maori guy who told me how to catch and handle bream....bleed em, gut them, stringer in water or ice if you have it (I didn’t). Cooked up about 7-8 and they were some of the best fish I had ever eaten. Tried it here on pike and walleye and wouldn’t ya know, same result.

Even got the old school FIL bleeding every fish now. We had a 20 lb pike that didn’t survive release due to warm water last summer...bled it out and it tasted just as good as a winter walleye.

[CNP]

Originally Posted by marky_mark

You would have to leave the head on in alberta to be able to prove it’s legal

For fish subject to size limits yes, head to tail is required. If the fish isn't subject to size limits then you can filet them providing you leave the skin on for identification of species.