Quote Originally Posted by ack View Post
i have been cutting them for years. running short on time i had the guy that cleans fish at Maumee Tackle this year clean a mess for me. he commented on how nice the fish were and thanked me for bleeding them. he then told me that just popping one gill would do the same. i have yet to try that but if i ever make it back up there that is the way i am going to try it.
That is exactly what I do, slice a gill or two put them head first into a 5 gal. bucket 1/2 full of cool water. Makes a big difference when cleaning. Just make sure you have the head in the water or you could get an eye full of blood. They WILL squirt!