After you catch?

[eriecaster]

Just wondering how many guys here cut their walleye after their catch. Seen a guy at the cleaners that did this and those things were white. Just wondering if it was worth the mess? What's your thoughts?

[Eyezcrazy]

Just wondering how many guys here cut their walleye after their catch. Seen a guy at the cleaners that did this and those things were white. Just wondering if it was worth the mess? What's your thoughts?

Absolutely cut the fish! Not only does it make for a nice white fillet but when you clean them there is very little mess on the fillet table and the cooler is much easier to clean too because you don't have all that blood getting kicked around.

I just carry a couple of 5 gallon buckets put a little water in one, cut the fish, drop it in the water and put the second bucket inside the first one containing the fish so it can't splash around, wait 5 minutes , remove the fish and put it on ice.

You'll be glad you started doing this! Make sure when you cut you get the main artery so it bleeds out, you'll know when you hit it!

[ReelTime]

I bleed all our fish. I hook them on a stringer tied to the mid ship cleat, cut them with a cheap pair of kitchen shears and let them dangle for 5 minutes or so. Then them come back in and go on ice.

[j-mar]

What part of fish do you cut.

[ReelTime]

Underneath just below where the gills come together where it makes a V.

[ack]

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.

[LEfriend]

I bleed all our fish. I hook them on a stringer tied to the mid ship cleat, cut them with a cheap pair of kitchen shears and let them dangle for 5 minutes or so. Then them come back in and go on ice.

Works for me too. I tied one (or two) metal stringer clip (from a chain stringer) on a piece of nylon parachute cord tied to a side cleat. No noise, no scratching boat. Clip fish on the stringer inside the boat, hold it over the side, cut the V with scissors, drop it in water. Ready for cooler in a minute or two. No mess or blood in boat. No extra bucket in way. And best, I like the safety of not handling a sharp knife in a bouncing boat..... I have done the gills bit but seems to me the scissors to the throat bleeds more.

[Capt Juls]

Now that the water is getting warmer, and the fish go belly up pretty quick with a full live well, I will start cutting and throwing them on ice for my customers.

My live well pumps water in and then I can switch it to pump water out. So, after they bleed, I pump the bloody water out and pump fresh in again.

[Shelly J]

No live well on the Shelly J.WE use a 5 gallon bucket about half full of lake water,hold there head in bucket,snip there throat and leave them after a while or when someone has time throw on ice and change out water.Works good for us and taste better.

[qspman]

Since I frequently use long nosed pliers to remove the hooks from the fish, its easy to just reach in from behind the gill plate and rip a gill or two....the fish will bleed profusely....and there's no knife involved to stick something/someone you don't want to. Just started bleeding walleye last year and IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE in the quality of the fillets. I do it on every species of fish now.