cleaning gills... the hatred

[neil duffey]

i dont understand why people hate4 cleaning gills over perch so much? enlighten me/ to me the end result either way is realy good eatting. :)

[Springer4Ever]

I cut straight down the top around the ribs then filet it normally after all rib meat is off the ribs as to perch it have smaller ribs and its harder to clean them that way vs. cleaning gills u can clean them like perch i guess but alot of meat will be lost

[Natlight]

Found this, it was on this site months ago.......
http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89527&highlight=electric+knife

[icefishermanmark]

I hate cleaning perch. They're really easy to mess up. But I leanred how to clean fish by working with gills and it's what I normally clean so it's a comfort thing.

[Mr. UglyStick]

Thanks for that link Natlight!!!!

[Arin]

Do you all cut the ribs and then cut them out of the fillet? I was taught to cut down the ribs from the top. Seems easier to cut around the ribs than cutting those little ribs out of the fillet?

[MSUICEMAN]

cutting the ribs out afterwards is easy.... scottyhoover and ozzgood2001 saw my technique.... messy but SUPER quick.

[brianroy6]

I cut right around the ribs, Why handle the same meat twice?:bash:

[MSUICEMAN]

because i can cut out the ribs in two seconds and shorten the time to cut the main fillet off the base skeleton by wayyy more than that.

[Houghton laker]

The difference for me is if I am using a electric....I cut through the ribs....then cut them out after...If I am using my hand fillet knife...I go around the ribs!!

[doughman]

Here is a trick to saving meat on them tasty gills. After I fillet the gills I soak them in salt water over night. I then take them out and then cut the rib bones out. Waste less meat this way.

[Walmark]

My Mr. Twister electric fillet knife doesn't care if its a Gill or a walleye. It just cuts through the rib bones and then finish it by trimming off the skin.

[Splitshot]

Because of the way they are proportioned, perch are a little easier to filet than bluegills. If you look at the pictures in the link you will see very little wasted meat. Cutting through the rib bones is much faster than cutting around them and I'll compare my filets with anyones. lol

It does take a little practice but the average guy will get it right after a couple of hundred gills. After you do gills, try perch and you will find them easier to filet.

[neil duffey]

i cut the ribs as well... its just quicker, but my question hasnt been answered why do some guys not like to filet gills, over perch? whats the big diffrence?

[booktens]

Ahhh.....the never answered question Grasshoppa....

[SKUNK]

Taste, a Bluegill scaled with the bones left in is some of the best eating ever. My grandfather would cringe if he knew I was filleting Gills.

[Splitshot]

Because the bluegill has a fat stomach it is a little more difficult to get the right line with your knife. The knife has to be positioned just right for you get the maximum filet from the top of the back to the bottom of the belly just missing the bottom fins. To get it right, you have to reposition the knife as you are making the cut.

A perch is more streamlined so if you start straight you don't have to manuaver the knife. It's a straight shot. Same with walleye.

[Fishfoote]

I make a slight start at going around the ribs, then just peel the rest of the way by pulling - the meat generally tears away from the ribs - same thing for perch.

[StumpJumper]

Taste, a Bluegill scaled with the bones left in is some of the best eating ever. My grandfather would cringe if he knew I was filleting Gills.
Yep I used to filet them till I saved a bunch whole for my mom and we had a fish fry using whole gills and filets, major taste difference between the two. I quit filleting them.

[limige]

Yep I used to filet them till I saved a bunch whole for my mom and we had a fish fry using whole gills and filets, major taste difference between the two. I quit filleting them.

so you just scale them, then gut them, cut the heads and fins off?

[SKUNK]

Leave the tail, that used to be my first bite

[unclecbass]

In my opinion they both take too long to clean for too little meat. I just like to catch them so I throw them back unless I get into a school of whopper pearch then I will keep them, that doesnt seem to happen too often on inland lakes any more. Sees like I dont see very many big gills any more either. But then again I grew up fishing on Vaughn lake, before everybody and their brother found out about it. Home of the two pound gills.

[Splitshot]

Stump,

No doubt that when you gut and scale bluegills they have a much better flavor. My problem is when I get home I can't wait that long for them to cook. :)

unclecbass,

This statement; In my opinion they both take too long to clean for too little meat. might be the most inane comment I have ever seen on this web-site.

[ICEGUY]

Ahhh.....the never answered question Grasshoppa....


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Northwoods]

It might be easier if you milk them first. :yikes: :lol: :bash:

[Northwoods]

WOW :D talk about a thread killer :evil: :evilsmile

[Scout 2]

Several years ago we were fishing in Canada for gills and in the next cabin there were some guys from Canada walleye fishing . They were not getting much and they came over while we we cleaning fish and one of them made the comment about not getting much meat off a trash fish and how could we eat such a thing, now these gills average 9 to 9 1/2 inches long. So that night we invited them over for supper of deep fried gills and frys. They came over had a few beers and fish and the next day when they came in from fishing they asked us to show them how to clean and fillet the pail of gills they just caught.

[greenglass]

Don't get it. But then again I've filleted more gills than any other fish so I have to say that in the last 30 years or so I've kinda gotten pretty good at it. All manual without the electric knife (but I happily admit that does look SO cool...) But I cut my teeth on cleaning pickle barrels full of gills, sitting around the ping-pong table with the other half dozen fisherpeople while cutting up baggies of gill filets ... still my favorite. And today, catch a batch, come home, sit at the kitchen table, sip on a barley ginger ale while cleaning up a couple of dinners ... one of my favorite things to do. Coupled with this being my bride's favorite dinner ... my life is good.
But Grandma Flo, 100 years old at the time and sitting at the table while I cleaned up my catch, blanched at the process and gave me all kinds of what for that I was filleting these wintertime gills and how much meat I was missing in doing so. But my beloved one did not complain once as she help me eat a platter of fish, with no bones, and didn't once complain that I missed some meat or that they didn't taste as good as the summer gills who were scaled and gutted and then fried up. As a matter of fact she would always ask me, as we cleaned the table up afterwards, if I might be able to get out tomorrow or at the very least the weekend ...
So, I apologize for not understanding the hatred of cleaning of gills ... warm memories from long ago and then some from not so long ago.
But then again I hope you can understand my bias...

[ficious]

For the people who don't like gills.......more for me! They are always welcome in my bucket.

Harry

[bigberniegb]

If the fish are the keeper size,ten inches or larger, you shopuldn't have a problem . Anything smaller I keep the bone in. It helps in the cooking process.I thought that you filet only large fish like salmon ,lake trout and walleye

[StumpJumper]

RE:

Yeah, I just use the electric scaler and scale them, cut the a-hole out, cut the head off and gut them. I dont cut the fins off, it's easier to yank them out once it's cooked.

I just cleaned 55 gills all by myself, I sure as hell wasn't taking the time to filet them all.

[neversunk]

They're not really much worse to clean than perch by taking off the fillets...but I notice one thing here nobody else mentioned....my hands are very sore after cleaning gills. It seems that I manage to get stabbed by their dorsal fins much more than with any other fish that I clean. I guess I'm just not holding them right....but darn are my hands get sore the next day if I clean 15 or more.....tasty sweet meet though!