walleye cheeks

[shady oaks]

anybody know how to cut out this small piece of meat? i've had it plenty of times and love it, but never actually cut it myself.

[chunkster27]

First off it's between the eye and the gill plate of the fish. Take the tip of your knife and insert above the top of the eye and follow the gill plate around to the bottom of the eye. Now take your thumb and insert between the top and bottom of the eye and flip it out. It will peel right a way from the skin. It does take some practice to get every bit of meat, but when you get the hang of it you will be into some GOOD EATIN. We like to call them "Walleye Scallops". Good luck and better fish fry's!! :coolgleam

[shady oaks]

thanks alot! in my opinion, that's some of the best fish i've had. hopefully we'll start hitting them pretty heavy this week.

[FIJI]

take an old spoon and sharpen the edges to make a custom "scoop". Sometimes this is easier/safer than using a knife tip.

:dizzy:

[Nu_2_MI]

Best thing I've ever used was a sharpened avacado knife. You can get one at any walmart. Sharpen the edges and voila. Easy to work arounfd the edges of the cheek hollow and then down to get the main hunk of meat. Don't ever bypass this tender little morsel.

[shady oaks]

:yeahthat: the people i'm fishing with have never heard of this. granted i never heard of it until a few summers ago when i went fishing off the tip of the thumb. damn good meat!

[Priority1]

We have had fish frys with nothing but walleye cheeks. They are the best.:)

[PWood]

Mmmmmmm! Walleye cheek stir-fry.

Salmon cheeks are just as good.

[gregm]

......Been eatin' em for close to 20 years now!!!! Went on a charter in the mid 80's when I was a kid. The captain showed the trick, now I don't fillet one without getting the cheeks out first.

[bigbob]

cheek meat is the best :corkysm55

[UNCLE AL]

Walleyes aren't the only fish with "cheeks", and they're all good.