I have been accused of being a bit lazy after being selected as the Ambassador of the year, but the truth of the matter is that since the first of the year, my PC has been crashed, and since receiving the lap top from WFN, Donna and I have been unpacking, working and visiting her father who still remains in the hospital in critical condition.   

   I wanted to take this opportunity to share more writing by my friend and favorite author Darren Shell, who was kind enough to help me out with providing some reading materials to all of our friends out there who are suffering from cabin feaver as they wait for “the season” to begin.  His knowledge and expertise of all things fishing has gained him a respectable reputation around Dale Hollow Lake and across North America. In this article he shares with WFN and Facebook the proper filleting technique for cleaning fish. I will provide a link at the end of the article to Darren’s site for more information.      

 Proper Fillets Techniques for Cleaning Your Fish By Darren Shell   “Catfish just taste too fishy to me…”           

  I hear it all the time.  Here’s another… “Spotted bass taste too gamey.”           

   I’d like to say, “Hogwash!”  Having grown up at the marina and on the water, I’ve watched thousands of people clean and fillet fish—and I’ve seen it done both right and wrong since my childhood.  For those of you who like their fish fillets as mild as can be, I’d like to offer up a few steadfast lessons in fish cleaning.  I’ve learned a bunch in my years at the marina.  I’d like to share a few methods with you.            

  For decades, I’ve watched folks unload stringers of catfish from the boat and then grab the pliers from the tackle box.  I’ve also watched those same individuals spend hours on end skinning their catch and making a monstrous mess of the place.  Aside from the sheer amount of time lost in the cleaning process and the agonizingly long and difficult ordeal it is, this practice of skinning catfish is the leading cause for strong tasting fish fillets.  Some anglers still hold true to tradition and continue cleaning fish the old fashioned way by slowly and persistently tearing away at the tough hide.  But I’ve made believers out of many with my simple methods that produce far better fillets.  Here’s how.            

  Most anglers have now graduated from fillet knives to electric knives.  This has been the biggest time saver ever.  I don’t think anyone that has gone electric has ever even looked back!  For the sake of this article, I’ll assume we’ve all made that move.            

 When I clean catfish (and many other species), I leave the skin right on the fish while I fillet it.  I run the knife through that cat just like I was filleting a crappie (right along the backbone).  Once the fillet leaves the carcass, I lay it flat—skin side down.  At this point, I usually remove the ribcage bones from the fillet.  Some folks cut around them as they make their initial fillet cut from the carcass.  I take it out afterward. Once the rib bones are removed, it’s time to skin the fillet.  Here is the important part; with a bass or crappie, I would hold the knife against the skin and cut the skin and scales from the meat.  Not here.  With catfish and large fish of other species, I leave about ¼ inch or meat still on the skin when I begin the cut.  This quarter inch of meat on the skin is where all the skin glands are (fishy tasting, reddish meat).  On big fish over 15 pounds, I leave even more meat on the skin, perhaps 3/8 of an inch.  To accomplish this, merely start your cut above the skin and hold the same depth all the way through.  It takes some practice, but it’s worth it.


      Once the skin and meat is cut from the fillet, the remaining meat should be white.  There will be a slender blood line of red meat down the center of the fillet that must be removed.  This too is quite strong tasting.  By removing this meat, you will now have two pieces of meat from your one fillet—an upper section and a lower.  If either of these fillets have any discoloration whatsoever—reddish or yellowish tones on the white meat—cut it off.  What you want is a perfectly pale white chunk of meat.  These chunks can be diced up into smaller pieces for frying.  Rinse these chunks VERY well with clean, cold water and place in a pan or freezer bag of clean water.  This rinsing process is very important, too.  Make sure the slime is washed off of every piece.            

 I’ve implemented this same cleaning technique on other fish than just cats.  Varieties of bass can be cleaned the same way by leaving some of that meat on the skin during removal.  If you can eliminate odd-colored sections on your fillets, this should rid your fillets of any foul or strong taste in the meat.  I even do this with some of the larger bluegills and shellcrackers, just to make certain that nothing spoils a frozen batch of fillets.  Often times, one poorly cleaned fish can ruin an entire bag.  Be liberal with the amount of water you place in the bag, also.  Plenty of water will help eliminate any freezer burn that might try to occur.  Some folks use vacuum sealed packaging for this also, but I’ve found that plenty of water in a Ziplock is easy and effective.  Both work well.            

And one last suggestion…            

After all winter, sometimes my well-stocked freezer runs empty of fish (bummer!).  When I’m forced to walk the meat counter at the local market instead of digging through my own freezer, I keep these same principles in mind when shopping for fish.  I buy the whitest fillets I can find, and then take the knife to them when I arrive home.  Cutting off that darker colored meat makes a huge difference in the quality of the fillets both bought right off the shelf or caught right from the lake.  It just makes good sense.             With a little practice, these techniques will make your dinner table an even happier place.  I’ve had people that “don’t like fish” eat platefuls of my prepared fillets.  Kids eat them like potato chips!  And the time you save on filleting your fish—well—maybe you could spend that time fishing! 

That—my catfishing friends—you can bet your whiskers on!  ~DS

About the Author:      
 Darren Shell lives and works at his family-run marina on Dale Hollow Lake in middle Tennessee. He has written a number of books in both fiction and Nonfiction. His stories and lectures about the lake and local history have gained him the title of "Gravedigger" in surrounding communities. Most days you can find him at the marina…if he's not out "digging".  

Visit Darren’s site and order his books at:  http://www.dalehollowgravedigger.com/