killing /bleeding fish

[billandalisha]

Hello im 27 year old man who is just starting to get back in the fishing world. I was always just the type of catch and releasing fish. But now me and my wife are in it for game and their meat. When I watch my wife family they just put the fish on the stringer and the fish dies on its own in the water. ( which I do not like) anyways..

I know you can club them with a priest, bleed, or put them in a freezer and they will die. I wish to learn how to do 2 things how to kill fish humanly and how to bleed the fish so the meat stays nice and white.

I read that you can cut them by the heart (photo 1) or cut their gills (2). How deep do you have to make the cut to the heart or other arterys? When they say to cut the rake of the gills ..which part are they talking about? I see a few layers of gills and do you cut vertical or horizontal to the fish? Are they talking about the gills that is in the fish or the gill that sticks out of the fish?

Oh and we are talking bluegills,trout and bass and now and then a pike
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[lonehunter]

Hello,
Sorry it has taken soo long but I am having an argument with my computer [blush] .
I would not try the heart cut because it opens the cavity , nasty things could get in there and ruin your fish . The rake of the gills , look at a rake , the fanned fingers that snatches up the leaves and clippings , that's your target the fingers of the rake . Same shape as the gills , that is where you would cut to blead out a fish . Another option is to do a tail cut . In your diagram you see how the vein goes to the tail ? A simple cut to that vein will also bleed out a fish .

Hope it helps .
What lakes are you fishing ?

[Jaackrabbit]

I keep a cooler with salted down ice water on the boat. Putting the salt in the water and ice really lowers the temps and they don't last long in there. Kills em quick and keeps em nice and cold and lightly salted and ready for the frying pan.
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