Most merciful way to kill your catch?

[Turbosaurus]

Umm yeah, okay.. on that note... (I can't believe its been repeated. In NYC we have urban legends- that's gotta be the trailer park version)

Seriously- I can see why a fish like salmon would make a difference if you bleed the fish or not, but as a fisherman in NY where I catch trout in the rivers and stripers in the sound (the rest I don't care for, so its catch and release) - chop off their head with a sharp knife. Gut them right there- it all goes back in the water, throw it in the cooler of ice till u get home. And they're delicious. I've never bled a fish, and I've never eaten one that was fishy.

When it comes to fish that would require such lengths- like blues for example- I throw them back. They're fishy and greasy- yuck. You know what they say- only the good die young. Even if a slower death would make them more tasty- to me its not worth tourturing the fish.

 

[saganco]

Turbo I think you have the very best comment of all. We prefer that answer to everything else and still sounds like good eating.

I think this thread has stated every possible viewpoint now so everything else is.... Well I've got my answers. You guys can continue to play around with this but if you're doing it to answer the OP, well, consider it done and finished. Y'all are great for bouncing ideas around.

 

[johnpeezy]

Seriously- I can see why a fish like salmon would make a difference if you bleed the fish or not.

the only reason why it is practiced here is because the blood of a salmon has a VERY pungent odor and flavor especially sockeye its really surprising how much of a diffrece it makes.


I was not sure if you meant to say I can see or I can't see

so I figured I would give you the reasoning behind the madness.

 

[Bart G]

I chop the head off too if I keep.

One time I was cleaning a crappie. I had cut the head off and had it lying on the cutting board. The head sprang to life and the eye looked at me and the fish took a big gulp of air. It made an awful sound and it flipped me out. I stabbed the head a couple times and threw it in the trash. Ew.

 

[Kaluden]

I chop the head off too if I keep.

One time I was cleaning a crappie. I had cut the head off and had it lying on the cutting board. The head sprang to life and the eye looked at me and the fish took a big gulp of air. It made an awful sound and it flipped me out. I stabbed the head a couple times and threw it in the trash. Ew.

That made me laugh. Thanks, now everyone in the office thinks i'm a retard for laughing in a cube by myself.

 

[USMC2171]

I use a horse shoe stake to cause blunt force trauma. I then descale and clean the fish Depending on the size of the fish, determines the amount of force. I live here in NC on the coast, and we do a lot of surf fishing, so the fish are bigger and need a good whack, after the intial wack it's only a matter of seconds when the gills stop moving. Sorry, if that offends anyone, but the flounder,and the spotted drum (channel bass), so delicious, and we feel healthier choice over buying fish from the store, don't know how long they've been there.
Good luck

 

[Tay690]

I try to pith and then bleed as much as possible. Not only is it immediate but also keeps the lactic acid from building up in the muscle tissue which can alter the taste of the fish (or so I've heard).

This is the best way to satisfy your taste for fish and to kill as quickly and humanely as possible

Blunt force trauma is by far the fastest and easiest way IME
Sometimes the fish twitch a bit (I know it sounds cold) but trust me...they are long gone even though they are still moving

I personally don't enjoy doing it myself...but this is the fastest, most readily available and most effective way to quickly kill the fish without it suffering

 

[Ajordan]

This article may be interesting for some to read:

http://www.cookingissues.com/2009/08/11/japanese-fish-killing-ike-jime-smackdown-part-1/

Not so much a question of humane method but was fascinating to me (along with most of their posts) nonetheless.

If you are reading this topic my guess is that the pictures won't offend you but you should know they depict butchering fish...

 

[Likestofish]

Umm yeah, okay.. on that note... (I can't believe its been repeated. In NYC we have urban legends- that's gotta be the trailer park version)

Seriously- I can see why a fish like salmon would make a difference if you bleed the fish or not, but as a fisherman in NY where I catch trout in the rivers and stripers in the sound (the rest I don't care for, so its catch and release) - chop off their head with a sharp knife. Gut them right there- it all goes back in the water, throw it in the cooler of ice till u get home. And they're delicious. I've never bled a fish, and I've never eaten one that was fishy.

When it comes to fish that would require such lengths- like blues for example- I throw them back. They're fishy and greasy- yuck. You know what they say- only the good die young. Even if a slower death would make them more tasty- to me its not worth tourturing the fish.

Well when you cut the fishes head off your pretty much bleeding it. The whole point of bleeding is to remove blood right away and if your cleaning right away you just did bleeding and cleaning at the same time.

 

[Siphon1]

I bleed them throw em in a cooler and fillet when i get home.There is no humane way to kill a fish. Once you hook them their tortured the whole way in and some are in shock by the time you land them