How Not to Ruin Fresh-Caught Fish

The difference between a fishy-smelling fillet and a restaurant-quality dish is how it's handled. Here are some expert-backed tips borrowed from commercial fishermen and top chefs to help you get the most flavor, texture, and enjoyment from your hard-earned catch.

A Bloody Mess

Draining the blood from a fish promptly can significantly improve the color and quality of the meat. The fillet of an unbled fish will often appear discolored, with residual blood along the bloodline. In addition, the intermuscular impurities will cause the fish to spoil faster due to the bacteria in the blood.

To properly bleed a fish, either grab a handful of gills with your finger and yank on them or cut the throat under the jaw. The fish will pump its blood out with the help of its circulatory system. However, it's crucial to do this immediately after getting your hands on the fish while it's still lively.

According to Alaskan Fishing Captain Billy Hayden, "It's all about temperature and proper bleeding," saying, "placing the fish in water helps the fish bleed out better."

A full fish box dumped onto the deck of a boat at the end of the day should look like the elevator scene from The Shining. The coagulated blood can then be washed off from the fish, and a clean fillet will emerge after further processing.

Don't Fight Rigor Mortis

We all occasionally get excited (or rushed) to process our animals. Though, it's crucial to let them go through the process of rigor mortis without disturbance. The late Jack Whelan, a fish-smoking legend, spoke about this subject in his book Smoking Salmon & Trout.

"When the fish is killed, the muscles are at first relaxed while they use up stored energy. When the energy is gone, the muscles contract and stiffen (rigor mortis). After a time in rigor, the muscles again relax and stay that way."

According to Whelan, fish are especially susceptible to damage during rigor. Excessive heat or anglers attempting to straighten out a curled-up fish can cause muscle tearing. The final fillet will quite literally look torn apart when it reaches the kitchen counter.

If a fish is curled up on itself, let it flatten out on its own. This process happens relatively quickly, and with patience, your fish will have a firm texture when fully processed.

Fish Are like Apples

The flesh of fish is highly susceptible to bruising if not handled carefully. And just like a bruised apple, the result of a mishandled fish can be mushy and discolored.

Desiree Weiser is no stranger to Alaska commercial fisheries, having spent many summers in the famous Bristol Bay. Her knowledge of proper fish practices pushed her to open Fisherman's Pride, a Colorado seafood company.

Weiser focuses heavily on sourcing fish from boats that use padded mats under their seining nets. When it comes to coolers, she recommends you "pack fish with ice in between them; don't stack them on top of each other because this will cause a lot of bruising."

Extrapolating from this knowledge, anglers on a recreational scale should avoid throwing fish onto hard surfaces, tossing bags of ice over smaller carcasses, and learning to be gentle when processing and packaging fish on the dock or at home.

Those targeting larger species, which require guns or clubs, should use caution to avoid unnecessary damage to the meat. A misplaced gunshot or bat can destroy a ton of quality meat. Headshots only–shoot or bludgeon for the brain!

Keep Them Dry

About a year back, I was eavesdropping on a conversation at The Salty Dawg Saloon in Homer, Alaska. A scraggly and geriatric commercial fisherman at the end of the bar reminisced of his days at sea. When he got to the topic of food, he described the dead salmon hanging from the rigging of his seining vessel and the Alaskan breeze keeping their mainstay meal fresh as they charged through rough seas.

World-renowned fish butcher and Chef Josh Niland addresses the issue of moisture in his book The Whole Fish. Seemingly counterintuitive, keeping your catch dry is the way to go. Humid and wet environments become breeding grounds for bacteria, leading to the fishy smell we all avoid.

Instead, Niland asserts keeping your fish dry like you would game meat. While he explores the boundaries of how long you can dry age a fish (occasionally approaching a month), the general principle of keeping your catch dry still applies. Anglers should avoid moisture buildup by using wire racks in the fridge before and after processing and paper towels to soak up residual liquid when necessary.

These simple tricks of the trade are well worth adhering to in the field. Using the advice of those who chronically smell fishy will make your catch tastier, cleaner, and last longer in the freezer.