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**skipperboy** · 12-11-2006, 14:05

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sorry for the title, we have a greek here in the lab that keeps on changing the keybord settings. I caught some bass a few days ago and prepared them yesterday and noticed there was a lot of blood still in them. how do you best kill them to avoid this problem? I normally wack them on the head and when I come home I gut them, but leave the gills in. maybe that is where I do something wrong?

cheers

jan

**Jamie Donnelly** · 12-11-2006, 14:13

kill them and then gut them straight away mate.

Jamie

**scottonjayne** · 12-11-2006, 14:18

it sounds DAFT but your catch will stay fresher if gutted straight away,its supprising how fast fish spoil if left(i will do that later) if you are fishing for the table gutt the catch as soon as your bait is re-casted,it workes for me

**skipperboy** · 12-11-2006, 14:20

I do gut all other fish normally but bass seems to keep very well non gutted. especially in this weather. I'll gut them straight away next time. do you cut the gills out???

jan

Originally Posted by scottonjayne

it sounds DAFT but your catch will stay fresher if gutted straight away,its supprising how fast fish spoil if left(i will do that later) if you are fishing for the table gutt the catch as soon as your bait is re-casted,it workes for me

**sharpshooter** · 12-11-2006, 14:28

Originally Posted by Jamie Donnelly

kill them and then gut them straight away mate.

Jamie

If you kill the fish straight away, the blood will remain inside. If you want to bleed the fish, cut the gills and leave it for a couple of mins. As the heart is still beating, the blood is pumped out of the cut in the gills.

Bleeding the fish reduces bruising and improves the flesh quality. If the fish is gutted, cleaned and iced shortly after, the quality of the end product will be maximised.

Turbot should always be bled before they are gutted. A small cut is made on the 'wrist' of the fish (near tail) on the underside, just to the right of the backbone, where the main artery lies.

SS