Dispatching Fish with Alcohol

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Wench'sCaptain

I have use a hammer for over 40 years it works on all but the biggest of fish which will never get on the boat anyway. If it is that big I have a 12 ga Bang Stick for good measure.

I don't think I would bring aboard any fish that was going require a Bang Stick to handle!

[Dulcesuenos]

My fish we are to eat go head down in a bucket then have their gills cut so they bleed out just not in the boat. This makes for much better meat.

[Cap]

Originally Posted by bobconnie

Good Lord, Some of you guys are a real ball!! Heck I carry a good amount of Good Rum aboard, just for medical reasons of course! Im sure not gonna waste any on a fish !! If ya use heavy gear to catch em ya just need to cut the tail and let em drag and then bring em aboard all bled out !! Easy -Pesey And it makes em taste better when they are bled before cleanin them, Just my 2 cents

I think this is a great way to feed sharks! If you're going to use this method, you might as well just throw them back, or not fish in the first place...lol

[Geoduck]

Now Ive heard everything! Give your fish a stiff drink before the coup de grew, sounds pretty white to me! How about a good single malt scotch?
Any good fisherman, worth his salt, knows that the first thing you do is rip out the gills and bleed them out, then when they stop kicking, you throw them down on ice.
In the salmon business, we scrape the inside of the body cavity with a spatula,or the like, in order to get the blood out of the fish. The blood is what starts the decay in a fish. The sooner you bleed a fish and get it on ice, the longer it will last.
But if you like rotten fish, don't bother.
Save the alcohol for toasting your good luck for having caught the fish in the first place!

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Snore

Fairly well known that beef tastes different if the animal release adrenalin before it dies, hence the unique design of "good" slaughter houses. Likewise lobster tastes better if they have a little vodka in their final bath.


Does the means and method used to,dispatch the fish really make a difference?

Absolutely. In the sushi tuna business, there are very specific procedures for dispatching a fish - including where/how to bleed them and to immediately run a wire leader down the spinal column to sever the nerve endings to prevent communications between the brain and body (can't release hormones or lactic acid, etc).

I do a lot of spear fishing that results in sushi. From experience, an instant brain shot followed by a complete bleeding results in a very noticeable difference in the quality of the meat. Complete bleeding from a non-brain shot also makes a big difference.

Bleeding should be done very quickly. Best for many fish is to learn where the main vessels feeding the gills are located behind the pectorals and make a cut through them. The blood will pour out like a gusher causing a complete bleed and almost instant death. Slitting the tail bleeds them, but not as completely and much slower to death.

To make it all very easy, simply use a strong cleaver and chop off the head in a quick motion immediately upon bringing it aboard. This will kill it instantly and get most of the blood out as the heart pumps a few beats through the cut main arteries.

Mark

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Jd1

I don't like the thought of making any creature suffer more than absolutely necessary. The concept of wounding them and dragging them behind the boat seems evil to me .... and Zeehag - at first I thought you were joking but I am starting to think you are serious about cleaning fish when they are still alive .... that is disgusting.

+1
If I was a fish, dragged on a line and brought aboard, I'd want a shot of alcohol in my final moment.

While we cruised Mexico, we always kept a spray bottle at hand when we were fishing.
A couple of shots (adjusted to stream) in each gill slot and they checked out very peacefully and quickly.
NO damage to the deck or crew from hammers, pointy things and minimal or no blood.

[Curmudgeon]

Subdue the fish with alcohol: I use an atomizer filled with cheap vodka. Puts them out immediately. Then if you want to bleed the fish out, do it in a galley sink where it doesn't make a mess.

[zeehag]

none of the fishermen i know use anything to subdue fishies...they macho--them fish are dead, and iced.
some times they even bleed em...
i clean my fishies on my cockpit deck with a bin--sterlite kind, under it so i dont befoul my deck. isnt hard to use these--contains the gore....i do not slow boat to boat the fish, and i dont slow the boat to pull up a bucket of water, andi dont pamper my fish. i kill em

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by zeehag

none of the fishermen i know use anything to subdue fishies...they macho--them fish are dead, and iced.
some times they even bleed em...
i clean my fishies on my cockpit deck with a bin--sterlite kind, under it so i dont befoul my deck. isnt hard to use these--contains the gore....i do not slow boat to boat the fish, and i dont slow the boat to pull up a bucket of water, andi dont pamper my fish. i kill em

You should try the vodka. What's wrong with killing a docile fish? The vodka also makes it easier to remove the hook and get a line back into the water.

I also gut the fish immediately, cut off a couple of chunks for sushi, and put the rest in a plastic bag in the fridge. I don't cut off the heads because the area just behind the eyes contains some of the best meat.

[Geoduck]

Haul them in on a tight line, knock em in the head with a gaff, stick the gaff in the gill plate, get em aboard, use the gaff to unhook em, slit them open with asharp knife, jerk out the guts and toss em in the air for the seagulls, slit the blood line, spoon out the blood, milk the blood out of the gut cavity with the spoon on the end of your knife, cut out the gills, wash em up and pack ice in the belly, stack them like cord wood down in the fish hold, when the boat is full, go to the cannery and get paid, clean up the boat, wash out the hold, bye booze, grub, get drunk, ice up and go do it again. 100 kings or 300. Cohos everyday and you know you did something at the end of the week!
PS, save the vodka for yourself, you'll need it!
I did this for 25 years from Calif, Oregon, Wash, and Alaska
When I got bored, I went Tuna fishing.:
What a life! Now I do it on my sailboat with a fly rod
Leaving Saturday for the Canadian salmon grounds!
Adios Amigos!!

[model 10]

Originally Posted by Geoduck

Haul them in on a tight line, knock em in the head with a gaff, stick the gaff in the gill plate, get em aboard, use the gaff to unhook em, slit them open with asharp knife, jerk out the guts and toss em in the air for the seagulls, slit the blood line, spoon out the blood, milk the blood out of the gut cavity with the spoon on the end of your knife, cut out the gills, wash em up and pack ice in the belly, stack them like cord wood down in the fish hold, when the boat is full, go to the cannery and get paid, clean up the boat, wash out the hold, bye booze, grub, get drunk, ice up and go do it again. 100 kings or 300. Cohos everyday and you know you did something at the end of the week!
PS, save the vodka for yourself, you'll need it!
I did this for 25 years from Calif, Oregon, Wash, and Alaska
When I got bored, I went Tuna fishing.:
What a life! Now I do it on my sailboat with a fly rod
Leaving Saturday for the Canadian salmon grounds!
Adios Amigos!!

Sounds like you might have mess in the cockpit

[Geoduck]

That's what buckets of water are for

[bobconnie]

My God Im sure glad someone did not ask about takeing care of meat ya hunt , like deer and elk, moose ect !! With some of the folks answering this post, snivleling so bad over killing a fish your gonna eat, just think what they would say on a meat post !! LOL

[Geoduck]

Originally Posted by bobconnie

My God Im sure glad someone did not ask about takeing care of meat ya hunt , like deer and elk, moose ect !! With some of the folks answering this post, snivleling so bad over killing a fish your gonna eat, just think what they would say on a meat post !! LOL

After killing a couple million fish in my life time, these people just crack me up!
One guy even said I should put the fish in my galley sink to wash the blood out of it!!!! I don't know how big his galley sink is but a 20 lb salmon ain't gonna fit in mine!
I love this forum!!!!!!!!:

[model 10]

Originally Posted by Geoduck

After killing a couple million fish in my life time, these people just crack me up!
One guy even said I should put the fish in my galley sink to wash the blood out of it!!!! I don't know how big his galley sink is but a 20 lb salmon ain't gonna fit in mine!
I love this forum!!!!!!!!:

Not sure how many deer you guy's have killed but there is not that much blood flying around. It is actually a pretty clean operation.