Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge OT - Why do we gut fish?

I know if your a hunter you have to gut your kill to prevent poisoning the meat.
Why do you gut fish and if you didn't what effect would it have?

Fish have a heart, gills (lungs), a digestive tract, poopchute, etc., do you really want to look at or taste all that while your eating dinner? Plus there usually is a line of blood that congeals along the spine that needs flushed out. I have fished for a lot of different fish in several different environs. Now I only fish for Kokanee, at a lake a few miles from the house. I clean them immediately and put them on ice, they taste the best that way. Some people put them om a stringer and they die slowly. I don't. I catch 'em, clean 'em, ice 'em, cook 'em and eat 'em.

Why not?

Actually, you gut both of them for the same reason, the gut is full of sh-t. Fish need to be cleaned and iced down as soon as possible because cold blooded animals rot faster than warm blooded animals, for example you never hear of aging fish.. Warm blooded animals should also be bled out as soon as possible, before the blood coagulates, as it effects the taste and helps cool the meat.

Moving here, I realized we are so picky!

The Chinese cook the whole fish as is, and when they are finished eating it, only bones remain.

They will eat everything from the eyes (a delicacy for many here) to the tail, with everything in between.

Still having trouble to do that... i just leave it for them, and they love it!

I'm with you Jeff, I'll be damned if I'm gonna eat the root, toot, and the booty chute, YUCK!

Do you like sardines or kipper snacks?

Although I've never tried fish guts, they just don't appeal to me.

Cats have got to eat something


How else are they gonna be able to poop all over my garden

A friend caught many a fresh water Perch which he put in baggies filled with water and froze them whole. Perch are not big fish so this was possible. They were yummy when thawd and filetted for pan frying.

You only need to gut fish if you're not going to fillet the meat. If you take the fillet no need. If you're going to cook the fish whole you absolutely want to gut the fish. The digestive track could cause some problems for the meat and taste.

When I was in BC eating their amazing sockeye salmon I did a little research and learned that, especially for sushi grade fish, it's actually considered important that the fish die quickly and don't struggle as it releases hormones into the flesh.
I also learned that all fish sold in the US is required to be frozen at some point, even the stuff sold as 'fresh', in order to kill parasites.