How to kill a fish

[Swerve]

All,

Reasonably new to fishing as only started 4 months ago when I got my boat. Before then only fished as a kid 15-20 years ago and occasionally with mates and never caught anything.

My stupid question is

1- When I catch a fish, what is the best way to kill it and store on the boat ? Normally they sit in a bucket until they drown or should I kill it there and then and put on ice.

2- Which fish are you supposed to bleed ? and how do you bleed them ?

Thanks

Steve

[SeaHunt]

All that flapping around for ages is annoying, so I kill everything I intend to eat by cutting its throat. #No fish tastes worse for having been bled. Most taste a whole lot better.
Stick the knife in the gills low down on one side and out the other and slice down. If you don't think enough blood comes out, cut their whole head off.
8-)

[Argle]

Yep, bleed all fish if you intend to eat them, you can also spike the brain with a long pointy thing called an ickysomething (japanese origin i think) but I just do what SeaHunt said and cut the throat.

Cheers and Beers

Scott

[finga64]

Just be carefull as a fish may have to be presented whole to a fisheries inspector. But for a quick kill I have a donger just for that purpose. Whack, straight to the back of the head between the eyes :)
No point in prolonging the pain any animal is having, so a quick death is definitely looked for.
And no, the donger is not for self defense ;)
Cheers

[Cruiser]

Give any fish you catch to me..... #I'll kill 'em #;D

[simonm]

Dong it and bleed it for larger fish. For smaller fish you can cut the throat and quickly snap its spine instead of doing the dong.

[TIM-DONSELAAR]

Just be carefull as a fish may have to be presented whole to a fisheries inspector. But for a quick kill I have a donger just for that purpose. Whack, straight to the back of the head between the eyes :)
No point in prolonging the pain any animal is having, so a quick death is definitely looked for.
And no, the donger is not for self defense ;)
Cheers

what kind of donger are we talking about here...i hope you mean one of the small wood one's that tackle shops sell ;D ;D ;D ;D
#
cheers tim ;)

[88fishframe]

Spike to the brain stops them pumping blood through the body.

When I keep a northern blue for the table, I land with a landing net [no gaff, it upsets them too much and blood starts to pump], spike the brain and drop in the ice. Flesh comes out white when filleted.

Can bleed them as well, but I have found the spike stops the blood anyway. Put straight on ice especially if you're up North like me. ;)

[Swerve]

Give any fish you catch to me..... #I'll kill 'em #;D

And no doubt eat them as well. Thanks for the offer, but no thanks ;D

[charleville]

I read somewhere ( might have been on Ausfish) that putting the fish into an ice slurry puts them to sleep ( what a nice euphenism ;) ) pretty quickly so I have been doing that and that seems to do the trick pretty well.

The only other thing to be concerned about is what to do about fish which need to be bled.

[revs57]

A mate of mine scratches the gills with a knife till it bleeds - his rationale is #that if you cut the neck it can actually close up the artery..I've been doing following his advise and it works fine, then into the kill tank, then 20 mins later once bled out into the esky in a 50/50 ice slurry...chills the fish quickly and keeps the flesh firm

I bleed everything I keep

Toothy things get the "Royal Treatment" first as a matter of survival (for me)

cheers

rhys

[revs57]

PS Swerve...It aint a stupid question...we all learned how to better care for our catch somewhere...so good on ya for asking

Cheers

rhys

[SeaHunt]

I read somewhere ( might have been on Ausfish) that putting the fish into an ice slurry puts them to sleep ( what a nice euphenism #;) ) pretty quickly so I have been doing that and that seems to do the trick pretty well.

The only other thing to be concerned about is what to do about fish which need to be bled.

Same thing, cut their throat and throw them in the ice slurry.
Pink ice .... hmmmm.... yum..... ::)

[seabug]

"A mate of mine scratches the gills with a knife till it bleeds - his rationale is #that if you cut the neck it can actually close up the artery" :o :o :o :o

Now isn't that a nice one for the anti-fishing lobby >:(
Regards
Seabug

[Feral]

But for a quick kill I have a donger just for that purpose. Whack, straight to the back of the head between the eyes :)
Cheers

aahh the "bless you my son" with the "priest", usually half an old baseball bat or back of a tomohawk.

Also bung em straight on ice after cutting their throats or "blessing" them

[Graham_N_Roberts]

Hi Swerve, :D

I'm with Revs57 on that. There is no such thing as a "stupid question".

You wouldn't ask, if you didn't need to know, would you? That, Swerve, is what learning is all about. People who ridicule others, for simple questions, are usually uncomfortable in that some may find they don't know a great deal anyway. ::) ;D

As all have said, cut that throat, let the fish bleed out, then straight into a good ice slurry.

Enjoy your fishing, and keep asking. :)

Cheers

[Swerve]

Hi Swerve, :D

I'm with Revs57 on that. There is no such thing as a "stupid question".

You wouldn't ask, if you didn't need to know, would you? That, Swerve, is what learning is all about. People who ridicule others, for simple questions, are usually uncomfortable in that some may find they don't know a great deal anyway. ::) ;D

As all have said, cut that throat, let the fish bleed out, then straight into a good ice slurry.

Enjoy your fishing, and keep asking. :)

Cheers

Thanks CQ Freshie,

I've never been one for being shy. This forum is very good and none of the stupid cracks from people like I find on other forums. Concrats to all for making a excellant fishing community.

Two weeks ago I caught a good size bream. Took it inside the house (was staying at a waterfront B&B) and thought about killing it. Went back to the pontoon and decided to cut throat (Well i thouht I did) and cut somewhere under the gill. The fish was still, so I started to scale it on the pontoon. Next thing you know it jumped up, slipped out og my hands and inthe water. Was looking around for a dead fish but the little bugger got away.

Hence my reasoning "How to kill a fish". But I did get a photo, see attached

Steve

[Graham_N_Roberts]

;)Now that would have been a great meal. :)Don't feel too bad about loosing the fish, as it won't be your last.

I lost a beaut yella belly once through having ten thumbs. :P I used to keep them alive in the water by threading a lanyard through the gills/mouth, and tying to a stick in the mud. Well I duly threaded yella onto the lanyard, then dropped both into the water, watchinng as both dissapeared into the depths of the dam.

Since that day years ago, I realised how incorect that practice was. Thank goodness we have keeper nets now. :(

But back to the subject, I don't know how to copy and download the pic, so I'll try to describe the best place to cut.

In the pic, at about the level where midline of the arch, in the faucet, meets the fish, is about where I would cut a bream. Cut directly through into the gill cavity, severing the throat and associated blood vessels. Keep hold of the fish with a pair of pliers, or a lip grip (pocket size Berkley grips $20 from Big "" ), when cutting, and place into a bucket until dead.

You could "brain" the fish, if you knew exactly where to place the probe. If you get it wrong, you could increase needless suffering. The fish will still bleed out, as the heart will continue to beat for a few minutes after brain death.

Cheers.

[choppa]

i carry an assortment of things to put them out of there misery,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

hey with a handle like mine,,,,,a mans gotta keep up the image ;D ;D ;D 8-)

[revs57]

ahh well Swerve, lost the fish, but still had the beer... anti-fishing lobby or not ;) ;D ;D

[MulletMan]

Most of the fish I catch are simply to big to kill in all the ways suggested above.
My tools of trade include:

1. sledge hammer
2. machete
3. 3 metres of chain
4. chain saw
5. power head spear gun
6. mesh cargo net
7. leather non-slip gloves
8. pick handle
9. lead filled piece of piping
10. hacksaw
11. battery drill with 10" wood drill

This seems to handle the whiting, bream and flatty pretty well but for anything else I have to move onto the more serious weapons of mass destruction............ ;) ;) ;)

[Swerve]

Most of the fish I catch are simply to big to kill in all the ways suggested above.
My tools of trade include:

1. # # sledge hammer
2. # # machete
3. # # 3 metres of chain
4. # # chain saw
5. # # power head spear gun
6. # # mesh cargo net
7. # # leather non-slip gloves
8. # # pick handle
9. # # lead filled piece of piping
10. # hacksaw
11. # battery drill with 10" wood drill

This seems to handle the whiting, bream and flatty pretty well but for anything else I have to move onto the more serious weapons of mass destruction............ ;) ;) ;)

Your starting to sound like someone from a horror movie "Wolf Creek or something"

LOL ;D

Steve

[Fishin_Dan]

I don't know how to copy and download the pic

You mean like this??? ;)

Hope this helps

[Alex9797]

buy a really expensive one from a pet shop and give it to your 5 year old as a pet ;D

Alex

[Royalstar1]

http://www.cooking.com.edgesuite.net/images/products/shprodde/126608.jpg

Whammy!

[wayne_cook]

charlieville,brain spike, bleed, usually hang in berley pot to drain blood then into slurry, less mess in ice.

[Swerve]

But for a quick kill I have a donger just for that purpose. Whack, straight to the back of the head between the eyes :)
Cheers

aahh the "bless you my son" with the "priest", usually half an old baseball bat or back of a tomohawk.

Also bung em straight on ice after cutting their throats or "blessing" them
Next you will start kissing them like Rex Hunt