to bleed or not to bleed

[elevated]

I bleed some of my fish, striper etc. What is everyone's preference? Also would you rather bleed your fish or keep them alive on a stringer?

cheers and tight lines...

[Agro]

Bleed everything you wish to eat right away. It'll taste better every time.

[TroutOnly]

BLEED THEM,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,t/o,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[fishincrave]

Let There Be BLOOD .

[Eat Sleep Fish]

Blood shall flow! lol the quicker a fish dies, the better they taste later. slower deaths end up making the meat a little mushy.

[BIGRED KILLA]

Bleed everything you want to eat.



Bigred

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

I'm really surprised no one has addressed this....

PUT THEM ON ICE..... as soon as possible (immediately after the catch if poss.) and keep them there for the rest of the day !

A stringer is ok, it wont spoil but the meat taste way better if it's kept on ice....bleeding or not, bleeding stripers is good but not 100% necessary, they taste good eiter way but when you bleed ANY fish, it will reduce any gamy flavor.

ALSO: try to eat your fish FRESH without freezing it, you'll notice tht they are much tastier that way as well..

You can keep fresh fish in the fridge for bout 2 days so eat em fresh never frozen !

Salute,
Gary

[Bassnman Mike]

I've noticed that in alot of T/O's reports it appears that he bleeds them in what appears to be ice water, my question is, will the striper taste fresher if I did the same thing or if I placed them in my livewell running on full circulation? Also, when you bleed them, how exactly do you do it? Do you just slit their throat at the base of the gills?

Thanks,

BassnMan Mike

[smokehound]

i usually only bleed fish that have a strong flavor.

the most important thing that influences the flavor, is the organs. get those organs out asap, because when the fish dies, it's immediately going to start digesting itself, making the flesh mushy and bland. With surfperch this is more noticable, since they have a delicate flavor, handling them improperly makes them mushy and flavorless.

to bleed a fish out, all you really have to do is rip one of the gill rakers out. Dont soak the fish while it's bleeding out, fish blood thickens in water.

If you do plan to freeze your fish, you should glaze them first, that protects them from freezerburn.