Gotta Love First Ice. Limited in 1.5 hours and throwing 6 inches gills back. Good luck this season fellas.

Won't be long now. I just took this one out front. The lavender looking stuff is ice. The shallow flat fish bays will be OK to fish in a day or two.

Buckhunter,
How do you get the skin off those gills?..
nice pics too

Very nice. Looks like you had a blast. Looks like I may have a chance to go around Christmas. We are suppose to have highs in the 20's and lows around 10 for 4 days. Hopefully that is enough to freeze our little pond.

I do a lot of them every year and use an electric fillet knife Chuck. I make a cut behind the gills and follow the backbone all the way to the tail but don't go all the way through. I flip that slab over and put my knife through the tail and cut back towards the front and press the blade down and it separates the meat from the skin. I flip the fish over and do the same on the other slab. I then use a small knife to cut out the belly bones with one small circular cut. I can do about 3 or 4 a minute like that. I do the same for crappie.

WOW!!!My wife would love that..she's not to fond of the skin.

Congrats Buckhunter!!, I am glad you got a few fish myself I stick with white perch for pan fish..
I also fillet the white perch just like C.I. does. It doesn't take that long that way.. The ice here has started forming pretty good with some places cutting around 6 inches in the shallow coves.. I am on vacation this coming week and might be able to hit the perch I hope..

C7, just like they explained. Some people say you lose a little meat behind the ribcage this way. I say, I'll fillet mine in 10 minutes, you have fun getting done two hours later with that little bit of extra meat. Can't beat it in my opinion.

I bet I fillet around 1000 every year and they taste better every time!

Ok you all know I 'm slightly slow..so let me re say what you guys have said to make sure because I'm sold on it..I don't have an electric filleting knife so here goes..and correct me where I 'm wrong..

A. lay fish on it's side..should I scale the fish first ??

I would guess you do...

B. With a SHARP filleting ,,stop right here LOL wouldn't it be easier to get opne of those clamp type cleaning boards to hold the fish??

C, Make a cut and carefully pull skin up and cut underneath ,,like cleaning a deer..until the skin is off..I can fillet the meat real good..I just always thought I'd lose meat when I skin the fish..

Appreciate the feedback.
C7

1.) Take fish out of bucket.

2.) Lay on table with head of fish on the opposite side your cutting hand (I cut left handed so fishes head to my right). Stomach of fish facing you. ( Exactly how all the fish are laying in my photo above.

3.) First cut: Directly behind front fin and gill plate. Cut through until hit backbone/spine.

4.) Second cut (continued from first): Follow spine as close as possible (without cutting through) to the tail of the fish.

5.) Flip this flap over (which should contain only skin, meat fillet, and ribcage.

6.) Third cut: From tail, make cut until you reach the skin and fillet the meat from the skin (seperating the meat/ribcage from the skin.

7.) Fourth cut: cut away ribcage from the meat fillet (leaving as much meat as possible away from ribcage).

This should leave a pure meat fillet.