Nothing makes me happier than the thought of the fishing adventure that includes not only the catching of a big, beautiful salmon or steelhead, but its proper cleaning, filleting and cooking. To me, and perhaps you, enjoying a meal consisting of fresh fish is the perfect culmination of any fishing adventure.
After the high fives and photos are complete, the first thing you need do is bleed your catch. You can do this by breaking loose one or more gill raker(s) — you can do this with your finger or a knife blade. If you intend to eat your fish fresh, it’s best to clean and/or fillet your prize as soon as possible. Realize though, fresh fish will only keep in the refrigerator for about five days.
Freezing is what most anglers do to preserve their catch longer. You should realize that unlike beef or venison, fish will not stay fresh tasting after freezing for more than a few weeks unless you vacuum pack it, freeze it in barbeque sauce, or freeze the entire fish whole.
Freezing your fish in barbecue sauce will keep it fresh tasting for up to six months. This is a quick and inexpensive way to keep fish fresh tasting for an extended time period, providing you like the taste of barbecue sauce.
What works is to place two fillets meat-to-meat (with the skin facing outward) into a zip-top freezer bag. Add enough barbecue sauce between the fillets, two to three cups, to cover all exposed meat, fold the bag over, expel all air and zip shut. After thawing, rinse the barbecue sauce away with cold water. You can then cook any number of ways including on the barbeque - with fresh barbeque sauce, of course.
Most anglers are surprised when hearing that my favorite way to store fish for an extended time period is to freeze them whole, without gutting or filleting. Just bleed them, hold them on ice during transport, and freeze. Since she doesn’t like the fish looking up at her when opening the freezer, my wife makes me put my freezer-bound salmon in a plastic bag – a “tall kitchen size” bag works for most salmon.
This quick and easy method will keep fish fresh-tasting for as long as nine to 10 months. As an example, I’ve got a whole spring chinook in my freezer now waiting for the Christmas holiday. We do this every year; there is just something special about enjoying fresh spring chinook in December.
When thawing, it’s important to thaw it slowly by placing your frozen salmon in a water-filled cooler the night before. Once thawed, scrape or brush all slime away (this eliminates any freezer taste that might accumulate on the outside of your fish) and fillet (process) as though your salmon were fresh – trust me, it will taste like fresh-caught.
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