Bonking a fish

[Achin'Acres]

I've never dispatched a salmon or steelhead. Should I get one on when I'm not with another skilled fisherperson, how do I do this humanely? I've read they experience pain.

 

[Hinotori]

I've never dispatched a salmon or steelhead. Should I get one on when I'm not with another skilled fisherperson, how do I do this humanely? I've read they experience pain.

Hubby says after you make sure it's a legal salmon, stun it in the head with a fish club, then cut out the gills on both sides so it bleeds out.

They are very particular here on which salmon can be kept, depending on species, time of year, wild or hatchery hatched (adipose fin is removed on hatchery released). Only barbless circle hooks allowed in the river. It's a bit different if you're in the ocean on a boat.

 

[flowerbug]

oh my, reminds me of the time i had a smallmouth bass on the shore trying to get it to stop flopping around so i could get the lure out of its mouth. 4lb line with no leader, i never expected to latch on to such a monster that evening and it felt like a freight train from the time it hit the lure.

i did eventually get it knocked out and took it back to the kitchen to cook it up that night. unfortunately when i filleted it there were a lot of black specks of some parasite in the flesh that i did not trust so i discarded it all - i didn't have a garden to bury it in either. back then without an internet connection i couldn't look up what they might have been.

now i look it up and it was likely:

Neascus (Black spot disease)

www.dnr.state.mn.us

"Is it safe to eat?

Yes, although unsightly, the fillet is safe to eat if it is well cooked. Always cook fish well before consuming."

 

[Achin'Acres]

Thanks all

 

[CrealCritter]

Jesus is Lord and Christ