Anyone go this far?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVkANbInU0E

Pump spayer on board?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ygTtzrv3w8

A person I fish around, went out on a WA State troller. They do bleed fish, by water pressure.

He actually brought a small pump, out to the gravel bar, we gave it a try.....it worked, yea....but it was a hassle!!!

I've done it.

Would only recommend this in SALTWATER.

Not sure why they do the initial pressure bleeding with the kidney still in place. The kidney holds a LOT of blood (even after pressure bleeding) so why not take it out from the get go.

Most folks will insist on bleeding their fish immediately after being caught, but some prefer to fillet them later without gutting them out ( they like the extra support of the guts when filleting the belly section). Whenever I have done this, the residual blood in the kidney virtually always oozes onto the flesh. This is why I prefer to gut/gill and remove the kidney prior to filleting.



One guy said leave guts in for back-pressure. Really no need for this as the entire venous tree will be freer-flowing if guts are out. I've gutted and removed the kidney, applied the flush, and have all the cut vessels spewing flush water along the entire length of the abdominal cavity like a garden sprinkler.

Leaving guts in creates enough back-pressure that your flush fluid starts to backfill into the meat. I do not believe water logging the flesh in this manner is good for the meat on your table.

This is the main reason to NEVER do this with river water. You'll be infusing the meat with whatever sediment/contaminants are in the river

If you are a commercial troller then gutting them and power flushing is the ONLY way to go. Use a ink pen lower portion on the washdown hose. Gotta be with salt water, though. Your fish will all be number ones unless they are a blush or have some external divots.

Personal use fishery the brining them in the round in ice and salt water sets up the rigor and they are a dream to fillet butterfly style. No need to gut them that way. I think that after they are bled and the blood and slime are washed off the brine makes them so cold the blood does not seep into the meat.

easier and faster to cut the gills right after you catch it. And not waterlog the fish.

That's what I'm wondering, #1s. Wouldn't every angler want the best quality product? Is doing this to much of a bitch on board to bother? I'm a little OCD and think if this method is the best, I'm in! Seems simple to bring a clean yard pump sprayer on board with a spring water salt solution to thoroughly bleed everything bonked. Thoughts?

While you are at it you could just add a bottle of teriyaki sauce and marinate it at the same time.


Seems like overkill IMO but I suppose Luhr Jensen will have a product to market in the next few months for the Riverside Marinade and I.V. Kit... all in surgical stainless of course.

Seems a wee bit AR to me for sport caught fish in the salt. Was taught years ago to cut gills to bleed out then salt water and shaved ice bath to cool as rapidly as possible to promote rigor for good knife work! Close to 70 years here and never seen enema's for quality fish.............

During my 2005 visit to AK, a friend of my brother's invited us over to help process their day's catch of halibut.

When I kept drawing blood with almost every stroke of my fillet knife, I finally had to ask, "Did you guys bleed these fish?"

His response?

"Don't cut so dam close to the bones!"

I use a pump on every fish I bonk. It's called the heart. The heart of a fish has considerable automaticity, which means it's less regulated by the brain than ours, which in turn means it keeps beating for several minutes after you bonk the fish. I've seen catfish hearts beat for 30 minutes in a dead fish! If you immediately cut a gill arch after bonking a fish, the heart will pump out most of the blood, especially if you milk the back of the fish, letting gravity be your friend. You don't get every drop, but I don't think it really matters. Catching a quality fish, bleeding it how you choose, and getting it on ice asap matter more.

Interesting videos though.

I've never done the pressure bleeding but it sure makes me want to try.

I cut my salmon in the V on the underside just behind the gills and watch the blood pump out in spurts.

Only one problem.... the heart will only work until there is no longer sufficient blood pressure to sustain venous return back to the heart. That happens in about 10 seconds.

At that point the bleeding process relies 100% on gravity. Residual blood volume will naturally pool in the most dependent (lowest hanging) portions on the intravascular space.

The most strategic way around that is to hang the critter such that the blood-letting wound you make is most dependent.

Making a second wound at the opposite end of the vascular space will facilitate gravity-based flow. Stam popularized this a few years ago.

Think shot-gunning a beer.

http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/658843/1.html

Gravity drain? Sounds like cutting or removing gills, placing head down in a bucket or overboard head down, cut/slice tail to spine for air flow. Did my share of shotgunning back in the day.

A few years ago, I weighed a 25 lb chinook just after bonking, but before and just after bleeding. I did the cut and gravity method. The fish lost 8 ounces. I'm curious if anyone knows what the blood volume of a similar size fish is? I'm sure it's more.

The thing is, most of the residual blood is not in the meat. It's in the internal organs (which hold more blood in the first place) and in the now-collapsed major blood vessels. Yeah, some of the blood will likely come out on the fillets when the fish is cleaned, but as long as it doesn't sit, it can be quickly washed off.

One drawback I would expect with the pump method would be texture changes. If your pump solution has less than 0.9% salt, it would impregnate the fillets with excess water and cause the meat to swell (like fingers in a bathtub). I would think, if done for very long, the fillets would become mushy. If the salt solution were too strong, the opposite should happen, at least in theory, making the meat more rubbery. Perhaps the pumping time is not long enough to allow this to happen? Of coarse, you could take IV fluid bags to the river, but...........

Years ago, I spent some time in a slaughter house. The cattle were stunned with a gun, then hoisted by there back legs and bled out from the jugular. Same thing works well with a fish. Not saying it's the best way, but it is easy and effective.

I use a double stacked 5 gallon buckets with bottom cut out on top bucket half full with water and place fish head first immediately after bonking it and cut gills. It bleeds the fish pretty good. Use to drag in water but lost to many fish by taking off and forgetting the fish....

hey doc,
I had an EMT onboard once and she kept the heart beating like 10 min. after I cut it out of the fish and put it in her hand.

and that was a humpy!