How Does Post Catch Care Affect Kokanee Meat Quality? 

I love it when we can see the fish jumping behind you.

When I clean them, I do it like I do trout. Cut up the belly, cut both sides of the tongue, grab the bottom jaw, and pull out guts, gills, front fins, and all. Then run my thumb nail up the back to gouge out the blood line. Takes less than a a minute per fish, and leaves no undesirable stuff behind.

Great information! As a 'retired chef, the quality of proteins are so, so important! It's strange, after harvesting a deer or elk, the vast majority of us understand how important it is to get that meat cooled down, as fast as possible. We know how important every single step in the butchering process is, including pulling that trigger, or releasing that arrow. Yet we rarely even think about any of that, while fishing! I'm guilty! I started keeping a small cooler of ice on the boat, because that stringer of fish created a lot of drag! I was constantly adjusting the trolling motor, to compensate. Otherwise, I would still be dragging around that stringer. My grandma taught me how to fish, starting with creek fishing. She would always cut a green, forked stick, and sharpen all 3 ends, before we could start fishing. When we caught the first fish, we dispatched it, usually against the closed sharp rock, ran the stick through the gills, and sunk the stick deep enough to submerge the fish. Cold creek water.

I usually always put my fish on ice but never bled them. Thanks for the tip. From now on I will bleed them before putting on ice.

This is great info. thank you!

Great tip, thanks for the information. I had no idea

That’s awesome I can’t believe how nice that worked after letting them sit for 24 hours really makes a difference definitely gonna try that with my next batch love your videos have Learned so much keep up the good work👏👏👏

Great stuff! 👍

great tutorial, thanks much for sharing.

Great vid!!!

Great idea of a video 👏

Great work, I will be sure to try the overnight in the fridge and bleeding, I have always just put em in the ice and fileted when I get home

You are right sir! Thanks for helping cook some tasty fish!

Great video. Love all the comparison videos you do. Question for you about general fishing. With your Kokanee across America tour, would you consider making a video about how you decide where to start fishing when you get to new bodies of water you aren't familiar with or do you just apply the principles you talk about such as the thermocline when you go out?

Been using victorinox industrial knives since when I was a meat cutter for 14 year's .......good quality functional and durable Thanks for the link to the bag I have only been able to find giant salmon ones that are too big and WAY to expensive.....will be better than the clunky cooler taking up my boys footpath in the front of our little boat Our acreage in the cariboo has no power so I am cooler outdoors until home......I have a good cooler and immerse them in cubes with large solid flat ice packs on the bottom......I bleed them and leave them whole until home....no choice but to quality stays good Man I wish our limits were like yours.....I'm only allowed 5 per day

Good demonstration showing how important it is to put these type of fish in ice. We use the slush method as the whole fish gets chilled. Laying them on top DOESNT get them as cold, just the one side. We also don’t bleed them intentionally as the best way to bleed a fish is while it’s alive, DONT bonk it. And we either cut the head and pull guts all in one piece or slit across under the throat to remove guts to clean

Thanks for sharing, its really interesting to see all the differences. Have you tried the ikejime method at all? Probably a lot of work for small Kokanee, but might be worth it for those bigger kings and sockeye.

Great tips! Thanks for sharing and what a gorgeous lake. WA. State?

I never would have thought that leaving them in the refer overnight would be a good idea. Thanks for sharing the info. I would actually love not to have to fully process them when I get back from fishing. I have discovered a lot about Kokanee fishing this year. If I were to sum up what I have learned so far it would be that Kokanee success depends on a lot of little things working together. I normally limit within a few hours while I see others struggling to catch one or two. Here is the short list of what I advise others. Think small. Small flasher, small lure. Think short. The distance between your flasher and your lure should be short; much shorter than you think. Slow is the ticket; 1.3 to 1.5. Find the depth they are biting. Don't be afraid to talk to others who are fishing. They will generally share the catch depth with you. Do not drive your boat in a straight line, you'll be amazed at how many fish will bite when you turn slightly. Don't leave an area where fish are biting to find a better area. Use a Kokanee rod; you'll land more fish. If all the boats are trolling in a pattern don't be an ass and go across the flow. Corn is cheap. Walmart, Winco and most retailers carry it. Fresh corn every time. Find a good recipe; I won't give you mine; unless you ask nicely. Finally, be confident. I know I am going to catch fish; it happens more often than not.

Just the content I was looking for. Now I just need to catch some fish

As always, excellent content. Thanks very much. One thing I would like to see, perhaps it's been done in another video, is your onboard cooler arrangement. I know a while ago you showed a soft side bag that was convenient. Those are no longer made. Are you using a hard sided cooler? Do you keep a drain open to avoid slush? Is the ice crushed or cubed? How do you handle the fish if you're going to be in the field for multiple days? Inquiring minds want to know.

I bet you have the best chicken eggs in Washington! Haha. Good info!, trying your method my next catch.

I always bleed my fish. If nothing else it makes filleting in the kitchen cleaner. I started gutting mine and filleting them the next day this year coincidentally. It makes a noticeable difference. Thanks for sharing

Very cool

I've always bled and iced on the water, waste of fish otherwise. I always cringe when I see peoples stringers😬😬. Great video as always! Cheers

First! With cubes or crushed ice, could also place the fish in an inner bag to separate them from the ice water.

I'm still a shore fishermen, mainly for Trout and I always Bleed, Gut and put directly on ice. Do you think gutting immediately makes any difference in quality as well? Do you see leaving overnight in the refrigerator as beneficial for trout also? In my experience with Cutthroat, the longer I leave it on ice the more brown and spawned out the skin begins to get. Its kind of crazy how much they change color in the cooler even by the time I get home. Thanks for the Kokanee tips, I have a free boat that I'm currently working on turning into a Kokanne boat here in Lake Tahoe and your videos have helped my mindset for fishing for a new species.

Excellent topic. I am very careful with how I process my koks too. I always bleed then gut and out in ice within minutes of catch. I've never tried leaving them on ice over night. I'll have to try that. When you gut them I think it also helps keep more of that precious belly meat.

Great video.. very informative!! Do you ever scale your Kokanee? If so, when is best in the process?

Thanks for the information on Kokanee care. One question, what is the make of your rod holders? I'm having trouble locating the type you use. Thanks.

Great video! Have you ever looked up the ike jime style of processing fish? Your way is very similar and has the same thought process, just not as many steps. Not sure how you'd effectively do ike jime on a kayak though..

Thanks for all your videos! Summer speed? Had a slow down in hookups during summer. Bumped the speed to 2.0-2.2 and had more success. Have you seen this or is it just me?

Good stuff Tyler !I What are your thoughts on fish that freeze while ice fishing ? I bleed and gut my fish as I catch the ones that l'm going to take home. They are usually frozen before I get home. They area pain to fillet frozen. I place them in the sink to thaw. Then fillet them. Maybe it would be better to put them in the fridge and thaw, then fillet them. Thanks for your quality videos!

After being processed how long can the fillets be in the fridge before going bad? Ziploc vs vacuum seal? And frozen how long do they last?

Would love to see a video of the anatomy of a Kokanee (their insides). They appear a little different compared to a rainbow trout.

Not sure if this will get a response or not, but I’m looking for places to go in Western Washington. We go to Yale and Merwin but it would be nice to see other waters as well.

If I'm not mistaken that "bloodline" is actually the kidney. After you gut then fillet, it can easily be scraped off the flesh and bones cleanly. Nice size fish.

For me the cleanest is frozen SOLID water bottles in a ice chest bag or regular ice chest. No water or ice touch fish… just place fish on top of bottle’s after bleeding. Clean fish then as stated filet fish after refrigerator for 24 hours Cheers from Montana

What size cooler do you have in the back of your kayak? I have a small one that fits behind the seat on my Bigwater, but I found out today that a full limit of Kokanee (10-15inches) is just too much for fish for the cooler. I have a bow bag, but it’s 42” and feels like a bit much for freshwater days.

How do you finish filleting your catch? Do you leave the bottom fin attached? How do you remove the bones? I fillet mine a different way, wondering how you finish yours?

So I basically do the same process you do when I catch a fish. As soon as I catch them I bleed, gut and put them on ice for 24 hrs. However I’ve been noticing bruising sometimes up around their shoulders and head. Any idea what could be causing this? I handle them as little I possibly have to when I first catch and bleed them so I’m a little perplexed as to what could be causing this.

Those chickens are hungry!

That's super interesting! I would have expected leaving them for 24 to 36 hours to be your preferred method. I'll definitely try that. The scaling matter at all? Do you prefers to scale it or not scale it? What do you think of creating an ice bath? I generally bring a bunch of ice packs and toss some water in. Then when I catch fish I just ripped the gills and toss them in to bleed out.

I've noticed the Kokanee meat in my local lake is more orange than the red. Is that food source? Would u know if the more red meat is a higher quality meat? I am sure they are Kokanee and not trout as well. Thank u.

Would you recommend this method for all types of fish? Walleye, bass, catfish, etc?

What if i stringer them and then bleed them on the way in and put them on ice when i get to the truck

Yeah, have learned if you don't bleed/chill immediately, you get meat paste. VERY delicate fish.

Kokanee down there are more plain orange eh? Up across the border here in BC kokanee are bright red

We are going to strawberry Tomm. I’ll let you know how we do. We are using some Paulina tackle

Does this method work on walleye as well???

is it the same with trout?

What if you gutted them right away instead of bleeding ?

If I don’t have ice I bleed them and hope for the best. Haha

What about a comparison of the differences once the fish is cooked?

Is it ok to eat Kokanee with gill lice?

Is this your preferred method for other fish as well besides kokanee? If so, are there any that you wouldn't prefer this method on?

Ever Ike jime a kokanee? - Never mind see this was answered below!

I’ll pop the gills with my finger while the fish is still alive in the net in the water and it bleeds out better because the fish is still alive when I pull the gills.

U should always remove the gills

🐔🍺

the bloodline is the fishes liver.

Your "blood line" that you keep referring to is the kidney that you are removing.

As a cook, I wouldn’t even touch the fish that wasn’t bled and on ice. Blood is the first thing to “go bad” aka start growing bacteria. For safe food handling, you have 4 hour in temperatures over 41 degree f. But between 70-90 consider it super charged and more like 1-2 hours. 🤮 You ever tried dry aging the fillets? Leave them in the fridge for another 24 hrs with only a paper towel over them. 😘🤌

Thanks for the suggestions. Definitely going to try the overnight method.