Cleaning white fish

[bezzola]

Can white fish be filleted the same as a jack or walleye.
Or is there a certain way to do it

[3blade]

Not really, if you want them boneless. The pin bones on all salmonids are fine and curved so you can't cut them out.

Best thing to do, is run the knife towards the tail to separate meat from the spine. Skin if you wish. Then slice out the ribs. Then pick out the pin bones with fine needle nose pliers or a bone picker tool (imo the needle nose work better anyway). And no, there isn't a faster way, that's how all salmon are done.

[calgarygringo]

Lots of good videos on YouTube on how to do them.

Originally Posted by bezzola

Can white fish be filleted the same as a jack or walleye.
Or is there a certain way to do it

[verado eyes]

Yes they can be fillited like a walleye if you know how, There bones run out to the side on a slight angle and curved, There not as firm as a walleye but with practice its not bad,

[Couleestalker]

Originally Posted by 3blade

Not really, if you want them boneless. The pin bones on all salmonids are fine and curved so you can't cut them out.

Best thing to do, is run the knife towards the tail to separate meat from the spine. Skin if you wish. Then slice out the ribs. Then pick out the pin bones with fine needle nose pliers or a bone picker tool (imo the needle nose work better anyway). And no, there isn't a faster way, that's how all salmon are done.

Absolutely you can can. The pin bones are easily taken out with a fillet knife. Similar to taking the Y bone out of a pike.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by Couleestalker

Absolutely you can can. The pin bones are easily taken out with a fillet knife. Similar to taking the Y bone out of a pike.

X2 Whitefish are easily made boneless, just make sure to take out the brown line in the middle of the outside of the fillet. It is fat and tastes like cod liver oil. Nasty.

[BloodHound70]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

X2 Whitefish are easily made boneless, just make sure to take out the brown line in the middle of the outside of the fillet. It is fat and tastes like cod liver oil. Nasty.

X2. When I targeted whites I would fillet them with great results and 110% agree with the paste on the skin side of the fillet. MUST be scraped off or the fillet has a very fishy taste.

BH

[3blade]

Originally Posted by Couleestalker

Absolutely you can can. The pin bones are easily taken out with a fillet knife. Similar to taking the Y bone out of a pike.

You guys must be catching way bigger whites. I have no trouble with pike, perch, or any other fish, but trying to cut the pin bones out of a 14" white (or trout) has never worked for me...and I think whole filets look and smoke better. Guess everyone has their own way to do things.

[Vapor]

Whites are easy to fillet boneless. Here's the video that taught me how to do it. The results are fantastic!


https://youtu.be/LqyH9EhGiMQ

Enjoy!

[kal.b.]

Good video. Never seen a white that big. Will have to try that if I can get the old man (father not significant other) on some whites this year.

[lippy]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

X2 Whitefish are easily made boneless, just make sure to take out the brown line in the middle of the outside of the fillet. It is fat and tastes like cod liver oil. Nasty.

Good to know that! Thanks.

[curtz]

Originally Posted by Vapor

Whites are easy to fillet boneless. Here's the video that taught me how to do it. The results are fantastic!


https://youtu.be/LqyH9EhGiMQ

Enjoy!

Good video, thanks

[Fishwhere]

That video pretty much sums it up. The bone structure is very similar to a walleye regarding the pin bone and how you need to take a strip out. Only thing to keep in mind is that closer to the tail of the fish you can cut straight down like a walleye - but as you move closer to the head of the fillet the bones start angling “up” towards the top if the fish so you will need to start to turn your knife during the cut to be around a 20-30 degree angle, you can see the guy in the video does it to if you look closely.

Other thing you can do For the ribs which is the same as walleye is flip the filet so its meat/ribs down onto the cutting board, and the top of the fish is facing you. Then push down a bit on the ribs to flatten the ribs out, pick up the back of the fish off the table with your thumb to expose the top of the ribs, and slide your knife along them to take them out. Really nice and quick, small wastage, once you get the hang of it. I dont know if theres a video of it but ive been doing walleye, perch, and whitefish ribs like that for a long time.

Good luck man!

[The Fisherman Guy]

[SNAPFisher]

I just saw the words "Wunder Boner" when I clicked on this thread and thought what the hell did I just click on!?

[FlyTheory]

I think hemostats work the best for taking out pin bones.