Cod care

Member Joined: Mar 27, 2009 Posts: 37 Location: Suffolk

How do you look after your caught cod in session? I have seen some anglers using buckets with water in as opposed to the freezer box jobbie. Any tips? confused

Member Joined: Mar 16, 2009 Posts: 40 Location: Pontypool

Gut em on the beach and put them in a cool box/ freezer bag.

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:11 am

And give the gut cavity a damn good wash out in the sea,you can keep them wrapped up in doubled up carrier bags,its the same with all fish you want to keep. Hope that helps. Andy1i

Member Joined: Mar 27, 2009 Posts: 37 Location: Suffolk

Andy you don't need to gut cod, You can fillet straight off the fish without all the hassle of gutting

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 3:25 pm

what i tend to do is dispatch the fish and then put my knife clean through the gills and throat to bleed it out this stops any blood tainting the flesh if its a long session i tend to fillet as i go keeping the boneless and skinless fillets in freezer bags then stored in cold water this is as fresh as you can get if the stomach is left in too long it will bleed into the meat and you will notice that the flesh will be gooey instead of firm,when i get cod home i leave it in the fridge for 24 hrs to let the water come out this makes the flesh nice and firm THE COD

Member Joined: Mar 27, 2009 Posts: 37 Location: Suffolk

That's an interesting angle, What do you consider a long session which would taint the flesh confused

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 5:01 pm

dependant on weather with the winter i tend to leave the fish as its cold enough but spring fish like now temp wise they do not take long to go off so i would fillet in between casts and get them in cold water or a cool bag asap ,when i do a session on a beach in the spring for codling they tend to come through in batches so i try and at least gut them and then keep them in water till i get them filleted THE COD

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:29 am

Barbel, i dont mean to sound like im up my own backside,as an ex-trawlerman it does take me seconds to gut a fish,and besides i quite like it lol. But yes i can see how for some it could prove to be a hassle.hope i havent offended anybody.Andy1i

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:58 am

andy yourself along with me and many others can clean and fillet fish no probs and fairly quick as well ,i have learnt all my skills at skinning boning and preparing my fish from ex trawlermen all now charter skippers ,dave pitman in weymouth can skin a dogfish in seconds ,my mates leave the two wings on a ray linked in the middle to give em something to hold on to unlike me i do mine singular due to the fact that as a 15 year old i used to have to skin a whole bath full on a friday night at the local chip shop,but watching some guys on the beach makes me gringe its like watching silence of the lambs others think its easier to leave the bones in and remove them when its cooked i hate that one bone and it puts me off i fillet bone free and remove the skin as well ,maybe put your filleting skills into pics as a step by step guide and post it to help others regards THE COD

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:34 pm

Wish i could,but i access this site by fone and have tried to upload photos from said fone,with not much success,damn and blast! But there are tutorials about filleting.but i do agree with the beach butchers remark,but i always say that if you are not sure then its always possible to have a word with a friendly fishmonger or a fellow angler who looks like they know what they are doing and have them show those that want to learn.oh and for gutting you need nothing bigger than a 2" blade,razor sharp.ive seen guys with great big filleting knives to gut,thats a sure way to lose a finger or two lol. Tight lines and bendy rod my fellow piscepalian pursuers.Andy1i

Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 5:22 pm

spot on my man

Member Joined: Mar 27, 2009 Posts: 37 Location: Suffolk

Hi Andy, No offence taken at all, I'm quite new to filleting so all advice is welcome, Saw some guy on youtube filleting without gutting but since then have asked a couple of fishmongers who said it's best to gut them and then fillet. Down the beach i will now gut and rinse the fish in sea water till it's clean and then place in cool box and fillet once home, Hope that sounds like the rightish thing to do?

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:13 am

Hi barbel,im in lowestoft alot now,if u would like to "hook up"and have fishing sesh,you are more than welcome.Andy1i

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:35 pm

who is going to fillet the fish lol

Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:54 pm

I guess i will gut and barbel will fill it pmsl