Gutting fish step by step

Gutting a rainbow trout takes only a minute, but it makes a large difference to the flavour. The basic sequence is always the same: kill, bleed, take out the guts and rinse. Keep the fish cold all the way until cooking, and you are rewarded with paler flesh and better keeping quality.

Step by step

1. Kill at once. A firm stunning blow to the head right after landing. Fish you keep should be killed quickly and humanely, see killing fish.
2. Bleed. Cut the gill arches or make a cut behind the gills and let the fish bleed out. That gives paler, better-tasting flesh.
3. Open the belly. Cut a shallow slit from the gill area forward to the vent. Superficial, so you do not cut into the guts.
4. Draw. Pull out the guts and scrape away the dark blood line along the backbone with a thumbnail or a spoon.
5. Rinse. Rinse the body cavity clean in cold water and wipe the fish.

Whole or filleted

Smaller rainbow trout are excellent cooked whole, with lemon and dill in the belly. If you want fillets you cut along the backbone from tail toward head on both sides. For most put-and-take fish it is plenty to cook them whole or in two sides, and that is the fastest.

Storage

Keep the fish cold from catch to kitchen, preferably on ice in a cool bag if you fish for a long time. If you are not cooking it the same day, freeze it. Also remember that fish that is to be gravad or cold-smoked must be frozen 2–3 days for the parasite’s sake, see cook the catch.

When the fish is gutted it is ready for the oven, curing or the smoker.