Things You'll Need:
- Cutting board
- Sharp fillet knife
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Step 1
Lay the fish flat on the cutting board. Let it dry a little. Make the first cut behind the fish's head under the gill. Lift the gill up if necessary. Make the cut from the top of the fish down to the bottom of the fish's stomach. The first cut is a little angled.
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Step 2
Make another cut starting at the top. Go along the top of the fish all the way down the back fin. Make your way close to the tail with the knife. You should feel the bones when cutting. Open the fish up at the top. Put your knife tip down in the fish, cutting along the bones until you get near the middle of the fish.
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Step 3
Turn the fish over, repeating the first two steps to the other side of the fish. After cutting the opposite side, you will be able to hold out two pieces of meat on each side of the fish bones or skeleton, which you cut down.
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Step 4
Keeping the fish flat, lift up a piece of the meat, put the knife through one side with the knife (flat) put it all the way through the fish. The end of the knife will show at the bottom of the fish. Slide the blade of the knife down the fish toward the tail but careful not the cut the tail off. Remove the knife from this side and repeat this cut on the other side of the fish to the tail. Still do not cut the tail off.
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Step 5
Cut the fish down the ribcage. You will need to hold the meat back on each side to cut away the meat from the ribcage. Continue to cut the meat all the way down until you have a whole piece of meat separated from the bottom of the fish.
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Step 6
Lay the meat to the side because it will still be connected to the tail. You will have to lay your knife flat again, cut in between the skin of the fish and the meat to separate this part from the tail. Now you will have the first fillet. Repeat these cuts on the other side to retrieve the other fillet.
