Tools Needed to Fillet & Prepare Saltwater Fish

Series Summary

The only thing more fun than catching a fish is cleaning and filleting a fish. Well...not exactly. Descaling and cleaning a fish is not nearly as fun as reeling the sucker in, but it doesn't have to be that bad - especially if you learn how to clean and fillet a fish from an expert. Our fishing expert and fish filleting expert can teach you how to fillet fish for free. You can learn online and in your own home.

In this free how to video series, learn how to fillet fish from expert Bruce Marnie. Bruce will demonstrate fish scaling tips to descale a fish, how to gut a fish, how to fillet a fish, how to remove a fish stomach, and how to cut fish fillets. Learn also how to determine the freshness of a fish, and the tools you need to fillet and prepare a saltwater fish such as Mahi Mahi.

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Bruce Marnie on behalf of Expert Village in this series on how to prepare and fillet a saltwater fish. The first thing we are going to do is take a look at the tools we need. The first tool we need before filleting a saltwater fish is a scaler. Most saltwater fish have a hard bony covering of scales over the outsides of their body and we need to remove them prior to filleting the fish. There are two variations of scalers that we can use. The first and most available is the commercial scaler here that you can buy in your local market. The commercially available scaler is an inexpensive tool with a wooden handle and a metal head that has projections that are like fingers that scrape the scales off the surface of the fish. In the absence of a commercially available scaler a simple tablespoon from the kitchen can be used just as effectively. Either a tablespoon or teaspoon can be used depending on personal preference. But the basic method of use is just to hold it in the hand with the thumb in the bowl of the spoon and then scrape along the fish against the scales to remove them. Once the fish is completely scaled, the next tool we will need to complete the filleting process is a good knife. There are two knives to choose from. Some people prefer a simple chef’s knife 10 inches long or more with a point, others prefer a butcher knife with a rounded tip. The most important feature of any knife in filleting a fish is the knife must be razor sharp and must have a solid edge, not serrated. The reason the knife needs to be so sharp is that fishes flesh unlike beef flesh is very soft and if you use a dull knife to try to fillet the fish all you will do is rip it apart and hack at it instead of cleanly slice it. So a knife must be very very sharp and a thin blade is also very helpful. Next we need to position the fish on a cutting board of sufficient size to accommodate the fish. You also want to have a pan available to put the fillets in. The reason it's important to have a dish or pan available to put the fillets in once they are removed from the fish is because it's important to keep fresh water off of the fillets of a saltwater fish. Fresh water will tend to degrade the quality of the meat of saltwater fish and make it mushy and not particularly palatable. Lastly what we need is sufficient work area to do the job properly. That means sufficient counter space to work on, a deep sink to work in, and a source of running water to wash our tools and our hands and to clean up the mess. Finally we need a space to dispose of the guts and the end trails and the waste parts of the fish. A good deep garbage can wrapped with plastic is sufficient."