Snakehead Filleting Tips

Type: Tidal
Region: Southern
Location: Smallwood State Park

I got 5 snakehead with my bow and 3 of them were at night. I was bow fishing out of Smallwood on Friday June 15th into Saturday morning. I wanted to share some things I have picked up when it comes to cleaning these fish. The first thing is to treat them like any other fish you would plan to eat, get them on ice as soon as you have done what it takes to kill them. As anyone that has processed a snakehead knows they are very slimy. When I can I will take them off the ice and put them on a rack in an old fridge I have (still works) so the outside of them dries over night, makes them a lot easier to deal with the next day. If that can't be done I have found it better to take an old towel and try to wipe them dry rather than to hose off the slim. Another trick is to run a screw up from the bottom side of your fish cleaning table. I take the fish by the head and smack it down over the screw, this is like having a third hand to hold the fish still while you are trying to fillet it. The screw is also helpful when skinning the fillet, I make a tiny hole with my fillet knife at the small end of the piece of fish and push it over the screw. It will also be like having a third hand to keep the fillet from sliding away while you are trying to skin it. I hope someone will find these tips useful, they have saved me many hours.

Tags: northern snakehead