Dispatching fishesShare

Michael Lim

Let's discuss, how many of you here regularly dispatch your fish, either with a club or spike/knife (thru the brain).

Brought my knife out on a boat trip and got a few fishes cleanly pierced with my knife. 



This is a western deba with a fairly sharp and pointed tip and strong blade so it managed to get thru the skull cleanly.  I wouldn't recommend it with the standard filleting knifes though as those would be rather thin and flexible.

Who else does this to keep the fish fresh and with better eating qualities?

harazz

Any difference if I put them immediately into the ice box?

From what I've seen before, most anglers club the big fishes, like tengirri. But I've always thought to make it easier to put in the ice box.

Devilzken

Apparently if despatch the fish the meat will taste nicer and also bleed the blood. Leaving the fishes inside the ice box will "tense" up the meat from what I know.

Staphylococcus

I use the sharp spike from Daiso to do the iki jime of big fishes. I even have the long metal wire thing to destroy the spine.

I do it more for humane reasons rather than better eating qualities cos my taste buds aren't that discerning. 
If you see how anglers in Aust/NZ care for their fish, so different from Sg. Here anglers just throw the fish into the ice box with a few blocks of ice. Over there, they spike, bleed and put in ice slurry (crush ice + sea water). 

Whole different angling culture!

Jump'n Jack

if one is concerned about the quality of the fish then bleeding it will be fine, normally one can dispatch the fish with a sharp blow to the head and cut the gills to bleed it, there after keep it in ice slurry.

Michael Lim

I'll definitely need a couple more tests to get better test results.  This hopefully can get me some more fishing sessions off time from my wife.

But yes, most would definitely agree that proper killing and bleeding will allow for better meat quality and a more humane death to the fishes.  Spikes come in many shapes and sizes and I would like to get a decent one from a shop soon.  The low end Daiso ice picks tends to break off easily.

Jump'n Jack

I got one of these....


http://www.anglers-secrets.com/product/04cooking/ike-jime-wire-combo-long/#

sittissti

Can I know where to get the Ike jime tool? Thks in advance 

Devilzken

Jus go daiso buy an ice pick, for the bones can use a thick steel wire

Michael Lim

sittissti said:

Can I know where to get the Ike jime tool? Thks in advance 

​The spikes are avail in some shops.  I saw a Daiwa one in AO recently.

Something like this

 

Jump'n Jack

Devilzken said:

Jus go daiso buy an ice pick, for the bones can use a thick steel wire

​Yep, I used a thin ice pick and some single strand stainless steel wire for the longest time.
If you cannot stick the fish spine form the head you can cut off a small section of the tail and stick it from there with the wire, after dispatching the fish by spiking the fish with the ice pick between the eyes...

harazz

Is there substantial difference in taste and quality of the fish between, straight dump in icebox, to dispatch/bleed?

I did once, tried, on a single boat trip, both methods.

-Bleeding, by cutting the gills, and thereafter put them in the ice box.
And
-Simply just put them in ice box immediately.

I did not notice any difference in taste. Maybe its just my tastebuds. But quality wise not much difference too.

Or maybe I did not notice any difference cos I will usually cook my catch on the same day. 

Did anyone ever tried the 2 methods on the same trip and compare?

Devilzken

Tat is provided not frenzy time u got all the time in the world  who got time to do when fishes r biting hard

harazz

Devilzken said:

Tat is provided not frenzy time u got all the time in the world  who got time to do when fishes r biting hard

​lol. True. When lojiak lojiak time.
But this rarely happens to me. LoL
Unless I hit  a school of tamban or selar fish. Hahaha

Devilzken

harazz said:

Devilzken said:

Tat is provided not frenzy time u got all the time in the world  who got time to do when fishes r biting hard

​lol. True. When lojiak lojiak time.
But this rarely happens to me. LoL
Unless I hit  a school of tamban or selar fish. Hahaha

​i salute u if u Ike tambans or selar

Staphylococcus

I buy the sharp utensil used by people making the tako yaki balls. It's slightly thinner than a regular ice pick. Daiso have these tako yaki ball utensil. Been using it for big fishes up to 10kg.

Just need to know how/where 

to punch into the fish skull to get to the brain.

Devilzken

Some useful links posted B4

https://gaspinggurami.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/eats-ike-jime-and-eating-quality/

Michael Lim

Wow...   great discussion guys.  Love that tool from Nakazima.  Looks really nice

somethingfishy00

will guitar strings work? The ike jime wire has a diameter of 1mm. The A-String in the guitar is appro 0.95mm. 
And guitar string dont hv much memory so it doesnt bend so easily.

ydolphin

somethingfishy00 said:

will guitar strings work? The ike jime wire has a diameter of 1mm. The A-String in the guitar is appro 0.95mm. 
And guitar string dont hv much memory so it doesnt bend so easily.

​Yes, I have used them before haha

Michael Lim

This tool was bought in Hong Kong.  The spike is hollow and is able to allow the wire to go thru and right into the spine if you have aligned it correctly.

Pretty cool, but my skills aren't good enuff yet.  Need more practise.

somethingfishy00

i find it hard to locate the exact location of the brain. I think im inflicting more pain doing so, hence it defeats the entire idea of ike jime. I usually just close the fish by inserting the wire thru the spinal cord from the back and bleed the fish accordingly at the gills.

Staphylococcus

Skull anatomy is different for every fish. If you follow the fish's lateral line all the way to the head and then draw an imaginary line to the eye, the brain would be located just behind the eye socket. 

Some fish skulls are harder than others so I guess it takes a bit of practice. But once you hit the right spot, the fish will flap around for abt 5secs and then go limp and change color. 

Michael Lim

http://www.ikijime.com/

Here is a guide

Michael Lim

Here are my tools for killing and cleaning fishes...

Michael Lim

If I go boat fishing, I will bring 2 spikes out, a curved hooked one (second down from left) and the straight one (top right) for different sized fishes.  Similarly, I will have 2 lengths of memory wire (bottom right) for going thru the spine to destroy the fish's nerve system and ensuring the fish quality.

The small knife (bottom left) is a Spyderco Waterway and is use on board for cutting the gill membranes for a bleed.  The scissors and shears are used mainly to cut thru gills or fins when cleaning the fishes later at home.  The western deba (on top) is my trusty tool for cleaning, filleting and general cutting when cleaning fishes.

And the bamboo brush is perfect for cleaning away the blood lines in the gut cavity.  The scaler (top left) is a good investment and gets the job done neatly with minimal flying scales.  The small pliers underneath it is for pulling pin bones from the fillets.

ShadowCaster

Michael Lim said:

Here are my tools for killing and cleaning fishes...

​Hi Michael,

Your fish scaling tool looks interesting.  Does it contain the scales and not allow it to fly all over the place?  Where can one buy a scaler like this please? 

I've seen some on Shopee but I suspect they do not work as well. https://shopee.sg/Fish-Scaler-Manual-Scale-Scraper-Fish-Skin-Brush-Scale-Peeler-Fast-Remove-Scale-Kitchen-Gadget-i.119351415.7557484772

Best Regards

Michael Lim

this is how my scaler works...

you can get one from Angler's Outfitters