Blog Post

So you have had a fantastic day fishing on one of the greatest walleye fisheries in the world, and this means you have more fish than you can eat at one time. Unless you are the nicest customers on earth and are planning to give all of your fish away, this means you will have to prepare these fillets for the freezer. While there is no substitute for fresh, never frozen walleye fillets, we have found that following these 5 easy steps will help preserve that fresh never frozen flavor. 1. Rinse the fillets & check for bones The fish cleaners will put all of your fillets in a big bag. These fillets will need to be rinsed in as cold of water as possible to remove any remaining blood from the fillets. While fish cleaners are usually very good about keeping fillets bone free, they sometimes miss some here and there due to the quantity of fish they clean. While rinsing the fillets is a perfect time to check them for bones and remove them as needed. 2. Zipper the fillets “Zippering” your fillets is a term used for removing what is left of the spine and pin bones in the fillet. Do this by going to the tail of the fillet and making a cut all the way through the fillet just on either side of the center line running down the fillet. Make this cut about ½” - 1” deep into the fillet. Then grasp both halves of the fillet and pull them apart. This is where the term “zippering” comes from because it will rip the fillet down the lateral line and feel sort of like a zipper. One half will be clean while the other half will still have the lateral line connected. Take hold of the lateral line and pull it from the fillet it is still connected to. Discard the small center section you just removed. How to zipper video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUiTYS5LHb8 3. Remove dark red meat and belly silver Take a sharp fillet knife and skim the dark red meat from the back of the fillets. This meat only runs about 1/32” deep and is the source of most of the “fishy” flavor in your fillets. If done correctly very little meat is removed. The other main source of “fishy” flavor is the “belly silver” (the silver stomach lining), which can be scraped off easily with a fillet knife. 4. Dry the fillets Take the fillets and lay them out on a dry towel and then roll the towel up with the fillets inside and let them set for about 10 minutes to completely dry the fillets. This may sound weird but the source of most freezer burn is the moisture left on the fillets when they are frozen. This step helps keep the fillets from getting freezer burnt. 5. Vacuum seal and freeze Vacuum seal your fillets and freeze them. If you do not own a vacuum sealer then the next best option is to place them in a ziplock baggie full of water and freeze them solid. Fish that are vacuum sealed seem to preserve that fresh flavor longer. Following these 5 steps will keep your Lake Erie charter fishing catch fresh and delicious until your next trip and by that point we are sure you will have eaten all of your fish.