Among the tastiest fish to eat are flounder or halibut; however, many folks are unsure how to prepare them because they are flat and have a peculiar shape.
You can find this with any flatfish, yet flounder cleaning can be much easier than you think. They may be bottom dwellers in the sea and one of the trickiest to catch in saltwater fishing, yet that can be half the fun.
Here you can find a few tips on fishing for beginners, and then you can see how to clean a flounder in the shortest time possible.
How to Catch Flounder
If you read all the product reviews on how to read fish finder, you may be upset. Flounders hug the bottom on sandy ledges, so your best fish finder may struggle to locate them against the ocean bed.
It takes some skill in the same way as fly fishing because flounders are bait fish and don’t move too far unless they have to.
You will need to rely more on fishing tips and all your fishing knots to tie your fish finder rigs. Once you look at fishing rods and reels, fishing for flounder only requires a light to medium weight spinning rod.
Fishing lures will sit on the end of your 15 to 20lb line and a four feet leader, although some anglers recommend longer.
Does Flounder Have Scales?
Before you see how easy filleting a flounder is, you need to learn how to clean flounder as your first steps.
- Hold the fish by the tail
- Use the blunt side of your knife and push your blade up the side of the fish toward the head
- Do this until there are no scales and no slime
- Do the same on the other side, and then rinse your hands and the fish
Cleaning Flounder
Learning how to clean a flounder involves more than removing scale and the slime.
You need to know how to gut a fish.
- Here you will learn how to remove the entrails and the intestine along with other parts of the fish, which are not suitable for eating.
- In addition, by doing this, it extends the storage life of the flounder while ridding the smell.
- To gut your fish, open the fish’s head with your finger by pushing your index finger between the gills and the jaw.
- Once open, you can see the red color of the gills.
- Remove the gills with your thumb and index finger. To remove all the gills, you can along the joint around the bottom of the jaw.
- On the underside of the fish, make a deep incision from close to the jaw and run your knife to the anus. A sharp camping knife may be better than your filet knife to do this.
- Open the incision with your hand and pull out the insides parts, which comprise the kidney, liver, intestines, and other organs.
- Use a spoon to remove stubborn innards and then wash flounder with water.
Items Needed to Fillet a Flounder
Once you see how to fillet flounder, it doesn’t take many tools to do it effectively. Here are a few things you need to clean flounder.
While the fish is different, you do have the same similar process as when you clean rainbow trout.
- Filet board (can use top of the cooler box)
- Fresh water for washing fish; and to clean fishy hands
- Long flexible fillet knife
With these instructions, you should find how to fillet a flounder is easier than you imagined.
- Cool down your flounder on ice. It is easier to fillet a flounder once it is cool
- Cut down the lateral line that runs down the center of your fish. You see, this runs from the gill plate to the tail.
- Cut a crescent shape at the back of the head of the fish, above the eye, and around the pectoral fin. Once you cut around the pectoral fins, the fillet is easy to peel backward.
- Starting in the center of the fish, make cuts which angle away from the spine. You can use your finger to ease the fillet away from the bones as you make additional cuts.
- Cut the skin above the dorsal fin to remove the top flounder fillet. Cut along the bottom side to lift your bottom fillet.
- Once you remove the top two flounder fillets, you will do the same for the white side.
- To remove the skin to finish your flounder filleting, hold the knife at an angle, and work it along the fillet.
- Peel off the small sections of ridged fin meat toward the outside edge. This can taste very fishy for many people.
Cooking Flounder
One of the easiest ways of eating fish like this is to cook your flounder in a frying pan.
So all you gotta do is dredge the entire flounder in flour. Then you heat some oil and butter. Place the fish in the pan and turn the flounder over until both sides are cooked.
When outdoors, such as on a camping trip, you should have a portable grill or a good campfire.
An easy way to cook flounder. After cleaning it, marinate or season it with the flavors you prefer, including soy sauce, pepper, salt, garlic powder, and others. The slightly sweet taste of the flounder makes it flexible in cooking possibilities.
You can poach, bake, or sauté the flounder, among other ways depending on where you are.
Regardless of how it is cooked, the most important thing is to make sure it is as clean as possible to make no end of delicious fish recipes.
