How to properly fillet it is probably the most asked question when it comes to cooking a fish. Unfortunately, it is also the most complicated to learn. Just like most things, however, practice is the key if you want to be a master at it. It’s almost a guarantee that the first time you try it, your fish will end up looking ragged, ripped mess. Just use the following steps, and keep practicing.

  1. Locate where the gill plate ends. The gill plate ends just behind the gill slit openings. Lay the fish on its side. With a sharp knife, make a vertical cut from the top to bottom of the fish. Be sure to avoid cutting into the stomach.
  2. With your free hand, steady the fish by holding onto its head. Then, cut horizontally from the vertical cut to the tail at the upper section of the backbone, being careful to cut over the rib cage. Don’t completely separate the meat from the tail. Leave a little skin attached to hold it in place.
  3. Flip the fish over and follow repeat step 2. Finally, make the final cuts from both sides to completely remove the fillet. This will leave you with two filets with skin on one side.
  4. Put one filet, skin-side-down, and press down on the tail end. Then, cut along the underside of the filet, to remove the skin. Remember to make the cut only 3 or 4 inches deep to ensure that you only cut the skin off and leave plenty of fillet.
  5. If there are any small bones remaining, you can make small holes to dig them out. Just be careful not to make the holes too big, so that you don’t remove too much meat.
  6. Follow steps 4 and 5 for the other filet. The fish is now ready to be cooked!