Wolf Wilds › Fishing

Photo DEMIDOV, Elim Pavlovich (1867-1943), Public domain

Cleaning your catch

Gutting a trout on the bank, keeping it cold, and what the law wants left on the fish.

What you need

How

  1. Kill the fish at once with a firm knock on the head. It is kinder and the meat is better for it.
  2. Lay it belly up. Put the point in at the vent and slit forward to the gills, shallow, so you cut the belly wall and nothing inside.
  3. Open it out and pull the guts back toward the tail. They come away in one piece.
  4. Cut the gills free at the throat and lift them out with the rest.
  5. Run a thumbnail or a spoon along the backbone to scrape out the dark blood line.
  6. Rinse quickly in cold water, or wipe it clean. A long soak makes the flesh soft.
  7. Get it cold. On snow or ice, in a wet bag in the shade, or in the pond in a mesh bag if you are still fishing.

Do and don't

Do
  • Clean fish away from camp and away from the water you drink from.
  • Sink or bury the offal well away from the shore, or take it out with you.
  • Keep the fish flat and cool, not stacked in a warm bucket.
Don't
  • Do not clean over the pond and leave guts in the shallows. It draws gulls and bears and it fouls the landing.
  • Do not fillet or behead a fish you still have to show. Newfoundland rules want it whole so the length and the species can be checked in the field.
  • Do not keep more than your limit or fish you cannot use. Put the rest back wet, with a hand under the belly, facing into the current until it swims off.

Watch for

Danger
  • Gut smell and fish scraps at a campsite are a bear invitation. Deal with them before dark.
  • A fish left in a warm bag for an hour is spoiled. Cold is the whole job.
  • Limits, seasons, bait rules and salmon tagging change year to year and by river. Read the current guide, not last year's.

Notes

A trout gutted on the bank and kept cold is better eating than one carried home whole in a warm pack.

For salmon, the licence and tagging rules are their own thing: the tag goes on before you move the fish, and catch and release has its own handling rules.

troutcleaningkeepinglicence

Updated 2026-09-20

Related

Casting a fly Fishing The overhead cast and the roll cast, for trout and salmon on a brook, a river or a pond. Ice fishing a pond Fishing Trout through the ice: testing it, cutting a hole, and staying warm while you jig. Trouting a brook Fishing Fishing running water: where trout hold in a brook, walking it upstream, and letting the bait go down with the current. Trouting a pond Fishing Brook trout on a small pond, what to bring and where they hold.