Fish cleaning on board??

[bigeasy1]

Anyone out there clean their fish on the boat?,and what kind of setup do you have?
We want to start to clean our Salmon on the water,as the cleaning stations on the lake are always mobbed with charter boats cleaning their catch's and the wait is long.

Most of our salmon run from the mid teens to high twenties,so we'd need a board big enough to be able to filet them on.
We tried putting the 125 qt.cooler on top of the I/O motor box,and filleting them on it,but it makes a mess with blood all over.
I was thinking of some type of cleaning board that could go from the top of the cooler to the rear of the transom cap with a very low lip on the sides so we would be able to get the fillet knife low enough,but be able to use the washdown to rinse the blood & guts overboard.

Any ideas?? or pictures of your solutions??

[McGillicuddy]

John,
We clean our catch on board more often than not. Most of our take is 15 to 30lb yellowtail, dorado and tuna. They are immediately gilled and bled in the ice box (this one bled before getting to the box).

Most guys have a bait tank about 30" tall so we lay a 2'x3' board centered atop the bait tank. It stashes nicely under the gunwale cap. There is some spillage but because the fish have bled out in the box its not too bad. Board has a frame on bottom side to keep from sliding off the bait tank and some routed grooves to catch some of the mess. Always a hose with a pressure nozzle on board to wash away blood.

Of course I've never seen a boat as nice as yours but I empathize with your desire to keep it that way.

I your case I might be inclined to cut fish with board resting on cap and draining outward. Todd and everyone else makes cleaning stations that fit into rod holders so you might look into that. Or make your own.

Here's a pretty nice set up from one of the local guys. Scroll down to thread #8
http://www.bdoutdoors.com/forums/boa...ing-board.html

[FELLOW-SHIP]

I use Magma Bait Filet Mate Table most of the time we use it just for cutting bait but you could use is for cleaning fish.

The problem I have is that they make a mess of your boat. So most of the time if the dock if full I bring home my catch and clean it outside while others are cleaning the boat. Then one guy has the extra job of getting rid of the left overs on their way home. The lake fish now look forward to our fishing trips as much as we do.



FellowShip

………………………….

Just for the Grins

Official 23’ SF Antique Classic SeaCraft Owner

[Capt Chuck]

Check your State Rules & Regulations. Certain species are not allowed to be cleaned on board. Each state has different no-no's on which ones must stay intact

ex Fla:
Florida fishing rules state it is illegal to fillet or remove the head or tail fin of black bass, striped bass, white bass, Sunshine bass (striped bass x white bass hybrid), peacock bass, black crappie and pan-fish (where special black crappie or pan-fish size or bag limits are in effect) until after you have completed fishing for the day.


ex: Calif

(c) Fish That May Not be Filleted: No person shall fillet on any boat or bring ashore as fillets the following fish: cabezon, greenlings of the genus Hexagrammos, salmon, striped bass, sturgeon, and any species of flatfish, except California halibut may be filleted or brought ashore as fillets south of Point Arena (Mendocino County).

CT:

The reg's only address fillets for stripers and fluke. With the striped bass, it only states that the head and tail must remain intact. With fluke, you can fillet them as long as you keep the carcass. If there is no carcass, the fillet has to meet the size requirement.

[abl1111]

Sorry no picture, as it would say it all.

I mount a starboard, off-the-shelf knife and hook holder that has three suction cups to the vertical side of the i/o cover. There are two CRITICAL knife holders as well.

I then took a large, plastic cutting board and routered (2) precisely measured grooves on the bottom of it, approx, 5" long x approx 1" wide x 1/8"-3/16" deep. These grooves are exactly the same dimensions as the below mentioned brass bars.

I took (2) pcs of brass flat-bar bought at my hardware store. They miraculously fit into the knife holder slits. I bent these bars almost 90 degrees in a vise so that they could slide vertically into the knife holder and the pther ends lay flat against the i/o cover.

Working at a work bench, with the brass bars nestled in the routered grooves, I screwed thru the top of the cutting board, making marks onto the flat bar - at these spots, I drilled and tapped into the brass. Then screwed through the cutting board and into the tapped brass bars. Ground the screws flat to be flush with the brass bar.

The brass bars are permanently mounted to the cutting board.

When I need to fillet, I slide the brass bars into/onto the knife holders, the cutting board lays flat on the i/o cover - NO MOVEMENT at all and all the guts are aft where I wash 'em out w/ the washdown.

This has worked well for 35 lb stripers...

[bigeasy1]

Thanks for the quick responses guys.

Gillie I like the blood in your pictures,and my boat isn't as clean as it looks in the picture.The deck is filthy,I gave up trying to keep it looking like new.I don't mind the blood,it's the little remnants of the fish,that somehow escape unseen and end up in the scuppers.
Thanks for the link that's a sweet setup he made I think i may adapt it to my situation.

Fellowship, I looked into the Magma stuff and it's nice,but I need to make something to fit my rig.I'm sure those lake fish do!look forward to your trips ha ha.

Chuck,On the NY great lakes waters(lake Ontario)we are allowed to clean salmon and steelhead and other salmonids, but have to leave the skin on so they can be identified.You're not allowed to clean them onshore in the area I fish unless you go to a cleaning station.The cleaning stations are very nice with all stainless tables and cutting boards and also with a big grinder that grinds up the carcasses and sends the grindings into an underground tank.
The problem is they are always crowded and the waits are usually long.

Abl,I like the sounds of your setup,maybe a mix of a few ideas like yours and others will work good for me.

Since the biggest mess of cleaning a fish is gutting it, I opt to gut some bigger fish while still in the water. No law against that anywhere. Made the mistake of gutting a 60 pound black drum one trip - right on the floor of the boat. I'll never do that again! I add this picture to show you something. While in Sitka, Alaska, I fished for salmon. This picture shows a trough that is affixed to the railing on the boat. On the way back in, after deep trolling (400 feet of water) for king salmon, the mate would put a salmon in this trough upside down. He then gutted the fish and all the mess and blood stuff went overboard rather than into the boat. Note the back piece that is cut out for the fish's tail. I know this is for salmon, but something like it could be done for other fish. A rock would fit in there nicely! Obviously the fish had been dispatched with a club before being laid in the trough. I should have taken a picture of the fish in the trough but I guess I didn't. I'm still looking - if I find one I'll post it.

[2182]

its illegal in south carolina, but i use this setup for prepping baits/grinding chum. i mounted a gimbal butt on a 1.5" oak dowel which i cut the top at 22.5' (angle of rear rod holder). then mounted that to a cutting board, making PITA 22.5' hole saw cuts through a few 1x4 blocks. i have a portable chum grinder that i clamp to it, and also cut up bait on it. it would surely work for cleaning fish if you used a big enough cutting board. they sell a similar setup for around $200 at melton tackle, i just hate paying for what i can make. some of my buddies keep big pieces of starboard on their (bigger) boats for this too. lay a wet towel on top and the fish wont go anywhere.

[basswacker]

My plan is to get an old bureau about 30Lx16Wx40H behind the passenger seat. put a piece of plastic board on top with about 1in high edges, cut a small notch on the corner and glue a hose connector to that corner and then put a hose that I can throw a hose over the side for the guts and blood.