huntaholic Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 How the heck r u supposed to get all of th bones out of a northern?!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherguy Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! ok, it's really easy if you know how, but it i hard to explain. Let me give it a shot. Fillet to the point where you have two skinless fillets, and have removed the ribs. The Y bone should be visible just above the lateral line of the fish. run your knife along the edge of the Y bone on the top side(nearest the back of the fish) and cut straight down gently until you hit bone. Then turn your knife on about a 45 degree angly towards the back of the fis(what used to be it anyway lol) and follow the Y bone until you feel it stop, this will be before you have cut totally through the fillet. Next cut straight down the lateral line half way through the thickness of the fillet. Then turn your knife sharply towards teh Y bone and cut almost horizontally towards it. Run your knife under the Y bone until you meet the furst cut you made. then pull out the strip with the bone, and you have a boneless fillet. Is so much easier to show in person, but give it a shot. IF you can find someone who knows how, get them to show you. I will draw up a quick diagram if i have a second. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherguy Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! Also i forgot to mention that obviously teh bones do not go all the way back to the tail. The diagram shows about where they stop, but you should be able to see or feel that. Hope this helps a bit. Oh, and nobody laugh at my artwork! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gfourhunter Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! nice job fisherguy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horst Posted June 4, 2005 Report Share Posted June 4, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! I just got donre cleaning 2 of them I do it a little different. After you get your 2 skinless fillets turn the fillet over and cut straight through the red lateral line in the middle of the fillet. Now the bottom piece is bone free already. Flip the fish over and you see the y-bones peeking through the meet.follow them down the inside gently with your fillet knife untill you feel bone, then turn your knife and just follow the bones, its just like like taking the ribcage out When you have that piece seperated turn the piece you have left over one more time.The piece facing you should look kinda like a triangle at this point.Youll see a real faint white line running through the middle of the triangle, cut just above it and follow it straight through staying right above the bones.This piece is now bone free and all thats left is the Y-bones which you throw away. I gueese its basically the same as fisherguy does it except cutting the fillet in half to start with.It looks like your wasting a lotta meat, your not, its all bone.Good luck, its simple after you do it a few times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntaholic Posted June 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! Thanks alot!! I think Ill try horsts way first. It sounds a little less complicated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherguy Posted June 4, 2005 Report Share Posted June 4, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! [ QUOTE ] Thanks alot!! I think Ill try horsts way first. It sounds a little less complicated [/ QUOTE ] Come on, it is the same thing only he cuts off half the fillet first. I guess he just explained it more clearly. lol But I drew diagrams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted June 5, 2005 Report Share Posted June 5, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! good explanation and art work there Jim! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaskMan Posted June 6, 2005 Report Share Posted June 6, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! It is way easier to do than explaining it is, or understanding one of the explanations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WABS Posted June 9, 2005 Report Share Posted June 9, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! If you get a decent size fish (about 5 pounds or bigger) I just prefer to take them out when I'm eating the fish. They all lay in a line in the top part of the fillet -- very easy to find and remove. By the way northern is my favorite eating fish, bar none. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntaholic Posted June 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! I just cleaned 2 last night. I did a little better job on the second one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherguy Posted June 9, 2005 Report Share Posted June 9, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! [ QUOTE ] I just cleaned 2 last night. I did a little better job on the second one [/ QUOTE ] It takes practise. At the resort while i was guiding i was cleaning about 150-200 fish a day(pike and walleye mainly) so i got lots of practise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horst Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] I just cleaned 2 last night. I did a little better job on the second one [/ QUOTE ] It takes practise. At the resort while i was guiding i was cleaning about 150-200 fish a day(pike and walleye mainly) so i got lots of practise. [/ QUOTE ] Yuck, I hate cleaning 3 a day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] I just cleaned 2 last night. I did a little better job on the second one [/ QUOTE ] It takes practise. At the resort while i was guiding i was cleaning about 150-200 fish a day(pike and walleye mainly) so i got lots of practise. [/ QUOTE ] Yuck, I hate cleaning 3 a day [/ QUOTE ] LOL same here! that would have been a lot of work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horst Posted June 10, 2005 Report Share Posted June 10, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! I guesse I didntmention it but I use a electric fillet knife to start with, cut the fillets off, take the ribs out, and take the skin off wth it, and it really speeds things up. Dont use it for the Y-bones though, it doesnt work I actually found a serrated knife that works great for that.It has about a 5 inch blade thats only about a 1/4 inch wide and very flexible.Its also great for feeling the bones with so you dont cut through them.It doesnt seem to lose its edge and if you wipe it off occasionally to clean the serrations out it does a real nice job.Ive used mine for 2 years and its still just as sharp as when i started.Keep practicing, try out some different knives and stuff till you find something that works good for you.And remember that the smaller northerns are more difficult to clean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntaholic Posted June 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! I noticed the smaller one was hard to clean. I had one that weighed about a pound and a fat 3.5lber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherguy Posted June 14, 2005 Report Share Posted June 14, 2005 Re: Northern Bones!!! Good point horst, i forgot to mention about the knife. I am not an electric fan(i can completely clean a 5 pound northern in about a minute and a half) but teh key is a sharp, and flexible blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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