How to Fillet a Walleye with Randy Newberg and Gerber

Randy Newberg has filleted thousands of walleyes in his life. The "Guttin' and Gillin'" is one of his favorite parts of acquiring his meals, whether hunting or fishing.

In this video Randy shows how to bleed the fish to get the purest and cleanest meat, then shows the tricks needed to remove all bones while preserving as much meat as possible, utilizing as much of the fish as possible.

And don't forget about the cheek meat, as some call them, "Fresh Water Scallops."

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[stevenmeyer]

The cheeks are the best... I save them and make walleye nuggets. Great video

[brucepickensjr]

Tried your method on 3 18 to 22 inchers last night. The hardest part was the ribs, kept on pulling the belly meat off. The cheek meat looks awesome. Hope to cook them up here in a day or two.

[randyjackson]

Thanks for showing this Randy learned something new! I've done a ton of walleye but not that way. But going to now!

[richardwalkoe]

Always learning something new...thanks

[TFSwant]

Hi Randy love all of the videos. Have you ever zippered your walleyes instead of frog lagging them? It is another grate way to remove the interstitial bones and it also removes the mud line.

[WilliamAM]

A bit different then the way I always have done it, might
have to try that. Glad you are making Mrs. Newberg happy! That cheek meat is great.

[chucktatro]

Great video! What does your fish cleaning station at home look like?

[ntlineman]

Peeling the rib bones off is definitely wasteful… have you ever tried taking hold of the front top of the rib bones then twist and pull the rib bones off that may reduce the loss of flesh, otherwise run the tip of your blade between ribs and flesh to debone the fillet.

[andysponseller]

What is the purpose of the holes on board? What knife sharpener was that?

[simplyoutdoors]

Good video Randy! I always bleed my fish also and you are right on walleye it makes a world of diff. I am in Abitibi region (northern Quebec) a paradise for walleye fishing

[NM-ixhc]

Randy, absolutely loved this. What kind of vaccum sealer was that? or do you have a specific make and model you would recommend? I'm looking for something that will last me a while that can handle all my big game and fish. Thanks

[rbljackson]

Hey randy....how long will the fish stay fresh in storage like that when using a vac sealer? thinking about getting one. Do you use the vac sealer for sealing hunting meat as well, or stick to freezer paper and saran wrap for venison?

[TheBoomerusaf]

Two of my favorite circles crossing Randy and walleyes! Definitely a thumbs up!

[ntlineman]

Your rib removal method is definitely most wasteful waste of delicious fish! I started fishing when I was 7 yrs. Old and am now 78 and I believe in the adage that one is never too old to learn something new.
Concerning your prepping of fish for consumption your method is wasteful.
# 1- Ike Jime your fish before cutting to neutralize the fish
# 2- bleed your fish
# 3- start cutting your fish from the top make an incision along the back bone making sure you don’t cut through the rib cage do not cut through the tail. Now slowly using your knife to debone the rib cage all the way down to the belly. Now flip your fish over and repeat the same operation. You have the choice of butterflying your fish or having two fillets.
# 4- take your knife and bend the spine over the blade of your knife, the spine should snap off, don’t try to cut the tail off that will dullen your blade.
# 5- place your fillets skin down on table using the tail to stabilize your grip skin off the fillets
# 6- zipper the fillets for completely boneless fillets.
Or
A - cut the fish the way you’ve illustrated but do not cut through tail, keep it for your leverage when skinning
B - once you’ve cut the second side of the fish, break off the carcass at the tail
C - skin your fillets
D - place you fillet rib bones face down on table, find the pin bones and gently slice down to the rib bone do not cut through, run blade along ribs till rib bones are loose. Similar to removing Y bone in pike
E - At this point you can remove rib bones or zipper the fish gently removing both pin & rib bones together.
Or
You are ready to remove rib bones place fillet rib bone down on table, slip blade between rib bones and fillet, put pressure on top of fillet skin side up gently debone ribs then skin the fillet and finally zipper off pin bones.

If you ever want to know how to prepare perch in ten seconds look up the video on YouTube “ how to clean perch in ten seconds “
Don’t forget CHEEKS & WINGS, while removing wings try to keep as much of the flesh as you can because this is clean boneless flesh.
Happy Fishing, stay safe and God bless!

[jerrywells]

Randy, very nice, may I make a suggestion - don't cut the fillet all the way off tail, when you flip fillet, just run your knife under skin & your done. Cheek meat, poor man's scallop, oh yeah.

[ravenfeather]

Nicely done. Keep Pecking away at it. Go Gogebic.