Primitive Skills: Ponassing - Fillet and Cook a trout the Indigenous way

In this video we try some Ponassing. We de-bone/fillet and cook a trout Just as the North American First Nations / Native Americans did.. Then we take that filleted trout and roast it over a camp fire using only sticks and cordage. You can cook it wouth a frying pan or pot! A great project for scouts and kids and a great tool to know in an emergency or survival situation.

This method of de-boning and using sticks to cook it is called ponassing. It's traced back to North American (particularly Canadian first nations tribes. It's hard to pin it down to one particular tribe as it pops up on the west coast, Manitoba and Ontario.

Note: While one or two angles look like I'm cutting at my fingers, I was always cutting towards the cutting board and my fingers are never in the path of the knife. That said, I could have done a better job and been a better example of knife safety.

Also, for those who claim that this knife was dull, I could shave with that knife before and after this exercise. It is a thick bushcraft blade (Helle) and the points where I struggled were on bone plate. Despite that, of course, I'm sure the knife could have been sharper.

Comment and like (if you do).

[BearBoxBreaks]

It's wonderful that your daughter is learning this also. I love these videos. Keep up the good work.

[rwaskahat]

I love this!! My grandmother used to debone fish like this at the lake, I couldn't recall her technique,  but this is it!! Thanks for sharing!! 
Sincerely from a Cree woman from Canada :) 

[mnsplitter]

Thanks to you and your lovely daughter for making this for us. 

[Cornusnuttallii]

Watched "Alone" series and ponassing came up, so I had to see how it's done. Great video< thanks! Hope you've sharpened your knife by now, lol.

[nancylane]

I loved your video. Thank you. I shall give it a try this season for sure. I appreciate the time you took to film and post this. 

[MNDashcam]

Yeah, Agreed. In a survival situation, cross contamination is not necessarily the biggest concern. It is a good thing to at least keep in the back of your mind. Even using a thick piece of bark for a cutting board that you can throw into the fire after would be suitable for that situation. Creativity and maximizing your resources is very helpful outdoors especially when Walmart is not just down the street.

[tattiibiins]

I agree with Troy! i was thinking the same thing about the little girl learning skills with you. Im glad to see you include her in on the event . Thanks so much for the video this one was new to me as i have never been trout fishing I would have been eating bones for sure lol And also Bravo on the cooking method all you need is a lime . Brad

[JayCarroll]

I seriously don't understand why people have to post so many negative comments. Thank you for sharing your method. I will have to try deboning some trout like this. I think it is awesome that you are passing this down to your child. It takes a lot of patience for the young ones and you did great.  

[nyrify]

very informational sir, i appreciate it and im looking forward to using this ideal on my trip this summer.

[DeeHermanson]

That's Soo awesome 👍👍 I can't wait for summer to try this! Thank you

[Elazulk]

Cute kid in the background. Reminds me of my little girl always talking and asking questions :D

[TheoutdooradventureNet]

Thanks for your comment. I'd recommend checking out the UC David Food Safe Laboratory study on "Cutting board research". It states that a used plastic surface holds more bacteria and is harder to clean.
Here is a quote:
"If a sharp knife is used to cut into the work surfaces after used plastic or wood has been contaminated with bacteria and cleaned manually, more bacteria are recovered from a used plastic surface than from a used wood surface."

[brtecson]

That's a great technique and I will use it in the future, thanks for sharing!

[TheoutdooradventureNet]

It's pretty slick. Hard to think this has been around for probably thousands of years.

[TheoutdooradventureNet]

Thanks! My daughter already wants to come on my survival trips. No kidding about the lime eh?

[gadreel]

Good video! I actually learned something. Thanks! keep up the good work.

[TheoutdooradventureNet]

Thanks for the comment! In this case the fish was fresh as of that day.

The colour of the flesh has everything to do with what the fish eats. Whiter meat is due to insects and orange flesh like that is often the result of shrimp, algae or other reddish water creatures.

[TheoutdooradventureNet]

Thanks for the feedback! Enjoy your trout. :)

[Joelski]

Very nice. I plan to try that boning technique next time I catch a trout. Does it get all the pin-bones too? Nice! Thank you for the demo!

[TheoutdooradventureNet]

We moved, but they were building several apartment buildings next door. Plus a highschool band practices every day. I can still here it now!