Q&A for How to Clean/Gut a Fish

You can typically grab them by hand and firmly pull them out. If you can't do it by hand, try scraping them out with your knife.

Gut the fish. If it's a trout, cut from the anus up to the head area. Then, cut the little flap under the chin of the fish. Grab that tab and pull down towards the anus. That pulls the guts and everything you wouldn't want to eat out of the fish. Then, season your fish however you want and wrap it in tinfoil. Place on hot embers. Wait until flesh is flakey and white. Enjoy!

Look for spots or sores on the skin that show signs of infection, and other abnormalities like patches of discoloration. Also, wounds that appear to have not been caused by a cut or injury are suspicious.

Once you've made the main cut to open the fish and gut it, the skin loses so much tension that trying to scale it leads to more tearing than scaling and damage to the meat underneath. If you get the scales off first, then you will have a much easier time and you won't tear up your hands if you want to filet it. Similar mechanics with the skinned fish, you risk ripping off chunks of tissue with the skin when you try to pull at it if the muscle under it is already cut.

No, you can't. It is essential that you clean it first or else it won't be a good for food.

Yes, try it with salt and lemon juice or butter!

Gut it, wrap it in aluminum foil, and cook it on some campfire coals or a grill for about 30 minutes. When you remove the foil, the skin will come with it. Pull the skeleton out in one piece, like a trout.

You could pan-fry or grill it. It is also good smoked.

You shouldn't have to. When gutting a fish, start with your knife in the anus, cut thru to the pelvic fin, then slice the head off from behind the pectoral fins. That removes both the head and gills. If you scale your fish, always do that BEFORE gutting the fish. Then scrape the insides out, flush out any extra stray pieces with water, and you're good to go!

You just have to take them out by hand, and even then the bones still might be there.

Because the scales are not edible, and could damage your digestive tract. Unless you want to choke or get internal bleeding from scales, you have to.

Just dump it on the ground and bury it if possible. If the ground is concrete or stone, find a green-colored garbage can and throw it in there.

You can rinse the fish in the creek or wherever you caught it. Dunk the fish underwater and give it a little shake, this should clean it just fine.