Looking for some fishing advice.

[Asa Samuel]

Hey guys, I've done a bit of fishing before with my dad but It's always been on holiday where we have released the fishes afterwards because we had nowhere to prepare/cook them etc. But now I've moved out and I am near the sea and there is a great place to fish off a harbour wall (I have fished there before with my dad and we caught tons of mackerel) and it is within reach of me and my bike.

Here's the thing, I pretty much know how to set up the feathers (on which we caught 4 mackerel on one cast) and the rod but I don't know anything about killing the fish to take home to cook.

http://www.torbayfishing.com/help-gu...fishing-p2.htm

There is this method here where you place your finger in the mouth and thumb behintd the head and snap its neck, which i know would be quick but it could be quite messy. I've also heard that putting them on ice would stun and kill them but that would rely on them suffocating which i don't want to do, I don't think its right to let them suffer for that long.

I would only be able to fit my equipment in a backpack (along with a fold-away rod, a small tackle box and some ice container) so I guess the question I'd like to ask is what methods should I use to kill the fish without it being messy and with it being quick?

EDIT: I've also just thought, I know roughly how to fillet the fish (cut down behind the pectoral fin until you reach the bone, then cut along towards the tail to get the fillet) but what other steps are required for obtaining the fillet ready to cook? like scaling gutting etc.

[popinfresh]

Knife?

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Why don't you just take a priest?

That's what I used when fishing trout and salmon. Crack it on the head and it's gone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest_(tool)

[sensible68]

yeah, use a priest. Or a large stone. I've found mackerel a bit too slippery for the fingers down the throat thing when you've got quantities of them.

Mackerel has smooth skin and doesn't need de-scaling.

couple of vids on filleting -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgZrnmxdJk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDd3uUsBXSY&NR=1

Bass season starts soon!

[i_got_a_mohawk]

We had better watch out for any too good to be true Sadowskys, Vintage Fenders and Musicman's then! Never know when it could be a trap!

[Asa Samuel]

I would only want to be catching one or two.

So a priest or rock to the head? does it matter weather its the top, side etc? and how hard? I don't want it to be too messy as i would have to cycle back :P

I'm looking forward to going, and getting some cheap mackerel for my weightlifting diet, always good to have some oily fish in there eh, mohawk?

[Baryonyx]

if you're going to kill a fish by blunt force on an acute point, be prepared for some splatter, or at least an eye coming out. Mackeral aren't as tough as say, a big old trout.

I do a bit of mackeral fishing myself, and I find giving the fish a slap against the pier railing does them in humanely, and ebcause the area of impact is quite large there is no acute splatter.

[etoncrow]

When I dispatch the catfish we catch I use a hacksaw and cut their heads off and a pair of dikes to cut off the spurs. Then I gut them and clean them with water until I get them home for a final "clean" water rinse. We usually smoke them for dinner.

[Baryonyx]

Originally Posted by etoncrow

When I dispatch the catfish we catch I use a hacksaw and cut their heads off and a pair of dikes to cut off the spurs. Then I gut them and clean them with water until I get them home for a final "clean" water rinse. We usually smoke them for dinner.

Yum yum. You'll have to invite me round for dinner if I'm ever in the area!