Why do pollack smell so bad?

Hello Folks,

I was going to try and eat a pollack I caught on Sunday, I went to gut and fillet it about 3 hours after it was caught. When I cut the head off the stench that hit me was horrendous :shock: . I could not face even proceeding with the gutting process. The fish was caught in open water 6 miles off shore, there are no sewage outlets within miles of the Maidens. Why do they smell so bad?

Cheers,
Trev

Was it "on ice" from the time it was caught or kept somewhere warm? Whatever it ate maybe? Worth sticking with it and washing it out, if the flesh stunk after washing I'd be worried.

Hi Eoin,

It was just in a bin liner in the shade on the boat. Maybe i should invest in an ice box for the fish. The mackerel I caught on Sunday were fine. Have you eaten Pollack before?

Cheers,
Trev

Yeah, pollock are good eating once they're of the right size.

Hi Eoin,

What size do you recommend eating? Do you fillet them right away?

Cheers,
Trev

hey trev - maybe the particular pollack you had was infected or something

never had that stench problem with them

id assume eoin is talking about 1.5 or higher to get 2 decent fillets out of it

Anything that's fair game to take, but then weighed against how many it's for etc, a fish of 2.5lb will make two nice fillets. I tend to keep any fish I take in my bait bag surrounded by ice blocks. I've heard that it's a good idea to bleed a fish for the pot so I tend to cut behind the gills and then hang it to let the blood run out, it stops pooling of blood in the flesh too and keeps them white. I generally fillet them at home.

Trev,
There’s a good chance that the act of chopping off the head punctured the gut and that was what you were smelling. Better not puncture the gut or cut the head off while filleting.

There’s a good video here: http://www.nesa.co.uk/Articles/how_to_fillet_fish.html

I will normally bleed fish when caught (basically by slitting the throat) the fillets will be far nicer and will be pure white. If you cannot fillet the fish fairly straight away then carefully slit the belly and remove the gut be careful at all stages to not puncture the gut. The gut is the first part to begin to decompose.

There are numerous filleting videos on You Tube and a couple on Video Jug.

Bleeding a fish is really only essential if you're going to smoke it afterwards. Salmon would always be bled if they're going to be smoked. The blood can accumulate in the flesh otherwise and lead to discoloration when smoked - its more for presentation than taste.
As regards the pollack, the smell may have been from digesting fish in the stomach - once gutted and cleaned it should have been ok. If you think that smell was bad you should try doing stomach analysis of a pike! :shock:

Hello,
I've got desperate stench while gutting pollack (nicking the gut I suppose), you can be sure once the cleaning's finished you've got lovely white fish to work with, fresh from the sea, 6 miles out, 'nuff said!

Blackie

Cheers Lads,

As always great advice. I will take all the advice on board.
Just one question. If you bleed a fish, can you do it after you kill it? I would not be too keen on doing this to a fish when it is still living. :shock:

Cheers,
Trev

Hi Jim,

Just watched that video. Excellent. Thanks for that.

Cheers,
Trev

Cheers Lads,

As always great advice. I will take all the advice on board.
Just one question. If you bleed a fish, can you do it after you kill it? I would not be too keen on doing this to a fish when it is still living. :shock:

Cheers,
Trev

Yes, knock it on the head, then cut one or more of the gills inside the gill cover, the heart will continue to pump blood for a while after you've killed it. If you hold it head-down for a few minutes gravity helps too...

The only fish that needs to be bleed around this neck of the woods are Brill and Turbot!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To bleed them properly you cut a small slit about 1 inch up from their tail.

A pollack, Coalie, or Mackerel need to be gutted and washed almost instantly to avoid the guts destroying the meat! If you leave a pollack, Mackerel or Coalie without cleaning it out for a few hours throw it in your wheelie bin :wink: or you will feel :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Jim

Spot on Jim. I'm also guessing that trevt punctured the stomach..... This can be awful at times. I am always very careful now when cleaning Pollock. It seems worse with Pollock than any other fish.

Kev

The only fish that needs to be bleed around this neck of the woods are Brill and Turbot!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To bleed them properly you cut a small slit about 1 inch up from their tail.

A pollack, Coalie, or Mackerel need to be gutted and washed almost instantly to avoid the guts destroying the meat! If you leave a pollack, Mackerel or Coalie without cleaning it out for a few hours throw it in your wheelie bin :wink: or you will feel :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Jim

I disagree with having to fillet straight away, and I think it's scaremongering to suggest that you need to bin them after a few hours. They do begin to break down the stomach content and it spreads from there, but a few iceblocks are sufficient for up to 7 or 8 hours, overnight is a different story.

I would tend to agree Eoin. I don't think you need to stop your fishing or anything like that to clean each Pollock you catch. They will be fine for a little while in the shade while you are fishing and you can clean them before or when you get home. Before works better coz you don't have to bag the guts and the missus wont be in your ear :D

Kev

Before works better coz you don't have to bag the guts and the missus wont be in your ear :D

That reminds me there was a spot of something on the bath that I was supposed to get rid of ....ooops.

Eoin.

I disagree with having to fillet straight away, and I think it's scaremongering to suggest that you need to bin them after a few hours. They do begin to break down the stomach content and it spreads from there, but a few iceblocks are sufficient for up to 7 or 8 hours, overnight is a different story.

You don't need to fillet them, But you do need to clean them out asap otherwise "toxins" from the guts will contaminate the flesh. Pollack and Mackerel are the fish you need to clean out quickly, although I would recommend you clean all species you intent to eat!

Mackerel in a covered box in the shade on the deck last week were unfit for bait after just 2 hours the flesh was gone off colour and had lost about 75% of it's moisture if a human had eat one of them they would not feel very well after.

Ice packs are a great idea to keep the cleaned out pollack in top condition for the table.

If you can smell fish it ain't fresh :mrgreen:

Here is one of my tips :

Cheap and very available ice blocks are plastic soft drink bottles 3/4 fill em freeze em and bring em with you. Or top one up with tap water the morning your going fishing and you will have nice iced water to drink all day long while fishing. If you finish your water you have a large chunk of Ice, pour in a soft drink or a beer and enjoy :wink:


Jim

Hi Trev on the subject of cooking i normally fillet them as soon as i can it really is best if you can do it whilst at the sea (less grief from herself and less cleaning up afterwords) once filleted i then skin them as well, when i get home i would pick out all the pin bones with a tweezers and give them a good wash and dry them off.

I find the nicest way to cook them is to coat them in flower and fry them in butter and a Little oil. Place the fillet with the thickest side down first once that side is cooked turn off the pan and turn the fish over don't forget fish don't take long to cook and there is nothing worse than overcooked fish.

Coalies and Pollock cooked this way are Delicious :lol: :lol:


You don't have to take the skin off i just prefer it that way in fact if you are barbecuing it is better to leave it on.

Happy eating

Danny