HOW TO CLEAN A TROUT

Cleaning a trout is one of the easiest processing techniques that a beginner can learn.  In terms of taking an animal from the wild to the fork, it doesn’t get any easier.  Trout have very small scales that don’t need to be removed.  They have a set of organs that come out in a single piece.  A trout can be processed in 4 simple moves.  Plus, trout are a delicate fish, so they die quickly out of the water.  You don’t have to dispatch them with a mallet like some heartier fish.  If you don’t like the idea of waiting a few minutes for trout to die on the shore, you can humanely kill them by starting with step 2.  Step 2 puts an end to your trout in less than 1 second, but starting with step 2 is a bit messier, so I prefer to start at step one with a recently deceased trout.  Below is simple trout cleaning.  You can do it in 30 seconds per fish with just a little practice.

Step 1:  Grasp the fish in your non-dominant hand as shown, bracing your thumb under the gill to keep the slippery fish from moving around.  Insert the tip of a sharp knife shallowly into the vent and cut all the way past the gills.

Step 2:  Flip the fish and make a cut starting behind the eyes down through the spine.  Stop when you have severed the spine.  You don’t want to cut into the internal organs.

Step 3:  Hold the body in one hand and the head in the other.  Tear the head away from the body following the cut you made in step one.  All of the organs will come out in one bundle.

Step 4:  Starting at the tail end of the fish, press your thumbnail to the underside of the spine and scrape it forward along the spine to release what looks like coagulated blood.  I believe this is actually the kidney.  

Once you’ve completed these steps, just rinse off the fish and remove anything that doesn’t look appetizing.  You’re left with a trout that is free of head, guts, and gills.  It is ready to roast, bake, or pan fry.