Descale for smoking or not?

[bertschb]

I'm new to Kokanee fishing and need some advice. I was told by a gal at a fish cleaning station recently that I need to remove all scales from the fish. She said that was REALLY important. So, I did that for the last batch of fish I caught. I smoked those fish and they were awesome! But, it takes forever to remove scales using my filet knife. I mean, I'm spending 5 minutes per fish removing scales.

My wife and I caught 15 fish today and after removing the scales on three fish (and looking at the remaining 12) my wife said "why don't we just leave the scales on and see what happens?"

I smoke my fish whole with skin on both sides. I peel the skin off after smoking them. My concern is that I might get scales on the meat while marinating them and while handling them after smoking while removing the skin.

So, my question is - if you are going to smoke fish, do you remove the scales first?

Sorry for the newb question but I didn't have a dad to teach me this stuff...

 

[skookum9]

Scaling shouldn't take that long, but then again you shouldn't be using your fillet knife to do it. A lot of things will work fairly well, things like wire brushes and nylon parts brushes. One of the best tools I have found is a plastic version of steel wool. I don't remember what it is called but it's a common product sold for washing dishes. Easy to use and takes the scales right off. The only thing easier to use is a garden hose sprayed backwards on the fish, but this can make a real mess too.

The best idea I have heard was from someone on this site who said that they smoke their fish with the skins off. I've always thought this would make the meat stick to the rack but they said that by using a non-stick spray they never really had that problem. I've yet to try it since I always run out of kokanee before I can ever get them to the smoker, but I look forward to trying it one of these days. Skinning is much faster, easier and less messy that scaling. I've clocked it and the actual skinning motion takes me 6 seconds per side. The prep and clean-up for skinning brings the real time to more like about 30 seconds per side. No fuss, no muss, just fresh clean koke fillets ready to be cooked to perfection. It does take me 1 minute apiece to fillet my kokes but I would never consider not filleting my fish, of any species. It makes them taste so much better that I am totally spoiled and won't eat them any other way.

Good luck whichever way you try it but it definately should never take that long to scale your fish. Take a trip down to Odell when there's plenty of fish being caught. Go to Shelter Cove and watch the fishermen bring their catch in to the cleaning station. Not everyone knows what they are doing there but if you're willing to watch the area for a while, I'm certain that you are going to find that there are some there that will be able to give you a better idea of what you need to be doing. And it's so much easier to follow instructions that are given in person than here online.

Happy fishing and, Smoke 'em if you got 'em!

 

[bertschb]

Well, I know how to filet sea bass and Ling Cod. I'm REALLY fast with those fish. But, these teeny tiny Kokanee give me pause. They are so small by comparison that I'm worried there won't be any meat left after I filet them. But, I haven't tried it yet. I guess that's next on my list!

Thanks for the input! I need it.

 

[SuperD]

Wow! Guess that's why we need each other to keep from getting sucked in by bad advice. Me, I don't scale and don't skin both sides before smoking. The skin on one side helps hold the fish together. Once the fish is done being smoked, the skin will peel off like saran wrap. Bet the woman doesn't eat crispy fried trout skin either!

 

[SilverBullets]

I had always smoked them with the scales on skin side down for many years. Last year I decided to scale the fish (use a very aggresive stainless steel pad...works great!) My thinking was by removing the scales the slime comes off also...making them easier to get ahold of to filet.

 

[skookum9]

SilverBullets, I agree that it does make them easier to get a grip on to fillet but I find the time it takes to be wasteful for me and I don't have that much trouble holding them anyway. Besides, I almost always skin my kokes and it doesn't seem right to me to have to scale them and then skin them too. But, if it keeps a guy from wearing a few extra band-aids, who can argue that.

Brtschb, The majority of the fish I catch are not large and I cannot afford to lose any of their body mass to carelessness, not to mention that I simply hate to be wasteful. It is my game to lose little or no meat on my fillets. I don't know what your skills at filleting are but I can tell you that this can be done. Either through lots of practice or by learning a better way, you can fillet fish with very little loss of meat, even little guys down to 5 or 6 inches. Of course, those very little ones do take a little more time and patience and are therefore not ordinarily kept.

 

[SilverBullets]

Another reason I started scaling was I often thought the slime changed the taste of the fish (in the brine and from the fillets dripping from rack to rack in the smoker.) It seemed to help.

 

[skookum9]

SilverBullets, Have you tried skinless fillets in the smoker yet? I don't remember which member it was here that said that this was their technique but I want to try that when I get the chance. Kokanee fishing for me was pretty much a flop this year due to the cold water and limited resources so I'll have to wait until next spring to try it out I guess. If you've tried this, I'd like to know what your results were. I totally agree with you about doing everything I can to make fish taste as good as possible. On the kokes I leave the skin on, I do scale them first. But most of my kokes end up skinless because they get fried up and eaten right there at the lake or as soon as I get home with them. My exception to this is when I grill them right there on the campfire, and those are also scaled with skins still on. I would try that skinless except I have a tendency to hurry their cooking and get them too close to the fire, with the skin on I can get away with that a little but without I think I'd burn them.

 

[SilverBullets]

SilverBullets, Have you tried skinless fillets in the smoker yet? I don't remember which member it was here that said that this was their technique but I want to try that when I get the chance. Kokanee fishing for me was pretty much a flop this year due to the cold water and limited resources so I'll have to wait until next spring to try it out I guess. If you've tried this, I'd like to know what your results were. I totally agree with you about doing everything I can to make fish taste as good as possible. On the kokes I leave the skin on, I do scale them first. But most of my kokes end up skinless because they get fried up and eaten right there at the lake or as soon as I get home with them. My exception to this is when I grill them right there on the campfire, and those are also scaled with skins still on. I would try that skinless except I have a tendency to hurry their cooking and get them too close to the fire, with the skin on I can get away with that a little but without I think I'd burn them.

If I remember correctly the member that your thinking of that does skinless fillet smoking is HiTechKoke... http://www.kokaneefishingforum.com/fishing-forums/showthread.php?t=3708 Like I mentioned in that thread the only time I've smoked skinless was when I removed it during the smoking process to remove fat (due to fishing during a algae alert.)
Normally I smoke skin side down (I think it helps retain moister in the meat.)

 

[southside]

I remove the scales on kokes the same way I do with silvers. I use the garden hose with a good jet nozzle and start at the tail. The scales come right off. Makes for easy work when you have a mess of fish to clean.

Also makes the lawn nice and shiney. ( :

Peace, Tom