1. Once you’ve got your first fillet cut, put it aside and flip your fish over. How you hold the fish is a matter of personal preference, but I find it easiest to cut my second fillet with the fish situated as shown. Again, cut down just behind the gillplate, perpendicular to the backbone, through the entire fillet, but not through the backbone.

2. Again, once you reach the backbone, turn your blade 90° and face the cutting edge towards the tail and perpendicular to the backbone. Hold the belly meat up and start cutting through the rib bones, moving the blade towards the tail. On this second fillet, I think it’s very important to have the fish right at the edge of the cutting board, so my chubby knife hand can hang over the edge… if not, my knuckles would be scraping on the cutting board in order to get a good cut along the backbone.

 3. Continue to hold the belly meat up, and cut along the backbone. Angle the knife so that you minimize the amount of meat you leave on the carcass.

4. After you pass the belly cavity, you can let go of the belly meat. Continue to use the backbone as your guide, and carefully angle the blade so that it rides just over the anal fin, again, maximizing the amount of meat on the fillet.

5. Run the blade along the backbone and at the very end, angle it away from the backbone and cut through the skin near the tail.