Now that we’ve remove the ribs, we need to do a little delicate “finish” work to make the fillets look really presentable. Much of this is a matter of personal preference, some people don’t do much trimming at all, others go hog-wild… so feel free to improvise and do what you think is practical.

The first thing to do is remove the ventral fins. Some people like to remove only the fin, while others (like me) prefer to remove a bit of belly meat and fat along with it… I find the easiest way to do this is to poke through the fillet just above and forward of the fin… from the inside, you will see where the cartilidge is. Be very careful not to poke yourself with the knife while doing this.

Hold the belly meat tightly and run the blade back and around the fin cartilidge.

Run the knife all the way back to the anus and take a little bit of the gristly meat off on the way… you’ll see the difference in the texture of the meat.

Now hold the meat you just trimmed away, and turn the blade around and cut forward from the fin. Some people prefer to leave this belly meat on the fillet, some people like to remove it and smoke it. some say it’s the tastiest part of the fish, as it has the most oils. Other than the internal organs, this belly meat also tends to have the most toxins in it, so I prefer to remove it… it’s all a matter of personal preference.

If you have any white belly lining left on your fillet, you can trim it off.

Trimming the belly lining off takes a tricky bit of pressure… press down on the knife to make it flex against the fillet, and angle the blade so that it cuts just under the belly lining and “skins” it. Remember, practice will help!