I never used to remove the pinbones in my salmon. I’ve always loved to fillet salmon, but I’ve always hated to remove the pin bones. However, I’ve also always really hated to get bones in my mouth when I eat fish. So one day my friend Larry convinced me I really should start removing the pin bones in my fish. I started doing it, and now I can’t stop. I now realize it’s well worth the effort, and as it turns out, with one good tool, the effort is a lot less.

The first thing you want to do is to hold the fillet from underneath, so the pinbones poke out a bit more and are easier to get at. Most people use needle nose pliers to remove pinbones. While these work OK, there is a better way.

This isn’t rocket science, just grab a hold of the pinbone and pull. The angle I have it at here is not the best way to hold the fish. You will probably find it most comfortable if you have the fish placed so that the tail is pointing away from you, like in the last two photos below.

Wiggle the bone a little bit to loosen it. I find it also helps to put two fingers from my other hand on the flesh on either side of the bone, to hold the fillet down as I pull.

Here is a removed pinbone.

OK, time to get some real work done! One day, a surgeon friend of mine was watching me remove pin bones, and she told me she had a better tool for the job. A week later, she sent me a pair of “needle drivers” in the mail. These are like heavy-duty forceps, they have a no-slip coating on the jaws, they lock in place, and they work awesome for removing pin bones!

Same method as with the needle nosed pliers, but with this tool, the bones never slip out of the jaws, and you don’t have to clean the jaws as often, because they grip so much better. If you don’t have a surgeon friend, I’m sure at a fly fishing shop, you could find a pair of forceps/hemostats that would do the trick.

This is the proper angle to hold the fillet while you do the pinbone removal.

And out come the pinbones! Take them all out!