Brain Spike or Bleed?

[Nastymind]

I thought this would make an interesting thread.

What are your opinions, pro's and cons?

What do you prefer?

Brain spiking or bleeding?

Next time i catch two of the same fish, i am going to do one of each and make my own decision as to what i prefer.

I've been brought up bleeding my catch.

Apparently a distressed fishes adrenalin can cook it's flesh.

That's just something i heard on a dvd.

[obone]

I'd never even heard of brain spiking!

What do you spike the brain with? Isn't the skull hard to break through on most fish?

Joel

[Nastymind]

No, there's a soft part just above the eyes.

There are spikes on the the market.

Basically just a handle with a long spike.

You spike the brain and i think it breaks the backbone as well.

The fish instantly goes limp , the dorsal stands up and all the fishes colours become brighter

[MichaelJ]

the brain spike will kill it pretty quick while bleeding can sometimes take an hour or so

[Leighton]

both with Tailor

Brain spike the rest then on to ice

[Nastymind]

What about the blood still being inside the fish?

[MichaelJ]

u dont have to bleed all fish imo it doesnt taste differant at all if there bleed or not but like tuna tailor wahoo macks etc (a lot of pelagics) will taste better when there bleed

[Shrimpo]

We dont bleed much except mackerel or tuna

[jeff f]

just chuck them into an ice slurry for demersal fish

bleed out in a bucket of water then into the ice is the best way to treat pelagic fish kept for the table

unless you are taught how to do it properly it is a very hit and miss way to kill a fish

[fishyman]

ice slurry is what ive always been taught, exept for pelagics as jeff has mentioned need to bleed first

[benno573]

this is an interesting one... i am not into brain spiking. some people use it, however, a fish that is stressed from a fight will remain that way if killed instantly. with white-flesh fish i go with the ice slurry, it puts the fish to sleep very quickly, however, allows the fish to de-stress long enough to imporve the taste markedly. regarding pelagics and larger reef fish (incl snapper and sweetlip) i always bleed into a bucket and then into the slurry.

some fish taste 1000% better after bleeding including threadfin, all mackerals, tunas and trevallys, tailor, dart, cobia, kingies, snapper, sharks and cod. many of these are barely worth eating if not bled effectively and iced immediately.

[rumrunner]

as you can see here i usualy spike/stab the brain!

this fish is a NZ speicies called a marblefish and the head on them are very thick and tough!

im not sure if i was hitting the rite spot or not but this fella wasnt playing the game!

i think the long death also made the meat very tough and a little tasteless as these are regarded as good eating in NZ!

so my question is what should be done with a fish that wont die?

i also tried wacking it on the head but it didnt like it!

cheers Ian [img size=480]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/100_3798__Custom_.JPG

[MichaelJ]

benno imo cobia and snapper dont taste differant if bled or not and are both delicious if u just put em in the esky with ice and gut or fillet later

[jeff f]

rum runner thats exactly what i meant by it being hit and miss

then the stress level makes the flesh tough and keeps the lactic acid build up from the fight in place effecting the taste

[tnewman01]

I have done a fair bit of fishing with a pro fisherman in Karumba catching Barra.

He has found that the best way to keep the fish fresh is to brain spike immediately and than cut one gill to bleed the fish. we found cutting one gill is sufficient to bleed the fish.

The fish are then put straight into an ice slurry.

regards

Trevor

[noname]

very interesting this,i look at it like this, if i put you in a freezer, your blood supply automaticlly will protect the major organs. which are found where, in the gut area, maybe time enough for the fish to destress and adrenalin to slow etc, etc. i have caught a few fish & tried a few different things, but fresh fish always tastes like fresh fish when cared for after capture just a bit, if we as fisho's learn anything from pro's at all, it should be how to look after fish when caught, with the efforts put in by some people these days, not to mention the cost,but i personally take between 4-7 bags of ice each trip, placed into a 105 lt icebox.

will watch on with interest...

[Terry H]

Nastymind wrote:

No, there's a soft part just above the eyes.

There are spikes on the the market.

Basically just a handle with a long spike.

You spike the brain and i think it breaks the backbone as well.

The fish instantly goes limp , the dorsal stands up and all the fishes colours become brighter

usually called an "iki jimi"

[werewolf]

whatnow wrote:

the brain spike will kill it pretty quick while bleeding can sometimes take an hour or so

With a cut throat?

[MichaelJ]

lol i musnt of been thinkin proply that night

bleeding can take like 10min

but if u just chuck em on ice it takes like an hour for some fish

[werewolf]

ah I got ya now;)

[toadievoluzion]

rumrunner wrote:

as you can see here i usualy spike/stab the brain!

this fish is a NZ speicies called a marblefish and the head on them are very thick and tough!

im not sure if i was hitting the rite spot or not but this fella wasnt playing the game!

i think the long death also made the meat very tough and a little tasteless as these are regarded as good eating in NZ!

so my question is what should be done with a fish that wont die?

i also tried wacking it on the head but it didnt like it!

cheers Ian [img size=480]http://www.australianfishing.com.au/media/kunena/attachments/legacy/images/100_3798__Custom_.JPG

wrong spot! the brain's 3cm back

[benno573]

after a bit of research on this topic - brain spiking is a japanese thing. it is not meant to kill the fish instantly, it is an artform that spikes a certain part of the brain to render the fish brain dead (similar to pithing) but the body keeps functioning meaning all stress and lactic acid is gone from the flesh. for people who don't know how to brain spike properly bleeding is the best way to go.

[Nastymind]

Great info Benno.

I only saw it done on one of the latest Fishing DVD series

[Feral]

Any fish I'm going to keep its - Cut throat, break neck, drop in ice.

[Nastymind]

I'm a throat cutter to.

I'm not convinced with brain spiking