How to fillet your flounder

  Let me tell you how I clean my flounder gigging catch. If you listen and do what I say your flounder should keep in the freezer for months and still taste fresh like the day you caught them. It is best to start keeping your flounder fresh the very minute you put them in the cooler. I put a couple of two liter plastic bottles filled with frozen water in the bottom of my ice box. Then make sure I cover my flounder with plenty of ice and always clean them the next day as soon as I can.

  To get started cleaning your flounder you need a fish scaler a six inch fillet knife that is sharp and a bowl that is large enough to hold your fillets. Rinse one of the two liter plastic bottles from the bottom of the ice box and place them in the bowl filled one half full of water. Now you have somewhere to put your flounder fillets so they will stay cold and will not dry out.( This keeps the flies and knats from getting on your flounder fillets also.)

 The first thing you need to do is scrap the scales from both sides of the flounder and rinse. Lay the flounder flat with the white side toward you so you can see a line running from the center of his tail up towards his gills. Using this line as a guide make a straight cut from the tail up to the gills. Now cut under the gills to the outside edges of the flounder making a tee. Make another tee at the tail.Carefully cut under the fillet from one end of the first cut to the other While using only the tip of the knife at an angle.Let the knife follow right against the bone while lifting the meat with your fingers. Repeat this process until you reach the edge of the flounder and cut the fillet from the bones. Check the fillet and trim out any small bones you may have missed. Now you are ready to put this fillet in the bowl of cold water and do the other half of this side  using the same procedure. Now flip the flounder over and use the same process for the thick dark side. It may take a little practice to start with but keep practicing you will be a pro in no time.

   Now that you have your flounder fillets in a bowl I have one more thing that will help keep your flounder tasting fresh. Put enough fillets in a freezer bag for one meal. Now fill the bag with water until the fillets are covered and squeeze all the air out as you seal the bag. Now you should have a bag with fillets and water and no air inside, ready to place in the freezer and enjoy eating later.