Preparing a Workspace
Prepare the necessary equipment and space for gutting a trout. Decide if you want to gut the fish outside or at home in your kitchen. Make sure that you have the following: Sharp knives Access to water Cutting board
Use the kitchen sink if you want to gut the trout in the kitchen. Clean the sink thoroughly. Prepare a cutting board for gutting the fish.
Prepare a cleaning station if you’re going to gut the trout outside. Consider going outside if you want to keep the fish smell out of the house. Keep the area clean by using a hose. Use a bench or other flat surface as your cutting board.
Catch the trout. Make sure to get all of the necessary equipment: a rod, hooks, a fishing line, split shot weights and a net. Find a river with trout by looking at local and state parks. Pick a river where trout naturally appear or a river stocked with trout. Be aware that rivers with naturally reproducing trout populations sometimes have stricter tackle and bait restrictions. Get fishing bait. Check the bait restrictions wherever you plan to fish. Use one of the following: worms, crickets, grasshoppers, salon roe or corn kernels. Find a spot upstream to increase your chances of catching a trout. Look for an easily accessible clearing on the shoreline. Try to find a spot with slow moving patches of deep water or converging currents. Bait your hook and cast your rod. Find out how to catch a trout here: How to Catch a Brown Trout in the Winter. Set the hook in the trout by quickly jerking the rod tip up. Reel in slowly and keep the rod tip above your head. Scoop the fish up with your net once you’ve brought the fish to the shore. Keep the trout that you want to eat. Release the other fish back into the river.
Preparing the Trout
Put the live trout in a clean bucket filled with water from the river. Use the net to get the fish into the bucket. Handle the fish as little as possible until you’re ready to gut it. Add additional fish to the same bucket. Make sure that the trout all have room to swim.
Kill the trout humanely right before you gut it. Cut off the trout’s head when you’re ready to gut the fish. Lay the trout flat on a cutting board or other flat surface. Hold the fish down on the cutting board with your left hand and cut with the right. Get a sharp knife that can easily slice through the fish. Start slicing right behind the gills. Cut the head off in one swift motion with a sharp knife. Throw the head away when you’re done. Lay the trout flat on a cutting board. Hold the fish with your left hand Don’t hurt the trout any more than you need to. Torturing animals is needlessly cruel.
Scale the trout. Continue to use the same cutting board. Hold the tail with one hand. And start scraping the scales off with the backside of a knife. Start at the tail and end at the head. Keep scaling until most of the scales are gone. Rinse the scales off thoroughly in the sink.
Gutting the Trout
Cut open the fish with a sharp knife. Try to cut in a straight line up along the underbelly. Lay the trout flat on a cutting board or other flat surface. Hold the fish down on the cutting board with your left hand. Try to cut one clean line through the bottom of the fish. Don’t cut into the guts.
Remove the internal organs. Reach into the body cavity to remove the intestines, heart, and other organs. Scrape out the organs with a spoon or pull the organs out with your hand. Put your spoon or hand through the cut open fish. Try not to let any organs break open as this can spread disease. Throw the organs away when you are done.
Remove the spine. Identify the spine as a blood red line that goes from head to tail on the uppermost part of the fish. Scrape out the spine with your thumb or a spoon. Scrape from the tail to the gills. Take this opportunity to remove any guts that remain. Make sure to wash out all organs and blood. Scrape any organs out that you can’t wash away.
Get your trout ready for cooking. Freeze the trout if you’re not going to cook it right away. Make sure all of the guts are gone before you freeze or cook the trout. Rinse the fish in clean water before cooking or freezing. Check to make sure that waters where you fish are free of contaminants. Don’t eat the fish if you’re unsure.
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