How to Clean a White Perch

White perch are some of the best tasting fish that you can catch in fresh water. Most people will enjoy their mild flavor and the fact that the bones are generally large enough to avoid. You can even fillet these fish so that you have pieces of fish that are completely boneless. The white perch resembles a bass in body type and even in coloration but they do not have the strong taste that the bass have.

If the white perch that you need to clean is small then you will want to scrape them rather than fillet them. To scrape the fish lay it out on a board and grasp the head firmly to hold the fish still. You will then use a spoon or a dull knife and starting at the tail push the scales backwards so that they fall from the flesh of the fish. When you have scraped both sides of the fish hold the fish in your hand and cut the head off of the fish just below the gills. Then remove the guts from the fish and wash thoroughly.

If you have larger fish then you will want to fillet the fish. Lay your fish out on a cutting board and use a fork placed in the tip of the tail to hold the fish in position. You will want to use a fillet knife to cut into the fish just to the point that you can feel the backbone with the knife blade. Then working from the tail towards the head you slice the flesh away from the bone. This will leave you with one side of the fish that still has the scales attached. At this point you can use the fork to stabilize the fish meat and work between the hide and the flesh to remove the scaly hide. Repeat the process on the other side.

If you want boneless fillets than you will want to cut the fillet just below the rib section and around the ribs to remove them, these will be the only bones that you need to worry about because the rest of the bones are located on the backbone that you took the sides off of. The backbones are also very good to eat although they have little to no flesh left on them depending on the skill of the person using the filleting knife.