Fish Processing

We take great pride in how your catch is cared for and processed. Each fish is cared for with the utmost focus on giving you excellent table fare to share with friends and family. From bleeding and icing your catch on the boat to a dedicated processing room that is set up for turning your catch into high quality food, is something we take great pride in.

On the boats your catch is bled and iced soon after being caught with King salmon also being gutted immediately after being caught. Bleeding the fish prevents bacterial growth in the meat that can give it poor flavor. Icing the fish cools it quickly so the meat stays firm and maximize the quality of flavor.

Once the fish leave the boat and make it back to the lodge for group pictures, they are once again put back on ice as they wait their turn for the fillet table. Everything is filleted and portioned in 8-12 oz portions, which is enough for 2-3 servings. We can do special preparations on request.

After the fish is filleted and rinsed, it is then patted dry before being placed in our commercial grade vacuum-sealer. By patting the fish dry it minimizes the chance of freezer burn or compromising the seal with water crystals.

Once vacuum-sealed the fish goes onto a flash freezer that is chilled to -20 degrees. Fillets are frozen rock-solid in 3-4 hours, unlike dropping them in a chest freezer where the fish in the middle might take days to get frozen.

On the morning of your departure fish is packed into insulated fish boxes for the journey home. Your fish is protected for a couple of hours being outside of a freezer. If you have long layovers, request your fish be placed in a freezer to keep it chilled until loaded on the plane (while in the air the luggage hold on a plane stays very cold and wont thaw your fish).