One bonus to hunting black bears in Canada is you often have the chance to fish in the morning and early afternoon before heading to a bear stand later in the day.

In the 4-minute YouTube video below from the Canada in the Rough, owner/guide Cory Grant of All Terrain Bear Hunts in Manitoba shows step by step his method for cleaning a walleye, resulting in two boneless fillets, plus walleye cheeks and a wing. As you’ll see, Grant uses a strong and sharp fillet knife to work quickly and efficiently. 

As a former fishing guide in Minnesota, Alaska and Canada, I find it interesting to observe the many ways fellow guides clean walleyes and other species. The one step in Grant’s method that caught my eye is when he turns a fillet rib side down to remove the rib bones. It makes sense; this way, he can press down on the ribs with his blade as he slices to separate them. I look forward to trying his method the next time I have a walleye to clean.

Pay particular attention to the pearl-white fillets. Because he bled the walleyes in the water while they were on a stringer, the resulting fillets almost don’t need to be washed. Click here to learn more about bleeding fish prior to cleaning.