Cooking up your catch down to personal taste

There are many ways to ­process your catch.

Sometimes simple is best. A gilled and gutted coral trout before and after cooking on a fire

There are many ways to ­process your catch.

Two of the most common ways are either to gill and gut the fish or else to remove the fillets.

If gilling and gutting a fish, thoroughly remove all intestines and blood to reduce ­spoilage.

Avoid breaking and spilling gut contents, or cutting into the flesh in the abdominal cavity, which will enable micro-organisms to enter the cut flesh.

Cooking fish whole is the best way to get the most out of a fish, particularly with smaller fish that have a very low yield if filleted.

Fillets should be placed in a waterproof plastic bag and immediately put in ice.

If you are placing two fillets together into a bag, place them flesh to flesh with the skin sides facing outward to avoid contamination from the protective slime and force all the air out of the bag, as exposure to air hastens spoilage.

Minimise wastage by removing and cooking the wings which are one of the tastiest portions of the fish.

The head and frame can also be used for fish soup or stock