What You'll Need

Filleting walleye doesn't require a lot of gear, but the right knife makes a significant difference. A dull or rigid blade forces you to saw through the fish instead of gliding along the bone, which wastes meat and frustrates the whole process.

Item	What to Look For	Notes
Filleting knife	6–9 inch flexible blade, sharp point	The most important tool. A flexible blade follows the contour of the spine and rib cage without sticking.
Cutting board	Large, non-slip surface	Plastic is easiest to clean. Secure it with a damp towel underneath if it slides.
Pin bone tweezers	Needle-nose pliers or dedicated fish tweezers	Regular kitchen tweezers work but needle-nose pliers give better grip on slippery bones.
Bowl of ice water	Cold, not just chilled	Drop finished fillets into ice water to keep them cold and firm while you finish the rest.
Paper towels	Plenty of them	For gripping slippery fish and patting fillets dry before storage.

Keep it Cold

Fish quality degrades fast at room temperature. Keep your walleye on ice until you're ready to fillet, work quickly, and get the fillets back on ice or into the refrigerator as soon as you're done. This makes a bigger difference to the final flavor than almost anything else.

Understanding Walleye Bones

Walleye have two bone structures that confuse first-time filleters: Y-bones and pin bones. Neither is difficult to deal with once you know what you're looking for, but if you skip them your fillets will be full of bones at the table — which ruins an otherwise excellent meal.

Two Bone Types to Know

Y-Bones

A row of intramuscular bones that run through the thicker shoulder portion of the fillet along the dorsal side, tapering toward the tail. They're Y-shaped, which means they branch into the flesh and can't be pulled straight out. The solution is to cut them out — a simple V-cut along both sides of the bone row removes them cleanly as a strip. Most experienced walleye anglers do this automatically. Step 7 below covers the exact technique.

Pin Bones

Smaller, thinner bones scattered through the fillet near the rib cage area. These can be pulled out with pliers or tweezers after filleting. Run your fingertips firmly along the fillet surface to feel for them — they'll poke up slightly against the grain of the flesh. On a well-cleaned walleye you might find 4–8 pin bones per fillet. Take your time here; this is what separates a clean fillet from a frustrating one.

Step-by-Step: How to Fillet a Walleye

Work on a clean, stable surface with a sharp knife. If you're new to filleting, go slow on the first few fish — the technique becomes fast and intuitive quickly. A practiced angler can fillet a walleye in under 3 minutes per fish.

1

Rinse and Position the Fish

If the fish is dirty or slimy, rinse briefly under cold water — then pat it completely dry with paper towels before you start. A dry fish is less slippery and easier to control. Lay it flat on your cutting board with the head pointing away from you and the belly facing your non-dominant hand.
2

Cut Behind the Gill Plate

Hold the fish firmly with your non-cutting hand. Make a diagonal cut just behind the pectoral fin and gill plate, angling toward the head. Cut down until you feel the backbone — stop there, do not cut through it. This is your entry point for the next cut.

Pro Tip
Keep the blade angle shallow here. A steep cut wastes meat near the head and makes the next step harder to start cleanly.
3

Run the Blade Along the Backbone

Turn your blade flat — nearly horizontal — and insert it into the cut you just made so it's resting on top of the backbone. Using long, smooth strokes (not a sawing motion), slide the blade toward the tail, keeping it in constant contact with the spine. You should hear and feel a slight scraping sound as the blade runs along the vertebrae. Let the knife do the work.

Pro Tip
Keep the blade pressed lightly against the spine the entire time. Any gap between the blade and the backbone means you're leaving meat on the carcass.
4

Navigate Over the Rib Cage

When you reach the rib cage (you'll feel the resistance change), angle the blade slightly upward to ride over the ribs rather than through them. Slice in shallow strokes through the belly meat to free the fillet from the rib cage. You don't need to remove the ribs themselves — this technique leaves them attached to the carcass.
5

Free the Fillet and Flip

Continue the cut all the way to the tail until the fillet lifts free. Place it skin-side down in your ice water bowl. Flip the fish over and repeat steps 2 through 4 on the other side. You now have two skin-on fillets.
6

Remove the Skin

Place a fillet skin-side down on the cutting board, tail end toward you. Hold the tail end firmly — use a paper towel if it's slippery. Insert the blade between the flesh and the skin at the tail end, angling it almost flat. While pulling the skin taut with your other hand, slide the blade forward in a single smooth motion, keeping the blade as close to the skin as possible to maximize yield.

Pro Tip
If the skin keeps tearing, your blade angle is too steep. Flatten it. The goal is to slide just above the skin, not cut down through it.
7

Remove the Y-Bones

Feel along the top third of the fillet (the dorsal side — the side that was facing the fish's back) for the row of Y-bones. They run lengthwise and you can feel them as a slight ridge under your fingertips. To remove them: make a shallow cut along one side of the bone row, then a matching cut on the other side, and lift out the narrow strip of flesh that contains the bones. The strip is small — you lose only a thin wedge of meat but get a completely bone-free fillet.

Pro Tip
On smaller walleye (under 2 lbs), some anglers skip Y-bone removal and simply warn diners. On larger fish, removal is always worth the extra minute.
8

Check for Pin Bones and Store

Run your fingertips firmly along the length of the fillet, pressing slightly into the flesh. Pin bones will catch your skin slightly — when you find one, grip it firmly with needle-nose pliers and pull in the direction it angles (not straight up, which can tear the flesh). Rinse the finished fillets in cold water, pat them completely dry, and store immediately. See the storage section below.

Storing Walleye Fillets

How you store your walleye fillets matters as much as how you fillet them. Improperly stored fillets develop a fishy odor and mushy texture quickly — the very things that give freshwater fish a bad reputation. Proper storage keeps the flesh clean, firm, and mild-tasting.

Refrigerator

1–2 Days

Wrapped tightly, on ice if possible. Use as soon as possible for best flavor.

Freezer (vacuum sealed)

6–12 Months

Best method for preserving texture and flavor for longer storage.

Freezer (water packed)

3–6 Months

Place fillets in a zip-lock bag, fill with water to eliminate air, and freeze flat.

Water Packing

If you don't have a vacuum sealer, the water-pack method is surprisingly effective. Place fillets in a zip-lock bag, fill it completely with cold water to displace all air, seal it, and freeze flat. The water forms a protective ice barrier around the fish that prevents freezer burn. This is how many experienced anglers store a whole season's catch.

Now Cook It

Clean walleye fillets are the starting point for some of the best meals you'll ever cook at home. If you're not sure where to start, our complete walleye cooking guide covers all four methods — pan-frying, baking, grilling, and pan-searing — with exact temperatures and timing for each.

For a quick weeknight meal, the crispy walleye fingers recipe takes 25 minutes and is hard to beat. The walleye tacos with cilantro lime slaw are another fast option that works great with fresh fillets. And if you want to do something a little different, the walleye fish cakes with jalapeño lime aioli are an excellent way to use smaller or oddly-shaped pieces that don't pan-fry as neatly.

For the full picture of what you can do with walleye — 49 recipes covering tacos, chowders, curries, pasta, kabobs, and more — the walleye cookbook below is the place to go.

The Complete Walleye Recipe Cookbook — 49 walleye recipes for frying, baking, grilling, tacos, chowders, and more

Now That You've Got the Fillets

49 Ways to Cook Them

The Complete Walleye Recipe Cookbook takes your fresh fillets in 49 different directions — crispy fried fingers, tacos, chowder, curry, pasta, walleye BLT salad, tostadas, kabobs, and more. Every recipe includes a full-color photo of the finished dish and step-by-step instructions. This is the most complete walleye recipe resource available.

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