Step 1

Before you touch a landed elephant fish get rid of the long spine that sticks up from the dorsal fin. Use a pair of pointy nose pliers and snap the spine off about half way down.

These spines will make a big man cry if he's jabbed so play it safe. It would take nothing for one of these spines to go through the top of your shoe and into your foot as the fish thrashes around on the deck of the boat.

Snap the spine off with a pair of pointy nose pliers.

Step 2

Immediately after the spine is removed, dispatch the fish. I prefer dispatching all my fish with a small club. Two or three sharp blows to the back of the head does the trick. It's quick, humane and doesn't require quite the skill or precision of other dispatching methods like brain spiking.

Dispatch quickly using a small club or ‘billy’.

Step 3

This step is imperative for preparing an elephant destine for the table. These fish are just full of blood. I can't think of another fish that seems to produce as much of the red stuff as these blokes. It's got to be removed quickly if you intend to eat the fish.

The quickest way is to completely gut the fish, removing all the internal organs. Then cut it behind the head with a horizontal slice, just below the base of the skull.

As with any fish, make sure you cut the bloodline out that runs down the spine.

If I intend to keep fishing in the one spot, I'll do the same as what I do when bleeding gummies - put all the blood and entrails into a bucket and then tip the bucket over the side at the end of the session.

It's not a great idea to put the internal organs of the fish you're targeting into your berley trail.

Give the fish a quick wipe down then put it on ice immediately.

Gut the fish putting the entrails into a bucket.

Make a horizontal cut behind the head to bleed the fish.

Step 4

When back at the cleaning tables remove all the fins from the fish. There seems to be a fairly sizeable joint around the pectoral fin so cut a small section out of the fillet to make sure it's all removed.

Next, take a fillet off both sides. This is dead easy. Start at the head and run the knife down the length of the body along the spine.

When the fillets are off the fish, the frame can be disposed of. Remove the rib cage area by neatly cutting around its outside edge.

Remove the fins from the fish before filleting.

Remove the fins from the fish before filleting.

Step 5

Flip the fillet over and again with the sharp knife, run the blade between the flesh and the skin, trying to leave as little flesh on the skin as possible.

Take a fillet off both sides of the elephant fish.

Cut the rib cage area out.

Step 6

Lastly, give the fillets a wash down in saltwater. Then wipe them down. And there you have it, a couple of beautiful clean fillets ready for the table.

Run the edge of the knife between the skin and the flesh leaving as little flesh on the skin as possible.

The finished product ready for the table!