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Old 09-19-2010, 08:21 AM   #1
xpuddlepirate
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Twitching fillet

Don't know how else to describe it. I shot a grouper yesterday on the last dive and stoned it. When I got home and proceeded to fillet the fish two hours later, something I've never experienced happened.

I began by gutting it and then cutting the head off. Then when I started to cut the fillets, the muscle would twitch/contract. It happened each time I made a cut and all the way thru both sides.

Can anyone explain why a headless fish would twitch like that? It wasn't little contractions either. It freaked me out cause you can see it and feel it happening. It was like something was living inside.
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Old 09-19-2010, 08:35 AM   #2
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Re: Twitching fillet

Demonic possession. I've never heard of anything like this before. Is it possible that you were violating the natural order of the universe (as well as God's wishes) by breathing compressed gas, when you took the fish?
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Old 09-19-2010, 08:54 AM   #3
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Re: Twitching fillet

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Demonic possession. I've never heard of anything like this before. Is it possible that you were violating the natural order of the universe (as well as God's wishes) by breathing compressed gas, when you took the fish?


Central Nervous System is still functioning. Happens all the time. It means it's really fresh...don't worry about it.
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Old 09-19-2010, 08:59 AM   #4
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Re: Twitching fillet

I have had this happen several times. A lot of it is how soon you clean the fish. I fish in freshwater as well as salt water. If I am at my place on the Alabama river we will often get the fish right out of the boat and clean them. When we do this it often happens. It is kind of freaky to have a filet in your hand and have it twitch. It is the nerves in the filet that haven't died yet.... I guess. I have also had this happen with deer meat. The back straps and hind quarters will do it frequently. The faster you clean them the more likely this will happen.
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Old 09-19-2010, 09:28 AM   #5
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Re: Twitching fillet

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Originally Posted by jfjf View Post
Demonic possession. I've never heard of anything like this before. Is it possible that you were violating the natural order of the universe (as well as God's wishes) by breathing compressed gas, when you took the fish?
That's it then I better give up tank fishin and stick with apnea.
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Old 09-19-2010, 09:34 AM   #6
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Re: Twitching fillet

Ok Island and River. I'll take your word for it. Will cook it up, but first I need to get some holy water to rinse it out just in case.
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Old 09-19-2010, 12:49 PM   #7
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Re: Twitching fillet

I like when you rip the tail off a bug at the dock and the head crawls off the edge and drops in the water..
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Old 09-19-2010, 01:17 PM   #8
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Re: Twitching fillet

I was seasoning a lobster tail maybe 30 minutes after I had taken it out of the water and every time I added a little seasoning it would twitch uncontrollably, I'd imagine the same is possible with very fresh fish as well.
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Old 09-19-2010, 01:31 PM   #9
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Re: Twitching fillet

Sprinkle salt on the tail or meat.....It tends to excite the demons.
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Old 09-19-2010, 02:14 PM   #10
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Re: Twitching fillet

Not iced properly
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Old 09-19-2010, 02:28 PM   #11
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Re: Twitching fillet

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Not iced properly
Actually not true. The twitching is a result of nerves and I also think that the energry sources within the meat itself have not been exhausted because the brain has been disabled at death. Immediately scrambling the brain before any appreciable struggle and then icing immediately can have the meat twitching 4 hours later.
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Old 09-20-2010, 08:22 AM   #12
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Re: Twitching fillet

I've had bugs on the grill, cut in half, twitching as they cooked. THAT was wierd!
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Old 09-20-2010, 08:53 AM   #13
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Re: Twitching fillet

Happens all the time, perfectly normal.
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Old 09-20-2010, 09:54 AM   #14
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Re: Twitching fillet

Happens alot.
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Old 09-20-2010, 01:09 PM   #15
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Re: Twitching fillet

I have had that happen several times. Means brain is dead but of course the heart is on the parasympathetic nervous system (or is it sympathetic - been a long time since mam phys class), and keeps beating. If you put the fish in ice, then I would expect the effect to last longer as the metabolism slows with the cold. Only when the core reaches the cold temp will the heart stop...


It happens alot to fresh water catfish - once I even got a shock like an electric shock when filleting a blue cat....on a very cold day in central cali...
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