Most merciful way to kill your catch?

I kill and bleed, and clean mine right at the fishing site if I intend to eat them.

As a life-long sportsman I don't think there is such a thing as a paiinless and humane way to kill. Just expedient makes the most sense.
 
On the boat WHILE you're fishing? I mean maybe you got into a great boil that lasts a couple of hours, and you don't want to miss any more catches, so you just put them in the live well. THEN when the catching is dead again, perhaps THEN you might want to to the killing and cleaning. Am I missing something? For the winter months here in Colorado, we'll mostly be trolling for wipers and such (hopefully we'll get lucky and NOT catch trout). So the killing as soon as possible I get, but it's the HOW that I'm asking about :duh: Maybe I just beat them to death like this poor guy...
 
I try to pith and then bleed as much as possible. Not only is it immediate but also keeps the lactic acid from building up in the muscle tissue which can alter the taste of the fish (or so I've heard).
 
Smash 'em in the head with a big PVC pipe or a small wooden souvenier baseball bat. First shot, if executed right, will knock the fish out, and which point you could bleed it or hit it again to finish the job or whatever.
 
Thanks folks. I can get the massive bonk on the head, but when you say bleed them, are you talking gutting them or cutting the gills? I've heard that with striper (because they fight so hard) that you should gut them as fast as possible...
 
i always cut it through the spine. catfish always got the knife through the head. cutting the fishes head off doesnt make it any harder to gut or clean.
 
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