I clean about 70 bull reds and a couple dozen bull drum each year. I work from the head to the tail.
To separate the fillet from the back of the fish, I use a well sharpened, fixed blade buck knife with a 6" blade, 119 special or something like that. My left hand grips the head of the fish (using the eyes) so the knife in my right hand is always working away. The first cut is perpendicular to the cleaning table right behind the gill and marks the place where the fillet will begin behind the head. The second cut is along the spine parallel to the dorsal fin and runs from the dorsal fin to the ribs. I make no attempt to cut bone, so the ribs remain in place. Working front to back, once I reach the back end of the ribcage (near the anal fin), this cut is then from top to bottom separating the fillet from the spine parallel to the cutting table.
At this point, the fillet is still connected to the fish by the scales, skin, and meat along the rib cage. It takes some practice to get the locations and angles right, but then I go back to the head hold the knife more or less parallel to the rib cage and complete separating the fillet from the rib cage (rib cage still attached to the fish). The left hand secures the head (using the eyes) so the knife is always moving away from the left hand. The blade faces upward while the tip of the knife is inserted into the fillet as far as it will go, with the tip of the knife forming a pivot point where the ribs meet the spine. Then the knife cuts upward through the meat, skin, and scales as it is rotated about the pivot point. Repeat working backward until the fillet is free from the fish.
Then I use a 7" Dexter Russel fillet knife to separate the fillet from the skin and scales, working front to back and using a pair of pliers to hold the skin/scales in my left hand while working the knife with my right.
It takes longer to explain than to do it. I can work through a 100 qt ice chest with 3-4 bull reds in 15-20 minutes.
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