1) Cut off the fins behind the head with kitchen scissors.
2) Cut off all the fins on the belly of the fish.
3) Cut off all the remaining fins (except the tail) on the fish.
4) Working from tail to head, against the direction in which the scales lie, scrape the back of a knife blade along the skin to remove the scales. Rinse the fish under cold running water to remove any scales that adhere.
5) Hook your finger through the gills and eirher pull or cut them out.
6) To gut the fish, make a small incision in the belly just behind the head and pull out the entrails. Rinse the fish thourougly under cold running water and dry well inside and out with paper towels.
This is the basic technique for cleaning round fish. If the fish is to be served whole the tail fin trimmed: it may either be cut straight across, so that it is about 1.5 (1/2 inch) long, or it may be trimmed to a V shape.